Client Services Director in Manchester

Summary:

A £70,000–£75,000 permanent Client Services Director role with a growing independent digital agency in Greater Manchester. You’ll become the founder’s senior partner across clients, digital strategy, people and commercial account growth. Hybrid working from a recently renovated Manchester workspace; I’ll talk through the office/home split and benefits when we speak.

Why the role exists:

The agency has grown with its founder heavily involved in clients, strategy, campaigns, people, new business and commercials. It now needs a senior leader to take real ownership across client services, digital strategy, the team and account growth, giving the founder more space to build the business.

Role overview:

• I really like this one. Partly because it’s a genuinely good opportunity. And partly because I know the person behind the business, so I can give you a pretty honest view of what you’re walking into.
• I’m working with a growing independent digital agency in Manchester looking for somebody to come in at senior level and become, effectively, the founder’s number two. And I don’t mean “number two” as in a fancy title and a seat in a few more meetings. I mean somebody who can genuinely take ownership.
• Like a lot of good independent agencies, the business has grown from the founder being heavily involved in pretty much everything: clients, strategy, campaigns, the team, new business, commercials, and probably taking the bins out occasionally. That works when you’re starting out. It becomes considerably less sensible as the agency grows. So the next hire is an important one.
• The business needs somebody who can take real ownership across client services, digital strategy, people and commercial account growth, allowing the founder to spend more time actually building the agency. Will he completely let go of everything overnight? Absolutely not. But that’s part of the opportunity. This is a chance to come into a growing independent agency early enough to genuinely shape how it develops.
• It started with serious strength in Paid Social and Paid Media, but the proposition has broadened considerably. Today the agency works across paid media, social, influencer marketing, digital strategy and consultancy, and content production, supported by a core senior team and wider specialist network. They’ve worked with everything from start-ups to major household and enterprise brands. The founder ran significant paid media and social programmes before setting the agency up himself. There’s proper digital experience behind it, and the ambition now is to build something broader.
• The title could ultimately be Client Services Director, Digital Client Director or something slightly different. I’m deliberately not getting too hung up on it yet. The job title isn’t the brief. What the business actually needs is somebody who can become the senior point of ownership between clients, strategy, the team, delivery and the founder.
• There will be some sleeves-rolled-up work. It’s an independent agency. Anyone expecting a huge department underneath them and six people to prepare every client deck probably isn’t going to enjoy it. But equally, this isn’t supposed to be another pair of hands. It’s a senior hire with genuine influence.
• For the right person, the appeal is pretty straightforward. You’re joining early enough to matter. You’ll work directly with the founder, have access to the clients, influence the work, develop the people and have a genuine say in how the agency grows. The business already has credible work behind it, a broader digital proposition and ambitions to grow. Its public positioning is deliberately straight-talking: strategy and execution without the usual agency fluff.
• The approved salary range is £70,000–£75,000, depending on experience and where we ultimately land the remit. There’s flexibility within that range. This is a permanent, full-time role in Greater Manchester. I’ll talk through the exact office/home split and wider package with anybody interested rather than guess at details that haven’t been agreed yet.
• If you’re sitting in a bigger agency thinking, “I’d quite like to have more influence than this,” or you’re already in an independent and want the opportunity to step into something with real ownership and a route towards helping lead the business, I’d definitely like to speak to you.

David's take:

• I know the founder and the business personally, so I can give you a straight view of the opportunity before anybody wastes anybody else’s time. This is a proper senior hire with influence, not just another pair of hands.
• You might currently be a Client Director, Senior Client Director, Group Account Director, Business Director or Client Services Director. Or perhaps you’re a senior digital or performance person who has naturally moved towards clients, strategy and leadership. I’m not going to reject somebody because their current agency uses a different title.
• You’ll need to be comfortable with some ambiguity. If your first question is, “Can I see the 46-page Client Services operating manual?”, I’ve got some bad news. Part of your value here is helping build some of that structure, without making a good independent agency feel corporate.

Responsibilities:

• Owning and developing relationships with the agency’s key clients
• Becoming a trusted senior strategic partner rather than simply managing requests
• Understanding what clients are trying to achieve commercially and turning that into sensible digital strategy
• Joining the dots across Paid Social, Paid Media and the agency’s broader digital capability
• Challenging briefs where necessary rather than just saying yes
• Making sure the right people are doing the right things and the work gets delivered properly
• Leading, coaching and developing the existing team
• Creating more structure as the agency grows, without turning a good independent into a corporate machine
• Spotting opportunities to grow existing accounts
• Keeping an eye on scopes, commercials and whether client relationships are profitable
• Supporting pitches and new business where it makes sense
• Working closely with the founder on where the agency goes next

Must-haves:

• Strong digital agency client-services, paid media, social or performance-marketing experience
• Enough digital depth to have credible client conversations about paid media, social, performance, content, influencers, strategy and measurement
• Excellent with senior clients: able to build trust, understand their businesses and challenge them when necessary
• Commercial awareness around account growth, scopes, profitability and what the agency should or should not promise
• Experience leading and developing people, particularly helping a junior team grow
• Comfortable with ambiguity and sleeves-rolled-up work in a growing independent agency

Useful extras:

• Experience building client-services structure in a growing independent agency is useful, but not essential

Benefits:

• Hybrid working, with the office/home split discussed during the hiring process
• Work from a recently renovated Manchester workspace
• A wider benefits package; details shared with interested candidates

Salary or rate:

£70,000–£75,000 per year. The published pay range has been verified.

Location and working pattern:

Manchester, Greater Manchester, UK. full-time. Hybrid working from a recently renovated Manchester workspace; the exact office/home split will be confirmed with interested candidates

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