CDI - Social Account Director in London

Role Summary: Account Director that sits within the Client Services Team at Havas Play, with a particular focus on Social, delivering multi‑market social‑first campaigns for clients across the entertainment and retail spaces.

Purpose of Role: The Account Director is the most senior day‑to‑day account lead, with full responsibility to delegate work and oversee all deliverables. They are process‑driven, commercially minded and solutions focused, leading projects on cross‑agency collaboration and working with all areas of the business to deliver client satisfaction, retention and growth. They manage workload, coach the team, and ensure on‑time delivery of campaigns and projects in partnership with the Managing Partner. They work with cross‑functional teams (Strategy, Insights, Creative, Talent & Creator, Production, etc.) to bolster ideas, push boundaries and encourage award‑winning work. They possess in‑depth knowledge of the social media landscape, serve as a trusted source for campaign planning and growth opportunities, maintain strong interpersonal skills, manage financial procedures, client retainers, projects and overall account profitability.

Key Responsibilities

• Account Management: Oversee multiple accounts and increased workloads through delegation (both upward and downward) of tasks. Maintain high work standard across multiple clients and projects simultaneously. Lead senior client communication, including monthly check‑ins, future relationship planning, growth opportunities, scope, team and performance reviews. Proactively drive projects forward, involve wider agency expertise and ensure all steps and stakeholders are factored into project timelines. Connect teams within the business to deliver on client work. Support capacity management of the account teams, keeping work within scope.
• Writing and Presentation Skills: Strong creative and corporate writing for external documents (proposals, reports) and internal tools. Adapt communication to client and team needs. Effectively communicate verbally and in writing to be clear and concise. Maintain high quality and detail in all written work. Confidently present ideas, pitches and process explanations to clients. Instill confidence by showcasing understanding of the client’s brand. Review and reinforce a high standard of client communication and presentation.
• Approach, Initiative & Problem Solving: Positive, proactive and solutions‑driven – always think one step ahead. Own day‑to‑day operations while empowering senior social staff to be accountable. Anticipate potential problems and issues. Plan scope and budgets ahead of work commencement.
• Relationships: Build a strong working relationship with clients and serve as trusted counsel. Be an active listener and challenge agency viewpoints with a solution‑based mindset. Be approachable and accessible to all team members. Work fluidly with strategy, insights, creative and production departments. Manage line reports, supporting their development and objectives. Set standards for learning and development within the team.
• Strategic Skills & Brief Response: Champion agency processes, interrogate briefs creatively and position ideas to clients. Lead the brief process from interrogation through insight, strategy, creative briefing and delegation. Demonstrate strategic thinking in day‑to‑day work across accounts, framing client campaigns against objectives. Structuring brief responses and campaign execution. Oversee all plans and activations, rights, events, content, influencer engagement and supplier coordination. Write scopes and negotiate with clients. Ensure the right team is in place with appropriate capacity and skillset. Align team objectives with client and agency goals. Maintain team motivation and prevent overwhelm. Oversee administrative processes (status reports, budgeting, campaign reporting).
• Client Services & Industry Knowledge: Understand client business to advise, challenge and upsell. Stay abreast of industry innovations to contribute effectively to brainstorms.
• Growth & New Business: Identify ways to grow clients organically. Generate accurate reports for senior management on performance and improvement plans. Support a target of 10% year‑over‑year organic growth. Nurture industry contacts to bring in new business opportunities. Deliver new business pitches beyond D2D client accounts.
• People Management: Manage day‑to‑day running of the team and ensure regular internal status meetings and check‑ins. Continuously assess team performance and allocate work.
• Time Management & Finance: Ensure on‑time delivery and conscientious deadline management. Anticipate pinch points and maintain awareness of team capacity. Be competent with finance processes: building and negotiating SOWs, tracking hours and revenue, processing POs and invoices, monitoring new job numbers. Understand client account profitability and resource allocation.

Required Skills: Minimum 2 years experience as a Senior Account Manager within a Social Media Agency. Experience with both online and offline social across entertainment clients. Solid experience managing a busy team. Proven professional client relationship management. High level of budgeting and finance management experience. Significant experience managing multiple projects simultaneously. Enthusiastic and positive approach to challenges. Resourceful and proactive in dealing with issues. Ability to plan and strategise at a senior level. Persuasive and confident approach to creative projects. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Effective team management capabilities. Attention to detail.