Senior Account Manager in Newcastle upon Tyne

ROLE OVERVIEW

Cravens is looking for a Senior Account Manager who leads with confidence, thinks commercially, and takes real ownership of the accounts they run.

We’re the UK’s oldest independent creative agency and you could be a real part of shaping where we go next.

As Senior Account Manager, you’ll be the primary point of contact on a portfolio of accounts, leading the delivery of brand strategy and creative projects while holding responsibility for their commercial performance: scoping, budgets, forecasting and identifying opportunities for growth.

You’ll bring judgement as well as delivery; knowing when to push back on a brief, when to resolve an issue quietly, and when a client conversation needs to happen sooner rather than later.

The role is well suited to someone who wants genuine ownership – of client relationships, of commercial outcomes, and of the quality of work that reaches the client.

It offers the space to lead accounts in full, backed by an Account Director who trusts that space to be used well.

WHO WE ARE

Cravens is Britain's oldest independent strategic creative agency, proudly independent since 1946.

From our HQ in Newcastle upon Tyne and beyond, we bring together independent thinkers with decades of experience and expertise to help transform organisations around the world.

Our clients include The Rank Group, Parkdean Resorts, Zinsser, British Cycling, ITV and London Zoo.

• WHAT YOU'LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
• Account & Commercial Management
• Take ownership of assigned accounts, ensuring projects are delivered on time, to brief and to budget.
• Lead scoping and budget management, ensuring work is commercially sound from the outset and remains so as it evolves.
• Own forecasting for your accounts, providing an honest and current view of account performance.
• Identify and develop opportunities for organic growth within existing accounts.
• Strategic Contribution
• Contribute a strong, well-informed point of view to strategy and briefing, flagging where a brief risks working against the client's objectives.
• Lead briefing processes, translating strategic direction into clear, usable briefs for creative and strategy teams.
• Review work-in-progress against the brief and agreed strategy, resolving misalignment directly and with confidence.
• Bring informed challenge to internal reviews and reflections, helping raise the bar on the work the agency produces.
• Client Relationships
• Act as the lead day-to-day contact for a portfolio of accounts, building relationships that clients trust and value.
• Develop relationships with core clients in ways that support both retention and growth.
• Lead the preparation of materials for client meetings and presentations, ensuring these are clear, accurate and commercially considered.
• Lead client discussions on the accounts you run, articulating the rationale behind creative and strategic decisions.
• Creative Delivery & Quality
• Coordinate creative development across creative teams and studio, holding the work to a high standard throughout.
• Ensure feedback is captured clearly and structured in a way that keeps creative development aligned to the brief.
• Maintain quality and consistency across deliverables, reviewing work against agreed objectives before it is shared externally.
• Internal Collaboration
• Work closely with Strategy, Creative and Design teams to support alignment and smooth delivery across accounts.
• Escalate issues to the Account Director in good time, with a clear view on how they might be resolved.
• Contribute to improving ways of working, and support the development of junior colleagues where useful.

EXPERIENCE & CAPABILITIES

Essential

• 4–7 years'+ experience within a creative, brand or advertising agency.
• A strong track record in brand strategy, positioning and identity development.
• Experience managing client relationships with a high degree of autonomy.
• Commercial experience – scoping, budget management and forecasting across live accounts.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to lead client conversations.
• Sound judgement, and the experience to act on it without needing to check first.

Desirable

• Experience leading brand or identity-led projects from scoping through to delivery.
• Exposure to new business or pitch processes.
• Experience managing client stakeholders through periods of pressure or ambiguity.
• Experience briefing and managing internal or external production partners.

We’re looking for someone who

• Wants genuine ownership of accounts, not just responsibility for delivering against them.
• Thinks as much about the commercial health of an account as the work moving through it.
• Has the judgement to know when to act and when to raise something, without needing to be told.
• Leads client relationships with strategic confidence, and takes pride in the trust that comes with that.
• The Package
• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, plus any days between Christmas and New Year.
• An enhanced Employee Assistance programme
• Bus/Train season ticket loan
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Life Assurance
• Enhanced Pension
• Enhanced Sick Pay

Cravens is Britain's oldest independent strategic creative agency, proudly independent since 1946.

From our HQ in Newcastle upon Tyne and beyond, we bring together independent thinkers with decades of experience and expertise to help transform organisations around the world.

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