Account Director - Learning and Development

The Account Director (AD) leads a client account, or set of accounts, up to £400K revenue, ensuring that they are profitable and growing. The AD takes responsibility for the delivery of quality work that meets the client’s needs, accurately addresses the brief, and ensures it is delivered on time and on budget. They will do so through the effective management of their own team, setting team priorities and managing resources, and through their ability to develop strong client relationships and to lead and inspire others inside and outside the agency. The AD is involved with pitches for new business, approaching these with both a creative and commercial mindset and actively seeks and recommends new business opportunities.

Key Responsibilities

• Client
  • Lead client accounts of up to £400K revenue, with overall responsibility for the client/agency relationship.
  • Take the strategic lead on client briefs and provide strategic direction from kick off to campaign/project completion.
  • Lead client meetings/internal team meetings.
  • Push clients, and the agency, creatively and strategically to optimum performance, seeking support of Senior Account Director or Extended Leadership Team if required.
  • Proactively engage with and drive clients’ annual strategy through development of annual account planning and review meetings.
  • Follow up on individual campaigns and projects to gain feedback and manage client satisfaction.
  • Ensure a working knowledge of the therapeutic landscape relevant to client accounts, allowing for informed discussion with, and advice to clients.
  • Maintain the high-quality of all deliverables through appropriate accuracy and quality checks – checking all items before they are sent to the client.
• Financial
  • Ensure the profitability and growth of client accounts through accurate budgeting, monitoring of hours vs. budget and liaison with clients to agree additional budget where possible.
  • Ensure all projects are tracking to planned timelines and appropriately prioritised throughout the business.
  • Report key financial and team data to the agency’s senior leadership, finance, and human resources departments.
  • Monitor resource requirements for your accounts, notifying the leadership team of any resourcing challenges and/or recruitment needs.
  • Maintain good financial processes for the accounts you lead, including updating of financial platforms with all relevant information.
  • Maintain good project management processes for the accounts you lead, including completing all financial tasks at the appropriate juncture e.g. project set up from pipeline to close, end of month invoicing in liaison with the finance team, revenue recognition, forecasting and client budget reconciliations.
  • Know the clients’ financial policies, particularly purchase orders, invoicing and payment terms – ensuring all company procedures are followed and support the rest of the team in doing this.
  • Identify, develop, and convert new business opportunities with existing and future clients.
• Management
  • Ensure a thorough knowledge of all relevant codes of practice and legislation covering communication with HCPs, payers, patients, third party groups and the public.
  • Manage the work, performance, and professional development of team members.
  • Line management responsibility for more junior team members.
  • Manage external service providers as required.
  • Share industry experience and expertise within the agency – across accounts where needed.
  • Comply with Makara Health policies and procedures and demonstrate a personal commitment to their adherence and implementation.
• New Business
  • Proactively liaise with clients on a regular basis to identify new opportunities and drive business growth.
  • Proactively seek opportunities for organic growth across functions within the same company and through referrals from current clients.
  • Involvement in new business pitches, including research, proposal development and presentation at pitch.
  • Identify new business opportunities through previous contacts and work with the leadership team to pursue these.
• Other Responsibilities
  • Travel to client meetings is required as part of this role.
  • Undertake any duties as may be required from time to time that can reasonably be regarded as within the remit of the post.
  • Aware of and conform to legal requirements in all activities, both internal and external.
  • Implicit in this is that all managers and employees conform to the appropriate standards in terms of Health and Safety and Information Security requirements but also to the highest standards of business ethics.