Account Director

About Citizen Hi there, we’re Citizen. We’re a global communications agency dedicated to making every conversation count - to inform, educate or make life easier for our fellow human beings. We partner with clients to grow their brands and positively impact culture, telling impactful stories that resonate deeply. We live by the values of the Modern Citizen. We champion equity. We set the standard. We do what’s right. At Citizen, we’re always on the lookout for new team members with fresh perspectives and unique ideas. Our London office provides the perfect place to learn and grow your career in PR. About the role: We’re looking for a high-performing team player and dynamic individual who is growth and results driven to join our Citizen London office within our consumer team. The role would see the candidate working across UK PR & Influencer work for one of our leading FMCG clients.

• The Account Director is the senior account lead, responsible for both the strategic direction and oversight of delivery across accounts, ensuring quality standards are maintained across all work and maintaining senior client relationships.
• The Account Director will also have an overall birds-eye view on strategic planning, resourcing and spotting challenges and opportunities for clients to ensure they see Citizen as a valued partner.
• As a senior team lead, the Account Director is responsible for a broad range of tasks, including, but not limited to - strategic planning and proposal development, agreeing scopes of work and oversight of press office activity and campaigns, as well as offering senior strategic counsel.
• The role also includes wider leadership responsibilities, including line management of junior staff, supporting training and development as well as new business, supporting the business in meeting financial goals, and promoting the agency externally.
• As an Account Director, you are expected to demonstrate flawless communication and organisational skills to run day-to-day retainer activity and campaigns smoothly, ensuring teams are delivering quality work, meeting deadlines and delivering on KPIs.

Key Competencies:

1. Client Relations - The Account Director will be the senior lead on the account - ensuring the client sees them as their senior counsel and person responsible for the overall account running and campaign delivery, and the person they can go to with any issues or worries they have. Confidently holds relationships with senior clients, offering senior-level sign off on client work across the team, ensuring client timelines are set, adhered to and KPIs are met. Proactively offer strategic counsel to colleagues and clients.
2. Communication Skills - Leads by example and demonstrates effective delegation and briefing skills - often working closely with and offering direction to account managers to ensure junior team members are clear on assigned tasks and deadlines so that work is delivered on-time and to a high standard. Is able to consistently manage up / down to ensure the team is abreast of how activities are progressing. Shows intelligence and tact in having difficult conversations with clients - pushing back where work may be out of scope, where plans may need to be changed, and takes responsibility for any team mistakes that have been made, offering solutions.
3. Campaign Execution – The Account Director will have an overall view of a campaign or retainer activity and will be fully accountable for the delivery of the work to high standards, meeting agreed KPIs, ensuring solutions are found to any setbacks and understanding how best to measure results and sell back to the client. This also includes seeing problems before they arise, contingency planning, and managing client expectations - ensuring teams are fully briefed on campaign strategy and using best practice to deliver results.
4. Account Management – Responsible for ensuring all day to day account management is delivered to a high standard across the team. Oversight of all budgets, including ensuring these are realistic and correctly managed. Ensuring timesheets are reconciled and servicing levels are maintained.
5. Team management - The Account Director should lead by example, offering senior counsel across all areas to junior team members and ensure that team members have access to the right training, advice and support that they need to be effective in their roles. They should be approachable, supportive and show strong briefing and delegation skills liaising with senior management where appropriate on any issues that should be escalated.
6. Training and Development - Delivering training sessions to agency staff, sharing skills, knowledge and expertise. Being proactive in suggesting training and development areas for junior colleagues.
7. New Business - Driving organic growth through well-crafted proposals for existing clients - to manage from start to finish, including strategic thinking and creative ideas that deliver against client objectives. Contributing to new business pitches.

Citizen Relations is part of the Plus Company network. Plus Company is a group of entrepreneurial agencies designed to collaborate, not compete. It empowers every agency – and every individual – to bring their own unique capabilities together to make magic happen. You will be encouraged to take risks, dream big, develop your skills and grow in your career with the full support of the network and all it has to offer. Creating meaningful work for the Modern Citizen means embracing different perspectives. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on age, colour, ability, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. Different perspectives are what makes our agencies name what it is—and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We pride ourselves on our inclusive and accessible workplace. If you need any accommodations during the interview process to be able to showcase your skills please just let us know.