Strategic account management director

Strategic Account Management Director
Role Overview
As the Strategic Account Management Director, you will be responsible for leading and growing a portfolio of strategic client accounts, driving strong client relationships, business growth, profitability, and long-term partnerships.
You will serve as a senior strategic partner to clients, understanding their business and marketing objectives and working closely with internal specialist teams to deliver integrated digital solutions that create measurable business impact.
The role will involve end-to-end ownership of multiple accounts, including client servicing, senior stakeholder management, revenue growth, P&L, team leadership, retention, and new business opportunities.
You will be expected to bring strong commercial acumen, a deep understanding of digital marketing, and the ability to operate confidently with CXO and senior client stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Client Management & Senior Stakeholder Relationships
Own and manage a portfolio of key strategic accounts, serving as the senior point of contact and trusted business partner for clients.
Build and maintain strong, long-term relationships with CXOs, business heads, marketing leaders, and other senior stakeholders.
Develop a deep understanding of clients' business models, growth priorities, marketing objectives, challenges, and competitive landscape.
Lead strategic business conversations, quarterly/monthly business reviews, performance discussions, and growth planning with clients.
Proactively identify client needs and translate them into relevant solutions across Social Beat's capabilities.
Drive client satisfaction, retention, advocacy, and overall account health.
Act as an escalation point for critical client issues and ensure timely resolution across internal teams.
2. Revenue Growth, P&L & Commercial Ownership
Take end-to-end ownership of revenue, profitability and P&L across the assigned portfolio of accounts.
Drive revenue growth through upselling, cross-selling, expansion of existing mandates and identifying new business opportunities.
Develop account growth plans and identify opportunities to increase Social Beat's share of the client's marketing wallet.
Own account forecasts, revenue targets, budgets, commercials, and financial performance.
Work closely with Finance and internal leadership to ensure healthy margins, accurate forecasting, timely billing, collections, and overall commercial hygiene.
Identify and address revenue or profitability risks proactively.
Lead commercial discussions, negotiations, renewals, and scope expansions with clients.
Build strong understanding of business economics and ensure account growth is aligned with profitability objectives.
3. Account Strategy & Business Growth
Develop and execute annual and quarterly strategic account plans for key clients.
Identify opportunities to expand the relationship across digital, performance marketing, content, SEO, social media, influencer marketing, marketplaces, marketing automation, and other relevant capabilities.
Partner with strategy and specialist teams to develop integrated solutions that address client business challenges.
Bring proactive ideas, industry insights, and emerging digital trends to clients rather than operating only on a brief-led model.
Identify whitespace opportunities within accounts and convert them into incremental revenue opportunities.
Participate in pitches and new business opportunities where required, particularly for strategic or high-value accounts.
4. Team Leadership & People Management
Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Account Managers, Business Directors, Account Directors, and other client-facing professionals.
Set clear goals and performance expectations aligned to client satisfaction, revenue, profitability, retention, and team development.
Build a high-performing, accountable, and collaborative account management team.
Coach team members on client management, strategic thinking, commercial conversations, problem-solving, and business acumen.
Review team performance, identify capability gaps, and create development plans.
Ensure effective allocation of resources across multiple accounts and teams.
Build strong collaboration between Account Management and specialist functions to ensure seamless delivery.
5. Delivery & Operational Excellence
Provide senior oversight across the delivery of integrated campaigns and projects for strategic accounts.
Ensure teams consistently deliver against agreed timelines, quality standards, budgets, and client expectations.
Review key presentations, proposals, reports, strategies, and campaign outputs before they are presented to clients.
Establish strong account governance, processes, and operating rhythms across the portfolio.
Monitor account health through key metrics including CSAT, revenue, profitability, retention, delivery quality, and client escalations.
Ensure risks and challenges are identified early and addressed proactively.
6. Strategy, Ideation & Business Consulting
Act as a strategic thought partner to clients, going beyond execution to influence their broader marketing and business agenda.
Lead and contribute to strategic workshops, brainstorming sessions, annual planning, and campaign ideation.
Use consumer insights, market trends, competitive intelligence, and performance data to develop actionable recommendations.
Partner with internal Strategy, Creative, Performance, Content, SEO, Influencer, Marketplace, and Technology teams to build integrated solutions.
Challenge existing approaches and identify opportunities to improve marketing effectiveness and business outcomes.
7. Digital & Integrated Marketing Expertise
Maintain a strong understanding of Social Beat's overall digital marketing capabilities and how different disciplines work together to drive business outcomes.
Develop a strong understanding of platforms and capabilities including Google, Meta, YouTube, SEO, Content, Influencer Marketing, Marketplace, Marketing Automation, Analytics, and emerging digital technologies.
Understand how digital channels contribute to the overall marketing funnel and business growth.
Stay abreast of developments in MarTech, AdTech, AI, automation, consumer behaviour, and digital media and identify opportunities to create value for clients.
Translate complex digital marketing concepts into clear business recommendations for senior stakeholders.
8. Industry & Market Intelligence
Stay ahead of industry, category, consumer, technology, and competitor trends.
Bring relevant market intelligence and emerging opportunities to clients proactively.
Analyse account performance, market data, competitive activity, and industry benchmarks to inform business decisions.
Identify opportunities for clients to leverage emerging platforms, technologies, and consumer trends.
Develop a point of view on the evolving digital ecosystem and its implications for clients and their businesses.
What Are We Looking For?
8–12+ years of experience in Strategic Account Management, Client Servicing, Business Development, Digital Marketing, or a related role, preferably within an agency or digital marketing environment.
Proven experience managing multiple large/strategic accounts with significant revenue responsibility.
Demonstrated track record of growing existing accounts, driving retention, and expanding client relationships.
Strong understanding of P&L, revenue management, forecasting, profitability, commercials, and account economics.
Experience managing and developing large, cross-functional teams.
Strong experience in senior stakeholder and CXO-level client management.
Excellent understanding of digital marketing and integrated digital solutions across Performance Marketing, Social Media, Content, SEO, Influencer Marketing, Marketplace, Analytics, and related capabilities.
Strong business and commercial acumen, with the ability to connect marketing initiatives to business outcomes and ROI.
Strong strategic thinking, problem-solving, and analytical capabilities.
Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and influencing skills.
Ability to manage ambiguity, navigate complex stakeholder environments, and operate effectively in a fast-paced agency environment.
Entrepreneurial mindset with a strong bias for ownership, initiative, and driving outcomes.
Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field. An MBA or equivalent qualification would be an advantage.
What Success Looks Like
In this role, success will be measured by your ability to:
Grow and retain a portfolio of strategic accounts
Deliver against revenue and profitability/P&L targets
Increase share of wallet and cross-sell opportunities
Build strong, trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders
Maintain high

Work arrangement
No