Client Partner

At AKQA (part of WPP) we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create beautiful ideas, products and services. With an entrepreneurial and collaborative approach, we design adaptive digital services and applications that capture the imagination, delivering impressive returns for our clients. The Client Services team are entrepreneurs who champion clients and colleagues alike. A Client Partner is a leadership position that requires expertise in transformational programs of work that deliver positive outcomes through products and service ecosystems, differentiated business models and the brand experience surrounding them. This role is central to driving the commercial health of the studio by ensuring the quality of AKQA deliverables, strong client satisfaction, and high employee engagement. The Client Partner will drive existing and new deliverables, lead pitches and pursue new growth opportunities for the studio.

Responsibilities

Grow organic business for key accounts - lead and mentor other Client Services team members; Sets strategy for account group - strategic leadership of the internal team, setting the vision for the account, helping the team understand what needs to be delivered; Provides thought leadership to both clients and internal teams; Makes the account team aware of senior level client challenges; Reports on client activity for executive meetings; Provides senior clients and their boards with digital marketing expertise and innovative ideas; Consults on their business challenges to deliver a positive difference to their bottom line through experience, entrepreneurialism and incisive thought; Presents Strategic services offering to develop partnerships, new services and solutions that help client businesses exceed growth targets; Identify, engage, convert and scale new opportunities into long-term client relationships; Lead regional pitch responses and procurement processes; Develop relationships with prospective clients, while maintaining existing client relationships; Partner with discipline leads to create contract-winning proposals for current and prospective clients; Understand the language of business to grow our CX, Venture and Product revenue targets; Become a subject matter expert on topics that drive our clients business; Maintain a strong understanding of products and services, and innovating new ways to serve businesses; Work tightly with a multidisciplinary team to design a new venture that creates new sources of revenue for our business; Leverage relationships to extend AKQA remit within client organisation; Seek out opportunities with related client brands; Run the entire pitch process and bring new clients into AKQA seamlessly; Use AKQA knowledge and experience to generate new business opportunities (e.g. client Academy sessions, cross-selling of AKQA mobile, etc.); Help others to understand strategy for identifying new business opportunities; Revenue responsibility for +€7mm studio; Ensure effective pricing strategy while maintaining overall client profitability targets at all times; Highlights team operational issues in relation to overall client profitability; Successfully negotiate with client procurement teams; Negotiates rate cards with clients as well as retainers and financial structure of an account; Organise team resources and configuration and sets out detailed month by month forecasts against which resources can be planned; Uncover, analyse, and anticipate appropriate payment models and pricing structures for target customers who represent early-stage businesses to enterprise scale-up

Requirements

7-10+ years working in a client services or account management role in a creative environment; Prior success in business development and building and maintaining client relationships; Understanding of a strategic consulting and professional services approach; Experience of managing global clients and leading accounts at a senior level; Comfort and experience in building and leading world-class teams; Demonstrates an in-depth understanding of wider commercial issues; Experience of inspiring and managing teams; Highly competent and confident presenter in Keynote; Possesses a strong quality of leadership, in both the work and in decision-making; High emotional intellect, the ability to drive projects and lead an internal team through various scenarios with clients; Operational savvy and know-how, in order to work with the teams and draw the balance between servicing our clients and protecting our own team and interests