Account Director (Freelance)

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

Senior Client Relationship Management

• Act as a senior point of contact across an assigned portfolio, complementing the Account Manager’s day-to-day client relationships.
• Build credible and trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders.
• Maintain a strong understanding of client priorities, business context, deliverables, risks and emerging concerns.
• Attend key client meetings where senior input, strategic guidance or relationship support is required.
• Support the Account Manager in preparing for important client conversations, presentations and challenging discussions.
• Step into client escalations where appropriate and work towards pragmatic, partnership-led resolutions.
• Provide continuity and confident senior leadership across the portfolio.
• Represent Social.Lab with maturity, discretion and sound judgement.

Portfolio Oversight & Governance

• Maintain oversight of the overall health of the assigned portfolio, including priorities, dependencies, milestones, risks and stakeholder expectations.
• Establish an effective governance rhythm with the Account Manager.
• Identify potential risks early and support the development of mitigation and escalation plans.
• Ensure responsibilities, decisions and next steps are clear across client and internal teams.
• Promote disciplined ways of working, clear communication and appropriate documentation.
• Ensure significant changes in scope, timing, cost, resource requirements or client expectations are appropriately surfaced.

Account Manager Mentorship

• Act as a senior sounding board and mentor to the Account Manager.
• Support the Account Manager in developing strategic thinking, stakeholder management, prioritisation and decision-making.
• Provide guidance through complex or sensitive client situations.
• Help determine when matters can be handled by the Account Manager and when senior intervention is required.
• Encourage confidence, accountability and professional growth without creating an unnecessary additional approval layer.

Strategic & Integrated Agency Leadership

• Help translate client requirements into clear strategic and operational priorities.
• Connect clients and the Account Manager with the appropriate agency capabilities and specialist expertise.
• Bring a strong digital perspective across content creation, digital media and digital strategy.
• Constructively challenge briefs and proposed solutions where this will improve the quality or effectiveness of the work.
• Facilitate collaboration across Social.Lab, WPP agencies and other specialist partners.
• Ensure recommendations are strategically sound, commercially responsible and relevant to the client’s business objectives.

Commercial & Scope Oversight

• Maintain senior-level oversight of scopes, budgets, resourcing assumptions and commercial commitments.
• Review material scope changes, cost implications and resourcing requirements with the Account Manager.
• Support effective forecasting and commercial reporting where senior oversight is required.
• Identify and address potential scope creep early.
• Ensure the right team and resources are in place for each account as requirements evolve.
• Work with senior leadership and Finance to resolve material commercial issues where required.

Escalation & Continuity

• Provide reliable senior cover for priority client and portfolio matters.
• Ensure important client context, decisions and risks are not dependent on a single individual.
• Respond calmly and constructively to emerging issues.
• Independently assess situations and escalate to senior leadership when appropriate.
• Support effective handovers and continuity during periods of absence or changing priorities.
• Maintain discretion around confidential client, people and business matters.

Requirements & Qualifications: 

• Approximately 7–10 years of relevant agency client-service experience.
• Meaningful experience operating at Account Director or equivalent senior account leadership level.
• At least 2 years' experience involving senior client relationships, portfolio oversight or team leadership.
• Proven experience managing multiple client relationships or workstreams simultaneously.
• Strong experience engaging confidently with senior client stakeholders.
• Experience mentoring, coaching or supporting Account Managers or other client-service professionals.
• Strong understanding of integrated digital marketing, particularly digital content creation, digital media and digital strategy.
• Demonstrable commercial understanding, including scope, budgets, resourcing and scope-change management.
• Experience working across multidisciplinary agency teams.
• Experience managing complex client situations, competing priorities and escalations.

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