Group Account Director

GROUP ACCOUNT DIRECTOR

THE COMPANY

McCann Worldwide is one of the world's largest advertising agency networks with operations in over 120 countries. The agency opened in 1912 with Truth Well Told as its founding -- and enduring -- creative philosophy. As we have enhanced this strategy-based creative approach to keep it relevant in today’s multichannel brand communications world, we have strengthened our ability to unearth consumer insights, highlight behavioral brand truths, and create innovative multiplatform experiences that help our clients’ brands play a meaningful role in consumers’ lives.

• Lead, develop and mentor the delivery teams to provide the best possible client service and product.
• Lead by example, having a strong and positive relationship with Senior Managers and Creative Teams.
• Ensure adequate resourcing of accounts, working with Line Managers and Senior Team to drive resource forecasting and to highlight any issues before they impact on team performance or the client relationship.
• Ensure project teams are focused and motivated to deliver high quality product and service.
• Line manages account service staff as required/appropriate.
• Secure profitable ongoing business and expand the opportunities available to the business.
• Develop, grow and nurture team members providing them with opportunities and support to benefit their personal development.

• Lead the client service team, ensuring a good long-term relationship with clients and providing a consistently efficient and effective client service.
• Ensure that team is proactively dealing with all client issue
• Develop an extensive client network and become an expert in the needs of those clients.
• Develop an excellent level of understanding of therapy areas and brand strategy, to ensure strategic input and guideline can be given to clients and team members.
• Provide a professional, high quality marketing perspective to allocated accounts, for the benefit of both the client and the business.

• Become a strategic partner for our clients – gaining trust and providing council
• Ensure clients receive proactive ideas and creative input to assist and also challenge their own thinking and planning.
• Keep abreast of developments and attitudes in the worldwide healthcare environment at industry, government and health service level. Develop sources of information, particularly through contacts with relevant people.

• Proactively identify opportunities to organically grow existing client business.
• Proactively identify new business opportunities for the business.
• Lead and drive new proposal development and new business pitches – pulling on all required resources.

• Oversee financial management of own accounts with timely invoicing and effective financial management.
• Develop and sign-off account plans and deliver agreed fee-growth targets.
• Ensure effective use of time and costs across all accounts.
• Target 100% recovery of time.
• Ensure JCRs (Job cost reports) are managed effectively and efficiently, and information relating to each JCR is fed into the master finance tracker.
• Develop plan for assigned accounts, work proactively to meet financial targets, identify opportunities for growth of potential limitations and propose appropriate courses of action.

• Describing the relationships between high quality work, engaged clients, business success and individual benefit.
• Setting expectations on the quality of creative ideas and work within brand guidelines.
• Promoting, and internally rewarding, multi-disciplinary briefs.
• Promoting, and internally rewarding, the development of integrated solutions.

• Challenging and describing the clients’ business objectives in terms of their competitive environment.
• Encouraging working relationships that promote a collaborative approach to work across the business, with clients and suppliers.
• Building and developing mutually supportive client relationships.
• Challenging clients’ perceived needs to enable a level of service delivery beyond their expectations.

• Identifying and developing talented individuals within, and for, the account team/s.
• Providing and delivering development plans for team members.
• Providing feedback on the quality of work and identifying and delivering areas for improvement.
• Ensuring that individual performance targets support those of the account team/s and are met.

• Maximising the benefit of contractual obligations.
• Ensuring the account team/s understands the conditions of the contract.
• Identifying opportunities to ‘up-sell’ services not included in the scope of work.
• Ensuring that revenue and direct cost forecasts are on budget.
• Managing the preparation of pitch materials and budgets in total.

• People person with a strong ability to cultivate long-lasting client relationships.
• Strategically minded with a razor-sharp ability to identify business problems and establish a role for integrated creativity
• Natural leader with a first among equals approach – able to lead and influence cross-functional, geographically dispersed teams to deliver excellence
• Proactive collaborator able to establish meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships with intra agency teams and agencies within the client’s agency village
• Commercially-minded with strong business acumen and fiscal awareness – committed to compliance, processes and financial diligence.

This role is based in Sydney and offers a flexible working arrangement. Applicants must have full-working rights in Australia.