Group Account Director full-time

Purpose and Position Summary

The Group Account Director is the public facing leader for CREW in the Surrey / Lower Mainland area and will advance the strategic direction of CREW by:

• Building and growing profitable client relationships
• Sourcing and advancing new client opportunities for the Surrey office
• Leading the superior performance of the Marketing team and their accounts
• Ensuring that the strategies, campaigns, and deliverables are executed with excellence

Key Areas of Accountability:

Client Relationship Development

• Assigns appropriate Marketing Services team member to participate in initial sales meeting with prospective clients as needed
• Manages and develops the onboarding process of new clients, facilitating the hand-off from Business Development to the Marketing Services team in a way that is seamless, both internally and externally
• Maximizes “share of wallet” growth by ensuring every client has a marketing strategy and that every Marketing Services team member has a plan for the client; proactively develops client relationships through early and regular phone check-ins, lunches, social events and connecting at various business events
• Brings clients and prospects to CREW education and development opportunities where appropriate

Business Development

• Actively engages with the Business Development team in developing new client business opportunities, making pitches when required, providing the strategic marketing perspective
• Ensures business development targets are met or exceeded for the Surrey office
• Manages the Business Development staff in their region of coverage, including performance reviews and other direct management functions
• Ensures personal and departmental Business Development participation through attending second sales meetings, networking, and identification and management of new contacts

Marketing / Account Team Leadership

• Builds, develops, and coaches the Surrey Business Development and Marketing Services team so they are fully competent in delivering high quality, value-rich products and services within the agency’s guidelines for project efficiency and client profitability
• Implements a clear training plan, advancement path, and onboarding program for the department, with the ultimate goal of developing “rock-star” marketers
• Provides input and guidance to Business Developers and Marketers in a way that supports the retention and professional development of each team member, ensuring each has a personal professional development plan and that plans are delivered on within the year
• Teaches and coaches the marketing team on: Strategy Development using the CORE process, Marketing Execution, Project Management, Client Management and Relationship Building
• Meets with Managers regularly on team member performance to address issues and concerns, and ensure formal review process takes place
• Plans and coordinates department team building and bonding experiences
• Meets regularly and informally with team members; communicates, and maintains accessibility that fosters team cohesion, and demonstrates visible and engaged leadership

Leadership and Administration

• Allocates Marketing Services resources to appropriate client assignments and communicates to Business Development which team has the capacity to take on new clients
• Establishes the annual Surreymarketing services targets by client, and quarterly “Latest Estimate” budgets
• Communicates, monitors and holds Surrey Marketing teams accountable for targets and revenue forecasting and proactively communicates with Business Development and company Directors on progress/results
• Ensures Marketing teams are adhering to the protocols and standards that are set from the Manager of Finance for reimbursable mark-up, client expense timing, invoicing
• Develops a “flex force” Marketing team or other solutions to handle the swings in demand to ensure “approved” activities can be moved forward quickly
• Builds a “virtual bench” of marketers to assist in the recruitment of the team
• Continuously improves the Marketing Services and Business Development processes and organizational structure and how these teams interact with the Shared Services groups to ensure a highly efficient and effective operation

The People:

• Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
• Annual and Mid-Year Personal Development Plan Review
• Direct Reports: Marketing Managers and Marketing Project Managers in Surrey office, Business Development team members in the Surrey office
• Active participation and contribution to the Leadership Team and attendance at the Leadership Team meetings and off-sites
• Feedback / Coaching:

Weekly 30 min 1-1 with CEO to review Priorities and Progress

- Monthly review on department performance from dashboard

Success Measurements:

• Meet or exceed bookings and/or business development targets leading to recognized revenues
• Meet or exceed topline revenue targets (Core and Share-of-Wallet) with existing clients;
• Meet Share-of-Wallet targets which includes bringing new services to clients, all clients having strategic resets, calendars, budgets and KPI scorecards
• Marketing Dept. Profitability (pricing + efficiency + Utilization Rates) ) on a contribution margin basis (including labour costs)
• Outstanding Client Satisfaction and retention as measured by a Net Promoter Score
• Employee retention rates are maintained or improved from the previous year
• Marketing Services team is meeting a strong Efficiency Rate (100% or lower)

The Person:

Successful performance of the role will require:

• Inspired and driven by helping entrepreneurs, organizations and people succeed
• Strong personal alignment of the CREW values of Character, Relationship, Execution, and Wow
• Detailed understanding of marketing strategy, marketing execution, and client management
• Strong leadership in team building, communication, motivation, and people management
• Ability to coach and train a team of marketers for effective client results
• Vision of the industry, trends, and new innovation
• Entrepreneurial mindset and curiosity
• Bias for action and taking the initiative to meet targets
• Ability to create annual plans and budgets and contingency plans to meet department goals
• Administrative and analytic aptitude to find insights in the management of the department
• Business degree (requirement) – preferred emphasis Marketing or Management
• Agency, Consulting, Account Management experience (bonus)

Billable / Non-Billable: Non-Billable Administrative Position (75%), although some activities in the client strategy process client management process matters will be billable (25%