Account Director - Financial Services

We are a highly entrepreneurial and opportunity focused company who want to be the most desired creative company on the African continent and beyond. To achieve this, we set out to inspire our people and define ourselves as a Group with one powerful orientation at our core: WE BOLDLY GO. These few words serve as both an invitation and challenge to all our people to always do the BOLD thing, together. The idea that, in the face of considerable challenges & change, we would be daring enough to do something audacious. Challenge yourself. Be bold. Join us.

Job Summary

As an Account Director, you will be responsible for leading the day-to-day relationship with a key financial services client, providing strategic direction and ensuring the successful delivery of integrated campaigns from brief through to execution.

You will act as the senior agency lead across multiple stakeholders, ensuring that client business objectives are translated into clear strategic and creative briefs, while driving strong agency output, commercial performance and client satisfaction. The ideal candidate will have proven experience working within a leading advertising agency, with a strong track record managing financial institution or financial services clients.

Key Responsibilities:

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• Lead the overall client relationship, building trusted partnerships with senior client stakeholders.
• Act as the key agency lead across strategic, creative, digital, production and media teams.
• Translate complex client business requirements into clear, actionable briefs and integrated campaigns.
• Provide strategic input and challenge clients constructively to deliver stronger business and creative outcomes.
• Lead campaigns from strategy and briefing through to execution and rollout, ensuring quality and consistency across all touchpoints.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining clear priorities, timelines and deliverables.
• Ensure effective collaboration across internal teams, external agencies and partner agencies.
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of digital, social and performance marketing platforms and how they integrate into broader campaigns.
• Present confidently to senior stakeholders and lead client presentations, status meetings and campaign reviews.
• Identify potential risks, challenges and project blockages early and proactively develop solutions.
• Provide clarity across briefs, debriefs, project plans, status updates and campaign delivery.

Financial and Commercial Accountability:

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• Take ownership of the financial management of the account and individual projects.
• Develop and manage project budgets, ensuring work is delivered within agreed financial parameters.
• Generate and manage Change Estimates (CEs) for out-of-scope work.
• Ensure Purchase Orders are received from clients timeously.
• Work closely with Finance to ensure accurate and timely invoicing.
• Follow up on outstanding client payments where required.
• Identify opportunities to improve account profitability and demonstrate a strong understanding of return on investment.
• Balance client expectations, agency resources and commercial requirements effectively.

Client and Team Leadership:

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• Build strong, trusted relationships with senior stakeholders within financial institutions.
• Lead elevated client conversations and confidently navigate complex or sensitive discussions.
• Understand the regulatory, reputational and business considerations that can influence financial services communications.
• Lead and motivate multidisciplinary agency teams to deliver high-quality work.
• Foster a collaborative and integrated way of working across Creative, Strategy, Media, Digital, Production and partner agencies.
• Provide clear direction and accountability to teams, whether working remotely or in-office.

Experience Required:

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• 5+ years’ experience in Account Management within an advertising or creative agency environment.
• Proven experience at Account Director level, managing significant client portfolios and multidisciplinary teams.
• Financial services or financial institution experience is essential.
• Experience working with banking, insurance, investment, fintech or other financial services brands is highly advantageous.
• Strong understanding of advertising agency structures, processes and ways of working.
• Proven experience managing senior client stakeholders and multiple decision-makers.
• Strong understanding of integrated advertising, including ATL, BTL, TTL, digital and social.
• Strong understanding of digital platforms and the broader performance marketing ecosystem.
• Demonstrated experience taking projects from strategy through to final execution and rollout.
• Strong commercial and financial management experience.
• Excellent presentation, communication, negotiation and relationship-management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, competing priorities and tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to influence and collaborate across multidisciplinary teams.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

Qualifications:

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• Degree or diploma in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, Business or a related field.
• Project Management qualification or relevant training is advantageous.

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