The account manager is a vital member of the agency’s delivery team, positioned at the ‘heart’ of the team structure. The ideal account manager should be confident taking the lead and presenting themselves as a safe pair of hands to both clients and to the senior team – but equally, should understand the importance of flexibility, and be comfortable acting as a crucial support function to the agency directors, CEO, and other members of the team.
A Roland Dransfield account manager will manage a portfolio of clients across multiple sectors, including real estate, financial services, sport, hospitality & leisure, and CEO/leadership publicity. You will make a clear and strong contribution to key business objectives through campaigns, relationship building and assisting with winning new business.
You should be comfortable acting as a core member of Roland Dransfield’s pitch team and have excellent presentation skills. Your skill and expertise will be required at every touchpoint of the new business process, and you should understand the cradle-to-grave process of nurturing a new lead into a conversion. You will be able to contribute genuinely exciting creative concepts in brainstorms, understanding how to root them in reality and ensure that they serve the purpose of meeting strategic objectives.
An account manager is an essential bridge between creative work, logistics, team resource, suppliers, reporting and client objectives. Your relationships with your clients should be such that you have an innate understanding of which ideas, proposals and suggestions from the team will resonate with them, acting at all times in their best interest. Excellent organisational skills will help you thrive in this particular area, as you will be expected to keep service levels adhered to, manage the P&L on your accounts, and understand the budget implications of your actions to the agency.
Whilst Roland Dransfield has a dedicated, #BloodyBrilliant digital and social team, an account manager in the agency should not be a ‘one-trick pony’ and lean too heavily on their media relations skills. The ideal RD account manager will be expected to work across PR, social media, events and digital, just as capable at telling a story editorially as they are at telling it via a piece of content. You should understand how to bring campaigns to life across PESO and be comfortable operating within a diverse channel mix.
Improving the client experience will be at the forefront of your mind 24/7, but your responsibilities extend beyond just those with your clients. You will be a key mentor and trainer to junior consultants, monitoring and overseeing their workloads and helping to nurture Roland Dransfield’s home-grown talent. You will be an approachable and reliable presence for them, acting empathetically and remembering to Walk A Mile in Another’s Shoes.
As a Roland Dransfield account manager, you should consider yourself a custodian of quality.
Key roles and responsibilities:
- Develop integrated campaigns from formulation through to execution, aligning them with the client’s key business objectives
- Create and confidently sell in ‘print-ready’ copy
- Managing client accounts with a commercial overview of billing levels, profitability and loss, upselling opportunities and ensuring all necessary paperwork and administration on the account is up to date
- Ensure a proactive service which is to the correct level across the account team
- Combine creativity with knowledge of the platforms that will best serve your client and meet their objectives
- Assist in the reporting, analysis, and evaluation of campaigns, understanding how to provide insights which will resonate with the client
- Be comfortable working with clients to set KPIs and smash them
- Liaise with the client and act as key point of contact, carrying out weekly calls and attending monthly meetings
- Be confident to act as a ‘sounding board’ for a client, adeptly advising them on the best course of action to take on a variety of issues
- Sell ideas, campaigns, and features to clients and media
- Manage the exec team effectively and supervise their activity and workload
- Fully participate in brainstorms and create workable programmes for new business and existing clients
- Building positive, lasting relationships with the RD team, with media, with key stakeholders, and with your client base
- Be accountable for quality of service
- Keep track of impending deadlines and ensure all work is completed in a timely manner
- Identify new business opportunities and actively participate in new business development including proposal and pitch deck writing
- Represent Roland Dransfield at networking events
Requirements:
- Minimum four years’ experience in similar agency or in-house role
- High level of writing skills and ability to adapt style for different audiences
- A strong understanding of the media, editorial requirements and what makes a story
- Demonstrably strong relationships with journalists on a regional and national level
- Experience of delivering impactful, integrated campaigns from inception through to delivery
- Experience of managing high-profile B2B and B2C social media accounts
- Experience of running paid social campaigns
- Ability to build relationships internally and externally, at all levels
- Strong organisational and time management skills
- Strong administrative and project management skills
- A thorough understanding of the value and importance of PR and its place within the overall communications/marketing mix
- A thorough understanding of all aspects of marketing and the ability to create campaigns that utilise a variety of skills and tools
- Strong presentation skills, presenting effectively and talking with authority
- Reliable, committed and organised with an ability to handle change easily and work across a portfolio of accounts
- Confident and has the ability to foster confidence and respect from clients
- An understanding of what Roland Dransfield’s purpose is, and the ability to communicate this to clients, prospects, junior team members, and external stakeholders
- Great interpersonal skills