Imagination

Experience design agency for live events

Account Director - Experiential & Live Events

Account ManagementPosted on Nov 12

Full-timeNew York, NY, USA$130k - $140k /yr

About the Job

Requirements

At least 8 years of account management experience at an experiential, live events, brand experience, or integrated marketing agency.
A strong track record across events, experiential activations, exhibition design, digital and social, screen content production, and marketing communications programs.
Experience leading, mentoring, and developing account teams.
Commercial experience owning project budgets, revenue targets, fees, and change orders.
Ability to manage multiple projects at once and prioritize resources so work is delivered on time and on budget.
Presentation, written, and verbal communication skills, with confidence in front of senior client stakeholders.
Ability to work occasional weekends and holidays around client workload, and travel internationally for up to two weeks at a time.

Responsibilities

Act as the trusted partner and senior point of contact for clients, understanding their brands, businesses, and priorities to influence their thinking.
Provide responsive client service and maintain high levels of client satisfaction.
Lead the reverse-brief process and propose initiatives that sustain and grow the account.
Identify and pursue organic growth opportunities across clients’ businesses.
Build relationships with clients’ other agency partners.
Manage client communication, status updates, and briefings so clients know the delivery schedule.
Serve as Client Lead or Project Lead on projects and lead client debriefs.
Lead, mentor, and develop account managers and coordinators, providing guidance and checking work quality.
Work with Resource Management to plan current and forecast client workload.
Ensure the team follows creative, financial, and system processes.
Act as the internal voice of the client at every stage, from proposal to live delivery.
Define and manage project scope and deliverables lists.
Develop briefs, timelines, and workback schedules with creative, production, and third-party suppliers, ensuring each department has what it needs to deliver.
Work with Production Leads to deliver events, activations, exhibitions, and content.
Own agendas, meetings, and client calls.
Lead internal debriefs and manage case study production for the case study library.
Oversee budget creation and schedules, and review and approve project budgets in line with delivery timelines.
Own project revenue and meet or exceed client revenue targets, monitored and reported monthly.
Manage budgets, fees, and change orders, and track spending against budget.
Ensure timely financial reconciliation and client communication.
Partner with the Client Services Director on the growth and development of clients.

Imagination is looking for an Account Director to lead experiential marketing and live event programs for global brands from our New York studio. You will be the client’s trusted partner and senior day-to-day lead – owning relationships, driving account growth and delivering brand activations, exhibitions, product launches and immersive experiences at scale.

Leading a team of account managers and coordinators, and working alongside our strategy, creative and production leads, you will take every brief from proposal through production and on-site delivery, while staying accountable for project revenue and profitability.

This is an agency-side client services leadership role – not a sales, SaaS or media account role.

Is This Role for You?

You have led experiential, live event or brand experience programs at an agency for 8+ years.
You have managed, mentored and grown account teams.
You are commercially minded and comfortable owning budgets, change orders and revenue targets.
You get energy from growing client relationships and spotting the next opportunity.

Client Leadership & Account Growth

Act as the trusted partner and senior point of contact for clients, with a deep understanding of their brand, business and priorities that helps us influence their thinking.
Provide highly responsive client service and maintain very high levels of client satisfaction.
Lead the reverse-brief process and propose new initiatives that sustain and grow the account.
Identify and pursue organic growth opportunities across the client’s business.
Build strong relationships with your clients’ other agency partners.
Manage client communication, status updates and briefings so clients always know the delivery schedule.
Play Client Lead or Project Lead on all projects, and lead client debriefs.

Team Leadership

Lead, mentor and develop a team of account managers and coordinators, providing guidance and checking quality of work.
Work with Resource Management to plan current and forecast client workload.
Ensure the team follows creative, financial and system processes.

Experiential Program & Project Delivery

Act as the internal voice of the client at every stage, from proposal to live delivery.
Define and manage project scope and deliverables lists.
Develop briefs, timelines and workback schedules with creative, production and third-party suppliers, and make sure every department has what it needs to deliver.
Work closely with our specialist Production Leads to deliver events, activations, exhibitions and content.
Own agendas, meetings and client calls.
Lead internal debriefs and manage case study production so your clients’ work is added to our case study library.

Financial & Commercial

Oversee budget creation and schedules, and review and approve project budgets in line with delivery timelines.
Own project revenue and meet or exceed client revenue targets, monitored and reported monthly.
Manage budgets, fees and change orders, and track burn against budget.
Ensure timely financial reconciliation and client communication.
Partner with the Client Services Director on the growth and development of your clients.

8+ years of account management experience at an experiential, live events, brand experience or integrated marketing agency.
A strong track record across events, experiential activations, exhibition design, digital and social, screen content production and marcomms programs.
Experience leading, mentoring and developing account teams.
Commercial experience owning project budgets, revenue targets, fees and change orders.
Ability to manage multiple projects at once, prioritizing resources so work is delivered on time and on budget.
Excellent presentation, written and verbal communication skills, with confidence in front of senior client stakeholders.
A strategic thinker and creative problem-solver who leads by behavior and attitude, not title.
Strong relationship-building skills across clients, internal teams and suppliers.
Flexible and adaptable as client needs and market conditions change.
Able to work occasional weekends and holidays around client workload, and travel internationally for up to two weeks at a time.

About the Company

Imagination

Experience design agency for live events

Imagination is an experience design agency that helps brands and organizations create experiences across consulting, destinations, content, and live events. Its teams from 13 global studios work together in a human-centered way to turn strategy into tangible programs, planning and producing experiences across locations and platforms. The company stands out by combining broad, integrated capabilities under one roof with a deeply independent, client-focused approach and a global studio network, serving clients like MLB, Visa, Amazon, Ford, LVMH, Harley-Davidson, and Google. Its goal is to move people through meaningful, memorable experiences that drive commercial and cultural growth while maintaining an independent, globally connected practice.

Company size: 501-1,000
Company stage: Not listed
Total funding: Not listed
Headquarters: United Kingdom
Founded: 1968

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