Account Manager

Our Opportunity

GPJ is hiring an Account Manager to join our growing team.

This role is hybrid, requiring you to report on-site to one of the following office locations a minimum of 2 days/week: Austin, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York City, or San Francisco.

Your Role

You are responsible for making sure that projects within your area of responsibility meet their timelines and budget requirements. Your focus is on a smaller scope, but you take this accountability seriously. You also have the task of keeping margin levels in check for the portfolio you've been assigned. This includes managing any service changes that may come up.

Maintaining a strong strategic responsibility and owning client relationships is a key part of your role. You work to build trust and engagement with both your clients and vendors, internal stakeholders, team members, and other departments. You view things through the client lens.

In addition, you support program direction, objectives, and plans. You possess proficiency in our tools (CRM, Deltek, etc) as well as thorough understanding of our processes. You provide a high level of client service and satisfaction, all while ensuring that you consistently and efficiently deploy GPJ methodologies.

Another aspect of your role is to negotiate and collaborate effectively with internal staff. This collaboration is crucial in driving client success and ensuring account profitability. You actively engage with the greater Account Management Practice, including bi-monthly calls, and Slack channel discussions. 

Lastly, you may have the opportunity to mentor, manage, lead and develop members of the account team. It's important to support the growth and development of your colleagues in this dynamic role. 

Your Skills

• Experience working with Fortune 500 brands desired
• Experience working on more than one area of the client program desired
• Experience with increasingly complex projects and events
• Understands how to effectively oversee overall project timelines
• Understands effective budget oversight and troubleshooting for larger budgets, leveraging SMEs as needed
• building their 'influence' -- learning how to convey key messages both to the client and within the GPJ/PWW alliance.
• Helps ensure team proactively addresses key project financial metrics, including profitability and margin
• Mindful of overall account health. Helps ensure team interprets and proactively addresses impact of changes on project financial metrics
• Able to have more complex financial conversations with clients.
• Has clear understanding of PO process; able to oversee reconciliation and client invoicing
• Exhibit some understanding of multi-channel marketing (including digitally integrated event and experiential marketing) concepts, terminology, strategies, brand management best practices, and marketplace execution of concepts
• May have direct reports
• May help mentor / teach others on Account team; may help manage onsite resources
• Actively support (or may lead for smaller account) definition of strategic direction for account/program; proactively engage with team to add strategic and creative contributions. 
• Lead internal strategic meetings and may present findings to client
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office software including PPT, Word, Excel, Outlook. Previous experience with ERP, Project Management software, or similar tool is preferred

Your Competencies

Account Development & Growth: Through in-depth business, industry and client knowledge, drive forward thinking approaches and concepts aligned to and anticipating client’s needs and objectives enabling agency differentiation, identification of new areas for growth and client satisfaction.

Client Orientation: You demonstrate concern for satisfying external and/or internal clients aka client obsession. You focus always on the end clients, ensuring that response times and service are at the forefront of customer interactions, via technology or human touch points. You provide superior client service by prioritizing personal interactions (verbal or face-to-face) with our clients on a regular cadence. You listen as well as advise our clients on given situations to ensure engagement success.

Relationship Builder: Develop, maintain and strengthen partnerships with others inside and outside the client organization. Identify new stakeholders, manage client expectations, define new business opportunities and deliver against clients’ needs while skillfully balancing the needs of the client and those of the agency. Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport,: builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.

Your Experience

Experience & Education

• 5-7 years of previous industry / agency experience
• 2(+) years of client management experience desired
• 4 Year College Degree; preferred in Marketing/Advertising/Event Management/Business Administration, Hospitality, Communications, or related field

Travel & Mobility

• Ability to travel as required
• Ability to work irregular hours in addition to normal business hours, to include nights, weekends and holidays as needed

Your Impact

In your role, you will have influence and responsibility over:

• Business Development
• Project Launch 
• Management, Delivery & Deployment
• Change Order Management
• Invoicing, Financial Reconciliation & Closing

Salary Range: $65k - $75k

Salary is dependent on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) experience, skills, and location.

Who We Are

GPJ is the world leader in experiential marketing. Our 29 global offices are filled with fearless people dreaming up ideas that are transforming industries and bringing the most respected brands to life in powerfully, exciting ways. We are a part of the Project Worldwide family. An independent, employee-owned global network of complementary, wholly owned agencies. 

You read that “employee-owned” part, right? You heard us correctly. You work hard, she works hard, we all work hard… we all succeed and reap the rewards. We have an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) – providing our employees with an ownership interest. We thought you would want to know that. In fact, there is a lot more you would want to know about us, like our FTO policy (no more “accruing” time off), our employer matching 401(k) plan (no vesting period), our “no employee contribution” healthcare option. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here, let’s talk about this exciting opportunity first and we can fill you in on our perks & benefits later.

GPJ is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, citizenship, disability, protected veteran status, or any other protected class. In addition to federal law requirements, GPJ complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.  GPJ expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on any protected class.