Group Account Director

Machine_ is a creative solutions agency represented across Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, and is home to over 75 adventurous minds. At Machine_ we don’t believe that intuition and gut feel are enough. That’s why everything we do starts with an insight. Our team of experts uses these insights to create impactful and accountable solutions that touch consumers at every point in their connected world.

Machine_ is part of Publicis Groupe, one of the fastest-growing global networks.

Machine’s mantra, Never Afraid, underpins our values of; doing the right thing, being curious, solution orientated and at its core ‘giving a s**t!’. Living this mantra daily helps grow our Clients’ businesses and these are the values we look for when recruiting new talent. The right personality is just as important as the right experience. We’re here to work hard and have fun while doing it.

• Management of TTL campaigns and communication on a day-to-day basis  (experience on ATL – TV, OOH, Radio - and print production is preferable as well as digital campaign experience) across multiple client portfolios.
• Management of digital Content Marketing (editorial) content for multiple client portfolios
• Management of client expectations and service delivery by being a focal and trusted point for day-to-day interaction.
• Assisting your line manager / Business Lead in driving organic business growth within your portfolio as well as flexing into areas of new business / client wins that are acquired over time.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Master the clients’ business and relationships to be a true and valued client partner, being indispensable to their business, ensuring longevity and partnership
• Flex across multiple Clients and multiple communication disciplines
• Ensuring that you empower yourself with full knowledge and understanding of your client brands and with the technicalities of the deliverables so that you have smart and productive conversations
• Implement and drive efficient and effective processes that allow for consistent tracking and powerful conversations
• Full ownership of your accounts, taking accountability for all work presented and delivered
• Empower yourself to set up new Clients quickly and effectively
• Support your Business Lead in driving and meeting all financial targets
• Empower your seniors with the correct information to ensure that they correctly support you and the Client
• Have tough and honest conversations with your clients to enable your team to deliver excellence and you create trust through positive outcomes
• Have confident presentation skills with the ability to sell work effectively
• Be a strategic partner to your clients, enabling you to guide and drive better work, better business conversations, and build business
• Maintain the integrity of the creative strategy and work throughout the campaign
• Exceptional management of Client expectations
• Can manage all kinds of personalities and always strive to get the best out of each individual
• Have an excellent knowledge understanding of the Client, the agency, the strategy, and the process to deliver efficiently and to the highest quality
• Communicate with excellence, maturity and intent when writing or speaking
• Keep abreast of what is happening in the market (broad communication trends and Client competitor work) to add additional value to your client’s business
• Continuously have bigger business conversations with senior Clients to understand what’s keeping them up at night in order to proactively propose creative solutions
• Be prepared to work long hours as and when is necessary in order to deliver according to the deadline and to support the broader team
• Join in the agency culture to build strong relationships across the business

• Marketing qualification essential, ideally educated to a Diploma level
• 6 - 8 years’ experience in Account Management in Communication/ Advertising Industry
• Seamless managing the expectations of multiple stakeholders (internally and externally) to deliver according to brief, strategy and to the highest standard
• You must have experience running jobs, projects, and campaigns from start to finish with minor senior support. You should have the drive to take ownership, and develop your portfolio
• Experience driving out the production of high-quality printed material is critical 
• ATL, TV and print production is preferred
• Experience in digital is preferrable

Publics Groupe is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and prohibits any forms of Discrimination or Harassment. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all our employees in line with our Employment Equity Plan. All appointments will be based on qualifications, experience and best fit but preference will be given to all affirmative action candidates or designated groups.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Should you not hear from us within 2 weeks after submitting your application, please consider your application as unsuccessful.