Role Overview
The Client Director is the senior, accountable leader for one or more strategic clients, acting as the primary trusted advisor and commercial owner of the relationship. This role carries end-to-end responsibility for client partnership, commercial performance, service excellence, and team leadership, with a strong focus on long-term value creation, growth, and retention.
You will operate as a true partner to senior stakeholders (Csuite, ExCo, Heads of Marketing, Digital, Data, and Product), bringing a deep understanding of the Financial Services landscape, regulatory considerations, customer journeys, and media investment models.
Key Accountabilities
Client Partnership & Leadership
- Overall leadership and ownership of significant Financial Services client(s) or client portfolio, acting as the Client Director and main point of accountability.
- Build, maintain, and deepen trusted, senior-level client partnerships, including Csuite, regional leadership, and key decision-makers.
- Serve as a strategic advisor on B2B clients, translating business and regulatory challenges into effective media, CX, and growth solutions.
- Shape and lead a forward-leaning client partnership strategy, proactively identifying growth opportunities, anticipating needs before they surface, and strengthening long-term advocacy and retention.
Business & Commercial Ownership
- Full end-to-end ownership of the client business, including delivery of the agreed service propositions.
- Drive revenue growth, profitability, and margin discipline while ensuring high-quality, seamless delivery.
- Proactively identify and deliver cross-sell and upsell opportunities across the dentsu ecosystem, aligned to Financial Services client needs.
- Own and manage commercial targets, forecasts, and budgets, ensuring strong financial governance and transparency.
Financial & Operational Excellence
- Lead commercial finance management, including revenue forecasting, budget control, and reporting.
- Ensure robust operational finance discipline, minimising debt, maximising working capital, and ensuring contractual compliance.
- Drive media and operational excellence, balancing quality delivery with efficiency and avoiding over-servicing.
Team & People Leadership
- Lead, inspire, and develop a high-performing team of media and client practitioners.
- Create a motivated, sustainable team culture aligned to client objectives, Financial Services timelines, and regulatory demands.
- Own performance management, development planning, and career mapping for direct reports.
- Proactively identify performance issues and partner with HR to resolve effectively.
- Drive succession planning, talent development, and retention of senior team members.
Resourcing & Capability
- Ensure teams are appropriately resourced, skilled, and trained to deliver against Financial Services client requirements.
- Identify capability gaps and support upskilling in areas such as performance media, data, compliance, and digital transformation.
- Ensure delivery teams meet all contractual, governance, and regulatory obligations.
New Business & Growth
- Lead or support Financial Services new business initiatives and pitches, in collaboration with New Business and Marketing teams.
- Leverage senior client relationships and market presence to generate organic growth and new opportunities.
Professional Skills
- Proven client partnership mindset, with the ability to build credibility and influence at all levels of a client organisation.
- Strong understanding of Financial Services marketing, including banking, insurance, wealth, or fintech environments.
- Strategic thinker with the ability to connect business outcomes to media, CX, and data-driven solutions.
- Deep knowledge of holistic media ecosystems, including digital, performance, brand, and customer experience.
- Strong analytical capability with confidence in interpreting financial and performance data.
- Commercially astute with a clear focus on growth, profitability, and value creation.
- Ability to cultivate strong media owner, vendor, and inter-client partnerships, including Joint Business Plans (JBPs).
Key Experience & Background
- Significant experience in a Client Director, Client Partner, or senior client leadership role, with demonstrable exposure to complex B2B brands and enterprise decision-making ecosystems.
- Extensive experience managing Financial Services clients, ideally across complex, regulated environments.
- Strong track record of winning, growing, and retaining large, strategic client accounts
- Proven ability to deliver commercial growth opportunities for clients especially in ABM programs.
- High-level communication, negotiation, and influencing skills, particularly with senior stakeholders.
- Demonstrated success leading and developing senior teams in matrix and virtual organisations.
- Resilient leader able to operate effectively in fast-paced, high-accountability environments.
- Own accountability for measurement and reporting, establishing clear success frameworks, driving rigorous performance tracking, and ensuring transparent, commercially grounded reporting that links activity to tangible business outcomes.
- A values-led leader who role-models dentsu's North Star and 8 Ways
- Cultural awareness with the ability to adapt leadership and communication style across markets.
