Senior Account Manager

We are a specialist division of M&C Saatchi.

Our aim is to harness the power of cutting-edge marketing, communications, and creativity, so that they become key tenets of social and behaviour change activity throughout the International Development sector.

Together with our local partners we are focussed on tackling some of humanity's most challenging and important problems, in fragile states and developing countries.

If you are looking for a career with purpose, fascinating topics, and travel, that will challenge you and develop your skillset, we would love to hear from you

Job Title : Senior Account Manager

Reports to : Account Director / Business Director

Job purpose

. Work on a range of social change communications projects on behalf of third sector organisations.

. Support all aspects of our existing work, and any other contracts that become active over the course of employment, to ensure project delivery at the highest quality possible, on time and within budget.

. Assist the Account Director and Business Director and others in the wider team in project delivery from encompassing all aspects of a communications campaign life cycle.

Main Accountabilities

Strategy

. Have a clear understanding of the broader strategy on the business that you work on and be starting to take an active role in shaping the individual project briefs with your strategist.

. Be familiar with research insights, previous campaign evaluation and the impact that has on the live projects and be able to talk confidently and clearly about strategic issues and considerations with your clients and team.

. Take an active interest in the sector and any issues or current affairs that may impact the strategy, including an understanding of different comms models and channels - and proactively share your point of view.

. Work in close partnership with both your strategist and your Account Director to help set the strategic direction on the projects that you work on and ensure that all work is on brief.

The Work

. Take an active role in how the work is presented and the development of presentations.

. Help to inspire and shape the work and ensuring it is always on brief, and feel confident in having healthy and constructive debate with the creatives.

. Be confident at presenting to clients in a way that is clear and articulate and be able to have debates and discussions about the work in a way that is constructive and intelligent.

. The master of all production - a totally safe pair of hands who can be left to oversee production with minor oversight of the Account Director, including managing timings, budgets, quality control of delivery, spotting out of scope projects or potential new, more productive ways of working.

The Agency

. Contribute to cross-agency groups and initiatives and forge inter-departmental relationships to encourage sharing and learning.

. Take the more junior members of the department under your wing, particularly those on your team, helping them to get to grips with their role, to become part of the agency culture and, where relevant, inducting them on your business

. Be kind, generous and enthusiastic member of your team.

Relationships

. Have established strong relationships with your clients. You should clearly demonstrate your knowledge of the region and the sector, ensuring that you are trusted implicitly to have their interests at heart.

. Be trusted by your team and client by demonstrating your expert knowledge and management of the production process.

. Forge strong relationships with your strategy and creative teams by working hand-in-glove with them, representing their views to the client and through demonstrating your knowledge of the issues, geographies, and target audiences.

Business Impact

. Be comfortable having difficult conversations with both the team internally and, following sense-checking with your team, the client as appropriate. Follow your instincts on what is right.

. Be able to manage status meetings, small scale PPMs (e.g. print/ digital) and write a killer contact report that doesn't need to be checked before it is sent out.

. Be effective at managing up, as well as down, actively developing the more junior members of the team and ensuring the more senior members of your team can relax, knowing you have the day-to-day management of the account or project covered.

Situational Awareness:

. Build on an in-depth understanding of the media and political environment in the Southeast Asian context in order to understand the wider risk factors and adapt decisions accordingly.

Knowledge and Expertise

Essential:

. Knowledge of the media industry, creative production, and media dissemination.

. Knowledge of Southeast Asian communications tools and trends.

. A firm interest and understanding of geo-politics, history, and International Relations.

. Knowledge of social and behaviour change communications (SBCC).

. Knowledge of Strategic Communications

Experience and Qualifications and Core Skills:

Essential:

. Experience in a similar working environment: 5 years or more experience

. Fluent in written and spoken English.

. Practical understanding of commercial operations.

. Excellent oral and written communications skills (English).

. Proficient in all components of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel).

. Demonstrable liaison skills across the numerous sectors normally associated with working in developing countries.

. Cultural knowledge of Southeast Asia and experience of living in region.

. Experience of managing media projects or communications campaigns.

Desirable:

. Experience of working with Government(s).

. Working knowledge in a Southeast Asian language.

Additional Key Qualities
Essential:

. Excellent communication skills to enable a strong working relationship with senior stakeholders and to understand client requirements.

. A solutions mindset and proactive, intuitive approach to tackling challenges

. Proven record as a reliable and empathic team-player

. Keen interest in creativity and the Indo Pacific media environment

. Sense of responsibility towards the organisation's reputation.

. Ability to travel and work independently.

. A strong desire to contribute to a learning environment, to continuously upskill yourself and others around you.

. Support in fostering an inspiring and inclusive agency culture