Reporting to the Practice Director for One North, the Managing Director of the Client Account Team plays a crucial role in the stability and growth of our client relationships. This includes exploring new solutions and capabilities for the agency, identifying key client relationships with growth potential, and building detailed account plans that help us scale. The ideal candidate should have strong relationship management skills, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a proven record of accomplishment working in digital design agencies delivering strategy, design, and technology solutions that transform businesses. The ideal candidate should have experience leading client teams at other agencies and have a story to tell around helping those agencies grow. The Managing Director of the Client Account Team serves as the glue between our clients, the One North practices, and our Business Development Team.

As a member of the Managing Director Team, the Managing Director of the Client Account Team will work with a talented and motivated group of leaders focused on growing and scaling One North. We will look to the candidate to collaborate and provide input based on experience.

In this role, the Managing Director of the Client Account Team will be responsible for building a comprehensive strategic account plan and guiding a team of Client Account Directors focused on client retention and growth.

This leader is required to be located in the Chicagoland area for a very flexible hybrid onsite/remote work model at our downtown Chicago office.

Responsibilities

Team Management and Leadership

• Coaches and develops Client Account Directors
• Establishes a growth mindset and work ethic for the Client Account Team
• Challenges and inspires the team while understanding and managing the team’s strengths and weaknesses
• Develops growth and development plans for the team, monitors progress, and provides timely feedback
• Connects the team to the right resources within One North and TEKsystems Global Services
• Collaborates with the Managing Directors of Sales, Delivery, and the Practices to identify what the agency needs to grow
• Accountable for setting the highest standards and driving performance metrics
• Partners with the Managing Directors and reports on Team Status, Goals, and Key Initiatives
• Ensures that the team is fully utilized and that we have the right talent mix

Client Relationship

• Serves and main point of contact for escalations, client growth opportunities, affiliate and client partnership strategies, and thought leadership/marketing needs
• Maintains a big picture view and thinks creatively to solve problems, especially when dealing with complex business challenges
• Works collaboratively and develops strong partnerships with clients, agency resources, and account teams
• Delivers strong ideas as well as brilliant, creative, and flawless execution through the management of interdisciplinary teams and with other team leads
• Takes appropriate risks with a relentless focus on results
• Demonstrates passion for the agency, the work, and the client’s business
• Accountable for own actions, agency team performance, and client results

Sales/Organic Growth

• Along with our Sales Team, partners with our Affiliate Team (Adobe, Sitecore, Figma, etc.) to identify growth opportunities and advise on investment strategies
• Responsible for comprehensive, strategic Account Plans
• Supervises the production of appropriate scopes of work that will help us meet financial goals
• Guides the Client Account Team to partner with Business Development and Delivery to grow and expand the business
• Engages in meaningful discussions with clients and partners to take actions to improve the business
• Identifies new opportunities “from the work” to be pursued in collaboration with the Client Account Directors and Managers, One North Client Development, and TEKsystems internal sales team members
• Supports the Client Account Directors as we work with the selling team
• Responsible for pricing strategy and actively involved in the estimating process for scopes of work
• Works with the Client Account Directors to identify sales opportunities with existing client relationships

Creative Advocacy/Work Product

• Creates an environment and atmosphere that encourages the pursuit of big ideas; takes a leadership role in actively nurturing and contributing to the development of creative ideas
• Guides the development of sell-in strategy in partnership with Strategy and Creative teams, pre-conditions the client, and protects the big idea once sold
• Excellent judge of and advocate for creative/digital work and able to argue a case in any client/agency forum
• Champions the agency perspective and is persuasive and articulate when communicating
• Stays connected to the work, striking the right balance of detail versus high-level knowledge to add value on both dimensions and help clients realize their vision with One North’s capabilities

Finance/Billing

• Accountable for healthy financial management of the team, working with delivery monitoring all relationships supported by the project teams
• Provides reporting on account health

Skills & Qualifications

• 10 or more years of experience leading account teams at a large design/digital agency
• 10 or more years of experience working as an Account Director, Group Account Director, VP, SVP, or Client Partner capacity serving the Fortune 500
• Robust experience partnering with Affiliates (Adobe, Sitecore, Figma, etc.)
• Technical proficiency understanding of multiple CMS platforms, data strategy, and creative
• Prior agency (digital, communications, or marketing) experience required
• Poise, executive presence, and outstanding communication skills
• Experience overseeing and developing a team of people responsible for managing day-to-day account efforts
• Experience overseeing multiple large accounts and portfolios
• Experience managing multiple client relationships of more than $10–$20M a year in revenue
• Experience achieving growth and sales targets
• Experience managing challenging external stakeholders
• Highly collaborative and able to work effectively across leadership to solve issues quickly
• Strong interpersonal skills (externally and internally) and emotional intelligence, proactive self-starter, strong presence, outstanding communication skills, and strong service orientation
• Strong digital and experience design capabilities and proficiency in marketing
• Must be a growth-minded individual that drives conversations and pursuits forward
• Must have a passion for solving ambiguous challenges and demonstrate solution-oriented leadership internally and externally
• Must be a team player that actively seeks opportunities to collaborate
• Ability to effectively construct and tell a compelling and clear story around a value proposition, both orally and in presentations

Benefits

• Our comprehensive benefits program includes Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO Health coverage, as well as a health savings account with employer-funded contributions.
• We also offer Dental and Vision insurance. All of our full-time employees are eligible for Life/AD&D insurance and Short/Long Term Disability insurance free of cost, with the option to add additional voluntary coverage if desired.
• One North’s 401(k) plan allows employees to save for retirement through pre- or post-tax contributions along with employer-matched funds for maximized savings potential.
• Our Transportation Benefits enable employees to also make pre-tax contributions to pay for parking and public transit needs.
• We know how important unwinding can be for inspiration, innovation and productivity. Our full-time employees earn 4 weeks of paid time off, in addition to company paid holidays. Employees begin to accrue additional time off once they reach their 3-year and 10-year anniversaries with the business.
• One North also understands how critical it is for parents to bond with their new additions. We provide paid Parental and Primary Caregiver Leave to assist and support employees who experience a new birth, adoption or foster placement of a child.
• We also offer an Employee Perks Program that offers member-only discounts and corporate rates on everything from pizza and the zoo, to movie tickets, car rentals, and hotels.

*Additional details around our perks and benefits will be provided during the interview process.
**Clicking the Apply now button will redirect you to apply on TEKsystems.com.