Account Director - VP - Business Management

About the role

The Account Director, VP, Business Management, is accountable for all aspects of business management for his/her assigned large-scale, multi-million-dollar account(s). The Business Management lead is a collaborative business partner to Account Management, Project Management, Finance, Creative and support service department leads, ensuring the fiscal health of the business.

Responsibilities

• Partners with Account and Project Management, Creative and support service department leads on development of SOWs
• Client-facing Account lead on all business issues; responsible for partnering with the Finance team on all client and internal budget reporting (e.g., Tracker reviews, Accrual documents, billing)
• Partners with the Account and Project Management team to provide accurate and realistic revenue forecasts
• Actively monitors client/project financial health and ensures Senior Leadership and Client Finance are kept abreast of any material project issues or changes in forecast
• Works with the Account and Project Management teams to identify any overburn or under-burn in real-time, and determine the cause(s)
• Partners with the Account and Project Management teams on solutions for overburn (e.g., change order, write-off) and under-burn to maximize the work against the SOW within the term, and meet target profitability
• Able to identify and escalate issues that require Senior/Executive Management input and mitigation plans before they cause any negative internal or external consequences
• Responsible for assisting with preparing the financial components for new business opportunities, as workload on core assigned in-line accounts permits
• Drives team on-boarding for Account team-related financial processes
• Partners with Account leadership, cross-capability leads and Resource Managers to identify and manage resource needs
• Demonstrates strong, professional work ethic
• Accountable for contract management (client, vendor, and inter-company issues)
• Well-versed in budget and resource management
• Able to negotiate conflicts, manage differences of opinion, and communicate with difficult client-team members effectively
• Personally, strives to positively influence peer group and cross-capability team
• Uses excellent interpersonal and listening skills

Skills & Experience

• 8 to 10 years of professional experience
• Agency experience required; pharma experience preferred
• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or master’s degree is advantageous, but not required
• Solid experience scoping, pricing, and scheduling projects from both a bottoms-up and top-down approach
• Expert in Microsoft Excel and WorkFront
• Professional presentation, training and client-facing skills
• Effective