May 23, 2013

VP, Account Services

The VP, Account Services (VPAS) is ultimately responsible for the overall satisfaction and health of BRIGHTER's clients. The means by which client health is determined and monitored needs to be led by the VPAS and reported to executive management and team leaders on a quarterly basis. Proactive strategy and account planning must be at the forefront of the Account team's responsibilities. The team needs to be led by a manager with consistent training, which means all process created by the VPAS must be documented and rolled out and managed strictly. The internal team should never see a difference in account management process between account managers. Account planning activities need to be monitored in one-on-one sessions with each account staff. It is imperative that the VPAS be proactive and lead much of the collaboration with other execs and discipline Directors since all work starts with the account group. Finally, the VPAS will be responsible for working diligently with the VP, Business Development on new sales activity for seamless transition when business is pursued and won.

General Responsibilities

All employees shall demonstrate the ability to:

• Work well under pressure; meeting multiple and sometimes competing deadlines
• Use cooperative behavior with colleagues and supervisors
• Comply with company policies and procedures
• Demonstrate proficiency and appropriate use of software tools applicable to performing job duties
• Monitor the time allocated for assigned projects, notifying supervisors and/or project managers of any anticipated overages or delays
• Positively advocate and support the company culture
• Lead by example
• Support company-wide initiatives
• Foster inter-department/disciplinary teamwork and cooperation
• Maintain strict confidentiality regarding company records, personnel compensation and performance, and all other reports and communication
• Be a problem solver
• Speak clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations and demonstrate group presentation and communication skills
• Demonstrate accuracy and thoroughness and monitor their own work to ensure quality
• Consistently come to work on time, follows instructions, respond to management direction and solicit feedback to improve performance
• Observe safety and security procedures and use equipment and materials properly
• Appropriately record all time worked on a daily basis

All manager level employees and above shall demonstrate the ability to:

• Recruit and provide oversight for departmental level staffing
• department workload, including delegation to qualified staff members
• Focus on staff training and growth
• Foster inter-department teamwork and cooperation
• Lead by example
• Support agency-wide initiatives
• Support business development efforts
• Maintain what it is to be an Brighter manager - positive, direct, communicative, collaborative
• Accommodate additional department specific responsibilities

All director level employees and above shall demonstrate the ability to:

• Represent the agency at industry events
• Provide guidance and training to manager level employees
• Promote interdepartmental collaboration
• Champion cross promotion and cross selling activities
• Identify and spearhead process needs and documentation
• Be a representative/leader of department, educate staff on a regular basis
• Support and often leads biz dev activities
• Identify problems and provide solutions quickly and effectively
• Manage, train and mentor junior staff
• Concentrate on building personal celebrity by contributing to website content

All executive level employees shall demonstrate the ability to:

• Frequent speaking engagements on behalf of Brighter
• Act as industry leader by showcasing knowledge and POV regularly and in a variety of ways
• Provide guidance and training to Director level employees
• Act as executive sponsor to assigned accounts

Role Allocation

Health of all accounts within the agency (includes retention & growth)	35%
New business development	20%
Proactive collaboration with all other leadership	20%
Team staffing, management and training	15%
Client management	10%

Specific Role Responsibilities

Account Heatlh

• The VPAS is responsible for ensuring all current client accounts are healthy. This means the account is staffed properly, the work is of high quality, the deliverables are timely, the communication on the account is solid, the documentation is constant and logged/filed correctly and the staff assigned to the account is always aware of status
• Client satisfaction needs to be healthy. The VPAS will work with the EVP, Professional Services to ensure the definition of client health is clear and a proper survey is created for the client to respond to outside of regular discussions with those clients to ensure satisfaction is high
• If there are issues with the account, the VPAS needs to identify the plausible issues and discuss with appropriate management to problem solve
• VPAS must know how to plan accounts. VPAS needs to ensure all account staff are integrating and collaborating with lead strategist, creative, media and technology teams when relevant to the account in order to create the best plans for each account on a minimum annual basis, if not quarterly
• ccomplished in expanding the revenue generated from current and new accounts being managed. The VPAS must develop reports showing this improvement per account with a clear set of action items and goals for leadership and assigned account lead
• ersistently pursue and identify new business with active client for continual growth
• nsure all client contracts and documents are current, thoroughly complete and accurate at all times
• urrent accounts have budget for ongoing business development. Active management of those budgets is mandatory

New Business Development

• Collaborate with Exec management team on new business and client outreach / prospecting and pitching initiatives as needed. BRIGHTER is a "team sales" agency
• Be able to act as a pitch lead for any new business initiative that is deemed appropriate by the EVP, Professional Services
• Ensure account staff are collaborating with marketing, content and creative groups to create case studies and any other materials that will support BRIGHTER new business and content for the site. This includes press releases
• Assist/Lead with development of engagement roadmaps
• Be able to craft and scope client solutions, proposals and budgets in conjunction with other SMEs as needed
• Be able to manage the business development process from tracking everything within SalesForce to pitch to final signature
• Generate ideas to grow the client and agency's business

Interdepartmental Collaboration

• It is a requirement that all executives promote interdepartmental collaboration. However, it is especially imperative that the VPAS promote this collaboration since a majority of the work that is brought in initiates with the Account Services team. The tone of the kick-off through consistency of team meetings and planning sessions influences our culture heavily. The VPAS must learn, live and breathe the culture guide as an executive advocate of BRIGHTER

Team Staffing, Management and Training

• Manage account services team.
• Understand each staff member's abilities and background to best mentor and manage his/her career path
• Understand the resource needs of the agency and match resource assignment accordingly
• Strategically plan development/growth of the department to support agency needs
• Inspire, challenge, empower and trust your staff
• Involve executives appropriately when planning, salary and incentive discussions
• Define and document best practices and contribute to company-wide knowledge sharing efforts
• Understand your staff's weaknesses and provide training and guidance
• Constantly provide feedback and forum for discussion of duties and performance leading up to formal evaluation periods
• VPAS will be provided a budget for the Account Management staff for team building and other misc. items. Must know and manage to this budget at all times. Track and turn in all expenses within the month of expenditure

Client Account Management, Planning & Solution Scoping

• The VPAS will be required to manage certain client efforts prior to hiring our next full time hire OR if a more senior leader is required on an account. This is largely due to BRIGHTER being a smaller company that is growing
• The Account Manager for a given account is the gate keeper to deliverables for given clients. It is the responsibility of the VPAS to review team work (creative, tech, strategy, media) with time to verify it is on brand, on strategy and lives up to the client approved brief
• Notify department leads and project managers of resource needs via MS project plan and standard communication practices
• Conduct regular Account status meetings to ensure client engagement and satisfaction, resolving any issues with project manager and other functional teams efficiently and in a clearly communicated way
• Conduct regular BRIGHTER team status meetings to ensure project team is aligned with client goals, objectives and expectations, resolving any issues with project manager and other functional teams efficiently and in a clearly communicated way
• Create/Review and refine proposal timelines and budgets prior to client delivery with project management to ensure optimal profitability
• Ensure overall project/client health is positive and strong by consistently knowing the budget burn, working closely with Project Management to understand scheduling and expected reviews, constant collaboration with all team members through formal status meetings and informal "hallway chatter" and by evangelizing your client/account as often as possible so that the staff understands why they are awesome
• Contribute strategy and content to outreach and prospecting presentation materials, including but not limited to PowerPoint presentations and case study, brochure and portfolio content
• Work closely with Project Management team to understand who is resourced on client projects and be sure to include those individuals in appropriate team meetings and basecamp tracking
• Ultimate ownership of quality delivery to client. The Account Manager should:
• Review strategic deliverables to verify they meet the strategic brief
• Review creative work to verify it lives up to creative brief, that it is on brand and that multiple pages are consistent in design
• Review copy for typos/grammar in the absence of BRIGHTER having a proofreader
• Review bug report from tech to ensure any outstanding issues are allowable prior to delivering technology to client. Ensure client features are functioning as client expects (typically based on client conversations that the Account person has with the client)
• Work with client and cross departmental team members to ensure that marketing recommendations align with general brand communication & that creative and content is on strategy
• Manage client budget and reconciliation process within the agency. Upon kick-off for given services, the Account Manager should convey how many hours the team has allocated for the work via the project plan (mpp). Meet weekly with PMs to review budget progress and burn
• Consistently update the project schedule while not changing the budget
• Be on top of out of scope items in order to change order the client in a timely fashion
• Manages account financial health and forecasting. This also includes alerting the head of client services, operations and team when appropriate
• Inform team members of any alterations to the original strategy and/or scope of the project/account
• Manage client expectations
• As time permits, collaborate with other SMEs to direct and conduct ongoing customer and relevant vertical research to assess client needs, relevant best practices and business development opportunities
• Lead and deliver client quarterly business reviews
• Lead and deliver client quarterly business reviews for BRIGHTER executives

Qualifications and Skills

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty superiorly. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• 10+ years Account Management / Planning experience at a marketing agency serving clients in the Higher Education, Healthcare, Insurance, Financial Services and / or Entertainment industries
• 5+ years Business Development experience in a marketing communications agency
• Expert written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills
• Exceptional customer service and thought leadership skills: outgoing personality, well spoken and great at giving presentations and leading meetings
• Exceptional contract documentation, negotiation and change management skills
• An eye for trends and new, innovative opportunities
• Strong judgment, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Knowledge of sales data management within a CRM such as SalesForce
• Deep understanding of digital
• Ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams to produce quality materials and results within tight timeframes and simultaneously manage several projects
• Ability to project plan using MS Project

Education

• BS degree in Marketing, Communications, Business or a related field; Master's Degree preferred

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Must be able to sit or stand for continuous periods of time
• Able to lift up to 30 lbs

Travel Requirements

• Must be willing to travel up to 25% of the time

If you're looking to join a growing company, the timing couldn't be better! In addition to our expansion plans, we just moved into our brand new office at the Hercules Campus in Playa Vista. Our staff has access to a perfect indoor/outdoor space that promotes collaboration, innovation and healthy living. We offer extended lunches two days a week for working out and we work a 9/80 schedule where you get every other Friday off! We know that a flexible work environment is mandatory in this day and age, and we're always looking for creative ways to reward our staff.

Sound too good to be true? Before applying, read the job description. If we still have your attention, please apply! We can't wait to learn more about you!