Account Director | Client Service | Ogilvy Africa

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Account Director to lead client relationships, drive business growth, and oversee the successful delivery of integrated marketing and communications campaigns. The successful candidate will act as a trusted advisor to clients, provide strategic leadership to internal teams, and ensure the delivery of innovative, high-quality work across digital and traditional channels. The ideal candidate is a commercially minded leader who combines strategic thinking, creativity, and strong relationship management skills. You should be passionate about delivering impactful marketing solutions, developing high-performing teams, and driving exceptional client outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Client Leadership & Strategy

• Serve as the primary client contact on strategic, creative, and resource-related matters.
• Develop and maintain strong, long-term client relationships.
• Provide strategic marketing counsel and identify opportunities for growth.
• Lead integrated marketing and communications strategies aligned to client objectives.
• Understand client business challenges, market dynamics, and competitive activity.

Digital & Integrated Marketing

• Demonstrate strong understanding of digital ecosystems, performance marketing, and adaptive marketing.
• Identify opportunities across digital and traditional channels, including social media, mobile, search, analytics, and offline media.
• Scope digital projects, estimate resources and budgets, and collaborate with specialist teams to deliver solutions.
• Guide clients through evolving digital and programmatic advertising landscapes.

Business Growth & Commercial Management

• Drive organic account growth and support new business development initiatives.
• Maximize account profitability and identify additional revenue opportunities.
• Monitor account financial performance, billing, forecasting, and budget management.
• Represent and champion client business within the agency.

Creative Leadership

• Provide strategic direction and context for creative development.
• Evaluate creative work and ensure alignment with business objectives and client briefs.
• Lead presentations and secure client buy-in for creative ideas and campaigns.
• Inspire and motivate creative teams throughout project lifecycles.

People Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop account management team members.
• Foster strong cross-functional collaboration across departments.
• Conduct performance reviews and support career development initiatives.
• Promote a positive, high-performance team culture.

Requirements

Experience

• 5–7 years of relevant experience in Account Management within an advertising, marketing, or communications agency.
• Previous experience at Account Director level.
• Experience managing global and local clients.
• Proven experience leading integrated and cross-channel marketing initiatives.
• Experience managing and developing teams.
• Strong presentation and proposal development skills.

Preferred

• Experience managing digital marketing projects from strategy through implementation.
• Understanding of marketing measurement, analytics, and test-and-learn methodologies.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong strategic thinking and commercial acumen.
• Excellent client relationship management skills.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Outstanding written, verbal, and presentation skills.
• Proven leadership and people management capabilities.
• Strong business development and negotiation skills.
• Passion for advertising, technology, digital marketing, and social media.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced agency environment and manage multiple priorities.

 

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

Ogilvy Africa is the largest network agency on the continent, catering to more than 40 countries with a team of 900 people across Central, East, and West Africa. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Ogilvy Africa manages a portfolio of over 100 brands for clients such as AB InBev, Airtel, Bajaj, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Equity Bank, European Union, KFC, Mastercard, NCBA, Nestle, Philips, PwC, Total Energies, UNICEF, Unilever, and WWF, among others.

Ogilvy Africa's unique operating model, One Ogilvy, allows for seamless omnichannel experiences for clients' consumers. The agency leverages data, content, and technology to create impactful campaigns and strives to be the best-practice agency model for developing and emerging markets. With over 20 years of experience in Africa, Ogilvy has won numerous regional and global awards, including Cannes Lions, Clio awards, Dubai Lynx Festival, SABRE Awards, Loeries, and WARC. Ogilvy is a leading global network of WPP and was ranked the #1 creative network in the world by WARC in 2023.

OGILVY BELIEFS (Company Culture)

• People need regular OS upgrades: Even the best OS will be obsolete tomorrow unless it's constantly upgraded. The same is true for people.
• We need more cows than milkmen: We are a culture of practitioners, not managers. We contribute before we comment.
• Creative about creativity: Creativity is, and will always be, our differentiator. Creativity now includes the holy trinity of Data-Content-Tech.
• Diversity is a competitive advantage: New profiles, new skills, and new styles of leadership make us a stronger company.
• Collaborative advantage > Competitive advantage: Find partners who are on top of their game at the skill set we need. It's the only way to scale at speed without pretending to have all the answers.
• Team > Individual: You get a lot more done when everyone stops worrying about who gets credit at the end. Teams succeed, individuals fail.
• Fail often, fail fast: We see intrapreneurs in all our people and encourage a culture of pilots. Test, succeed, and scale; or fail fast, learn from the failure, and start something new.