PR Account Manager – Cheltenham
The Role of Account Manager
Job profile
This is one of the most critical jobs in the entire agency: client facing, it demands quick but creative thinking, team management, effective time management and delegation. The successful account manager will clearly understand their clients’ requirements and objectives, clearly understand the commercial terms of the retained accounts, be an exceptional media relations consultant and work with all team members to exceed the clients’ expectations, while managing the team resource effectively.
Key duties and responsibilities
The account manager owns the client relationship. He or she is responsible for meeting client expectations and ensuring the client is kept fully up to date with activity on the account. In addition he/she is responsible for developing that relationship by identifying and selling additional services.
As the lead for media relations, the account manager maintains key media relationships on behalf of all clients, leads outreach for campaigns and oversees the integration of social media activity into campaigns where appropriate.
The account manager is also responsible for managing the team, coaching junior members of staff, ensuring individuals have the right skills, and that the team works together effectively.
Specific Responsibilities
- Media relations on behalf of clients, maintaining key media contacts for all campaigns. This is critical to this role and this candidate needs to have key contacts within client relevant sectors
- Oversight and execution of social media activity where appropriate
- Content creation for campaigns: press releases, articles, blog entries, and other written material. This must all be of an excellent standard.
- Monitoring achievement against objectives to ensure they are met
- Assisting and mentoring the team on all reporting
- Monitoring team activity levels against budget
- Liaison with consultants outside the team such as analyst relations, public relations, marketing, and creative services
- Booking and managing client meetings
- Active contribution to creative brainstorms
- Ensuring that all activity and results are reported back to the client
- Managing the clients’ expectations
- Managing the client to ensure that client tasks and commitments are clearly communicated, and that consequences of missed deadlines are clear
- Communicating account performance internally (account reviews)
Qualities and Skills typically sought for this role
- A media hound with a black book of contacts across sectors
- A tenacious individual who is always willing to get stuck in and help
- Attention to detail
- Proven written ability across different sectors
- Creative thinking
- Understanding of client business issues and requirements
- Highly developed presentation skills
- Understanding of market research and analysis
- Ability to motivate and mentor a team
- Ability to delegate effectively
- Project management skills
- Calmness under pressure and ability to achieve tight deadlines
- Ability to interact with confidence at board-level with clients
- Proven ability to keep abreast of current affairs and relate them to client situations
- Polished and professional appearance
- Excellent written and spoken communication skills