Account Director

Purpose of the job:
The Account Director is in charge of supervising and ensuring successful delivery of POS solutions through order windows and on-line catalogues. Driving consistency across Brands and Regions, while optimising savings through consolidation and harmonisation is key in this role.

This role is essential in strengthening relationships with the client and identifying growth opportunities for the business as well as ensuring campaigns and order windows are developed and delivered on time and against operational and financial business targets.

The Account Director will take full responsibility for the strategic and operational management of the scope under their responsibility and managing the performance of their team, ensuring all work is completed in line with operational excellence.

This individual also needs to be a strong leader who can focus on the vision and strategies of the scope, balance daily support needs with long-term strategy and successfully combine vision and reality into effective plans.

Key Responsibilities:

- Delivering operational excellence in a fast-paced environment.
- Play a leading role in the delivery of client satisfaction, including client liaison with global brand teams and shopper teams, management of internal resource departments and development of strong working relationships with approved suppliers.
- Manage the Account Teams that operate in the areas of the client’s business under your direction ensuring compliance to operating procedure.
- Take ownership of and resolve issues, quality concerns or corrective actions.
- Develop effective strategic thinking for the delivery of successful global campaigns and order windows regionally and globally.
- Ensure new to world developments support the key pillar of sustainability.
- Work closely with the client and internal engineering team to ensure that optimised POS solutions (including sampling and product testing) are designed, developed and delivered within defined budgets.
- Ensure savings and sustainability targets are achieved and exceled by supervising (and leading whenever required) competitive tendering process and negotiations, in line with contractual requirements.
- Manage overall the financial performance of campaigns and order windows delivered.
- Identifying risks and maintaining strategic sourcing plan to maximise cost effectiveness in line with speed, flexibility, carbon impact.
- Optimise the cadence of buy strategy to balance local cycles while satisfying client’s requirements.
- Ensure all POS items proposed and sourced are aligned with client’s strict QC and QA requirements.

Knowledge, Skills + Experience:

- Excellent interpersonal skills, able to develop positive relationships at all levels, with all types of people
- Excellent organisational skills and attention to details
- Passion for quality and operational excellence
- Significant experience of managing work in a fast-paced environment
- High energy, highly motivated with promotional merchandise and quality management experience across a wide range of markets, categories and products.
- Able to present strategy for growth, optimisation and added value
- Significant experience in developing and maintaining client relationships
- Can anticipate internal and/or external business issues and develop risk mitigation strategies
- Extensive people management experience including performance management and team leadership
- Experienced in taking responsibility for managing KPI’s, budgeting, forecasting and leadership
- Product sourcing of Promotional Merchandise experience with FMCG and food contact products essential / knowledge of food contact items quality requirements
- Strategic thinking and collaborative approach across Global markets