Sr Account Director

About the job

Are you a strategic thinker with a passion for account management and a knack for building long term client relationships? We are seeking a dynamic senior account director to join our team and help us manage key accounts and drive growth with data, analytics and technology related services. If you have a track record of success in account management driven by results and thrive in a fast-paced environment, we want to hear from you!

Account Growth:

• Identify and expand opportunities within accounts, collaborating with capabilities and sales teams to ensure growth and retention.
• Develop a working knowledge of Merkle GTM (Go to Market) strategies, industry trends, and competitive landscape.
• Own and support proposals, client pitches on solution and new capabilities.    
• Build and support business plans with projected volume, revenues, and simulated P&Ls to present a business case to the stakeholders. 
• Create and manage opportunity pipeline through strategic business development.
• Partner with enterprise sales, capability, and solutions teams to share market intelligence and customer insights.

Account Management:

• Manage key accounts to exceed client expectations and maintain strong, trusted relationships both internally and externally. 
• Take ownership of client management, proactively identifying obstacles and navigate the organization to address and resolve issues.
• Understand customer needs and decision-making hierarchy to assess and validate needs continuously.
• Establish strong working relationships with internal teams and client leadership, fostering collaboration.
• Forecast and track key account metrics, manage revenue forecasts, and drive accounts to maximize long-term revenue and business relationships.
• Ensure Salesforce is kept up to date and managed effectively with account review plans, account map and account health, action items, meeting notes and key plays.
• Manage contracts, contract negotiations and security assessments with the client and Merkle legal teams. 
• Develop comprehensive understanding of revenue recognition models and contractual billing/invoicing types to align with contracts and proposals. Oversee monthly invoices and payment follow-ups to minimize the days outstanding.
• Be actively involved in researching and gathering market intelligence, strategic analysis, and proposition development to increase business opportunities for Merkle.
• Supervise and mentor account managers enabling them to perform and scale account management capabilities.

Qualification

• Bachelors or Masters (preferred) in Marketing, Analytics, Data Sciences, Information Technology or Computer Science

Experience

• 8 to 10+ years of experience in account management
• 5+ years leading and managing a portfolio of accounts, ensuring client satisfaction, retention and growth (cross/up-sell)
• 3+ years delivery experience in analytics & tech consulting or data management
• History of managing financial aspects of a book of business including forecasting revenue, costs, profit margins, invoicing and reporting financials to executives
• Mastery in negotiations, writing contracts and working with client and company legal teams. Independently close deals/negotiations 
• Active contributor/participant in engagement and delivery
• Experience in managing a group of North America based clients/accounts preferred
• Knowledge in retail preferred (or equivalent in Hi-tech, Financial Services or Healthcare)

Technical / Domain

• Experience in account mining, cross-selling and upselling service offerings
• Strong story-telling skills, presentation skills and insight delivery
• Understanding of various business segments in which Merkle operates (Analytics, Tech, Data, Experience)

Behavioral

• Self-motivated, solution oriented and highly ethical
• Exceptional communication, organization, collaboration and time management
• Proactively identify growth and seize opportunities, analyze, initiate action, solve problems, and balance persistence with stakeholder comfort levels
• Open mindset, strong relationship building skills and an active learner
• Thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced work environment, effectively adapts to change