Public Relations (www.APEXPR.com), a fiercely independent, Canadian owned and operated agency, is looking for a Account Director to join our growing agency. Our “agency within an agency” structure with our sister digital division ruckus, allows every member of our team the creative flexibility to work collaboratively between each of our core disciplines. This is in the spirit of not working in siloes, as the best thinking and client service requires an agnostic and open-minded approach. This is an opportunity to accelerate your career in an entrepreneurial, flat agency structure with limited bureaucracy and daily access to senior leadership. Reporting to the Managing Partner, the Account Director, will have overall responsibility over assigned projects and brands, and act as the senior client contact, responsible for the day-to-day operations and integration between team members, partners and clients. You must have a strong strategic and solution-focused business acumen, a clear understanding of the client’s brand and exceptional communications chops to manage diversified specialists in support of client and project goals.
The Account Director will be a key lead in our integrated practice group across consumer, financial services, real estate, B2B/B2C technology, professional services and media. The individual will also participate on the senior leadership team and will report to the managing partner. Clients include RE/MAX, Vistar, Roku, DoorDash, and a national bank to name a few.
The ultimate focus is threefold:
• Lead the account, with overall responsibility for the alignment of work against goals comprising the strategic management of teams, overall process, financial aspects and the creative and communications solutions
• Nurture client relationships, instilling the confidence that enables organic business growth and net new business development
• Mentor teams and stimulate new solutions to business challenges
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
• Serve as the primary or senior strategic contact for clients to create strong client connections.
• Develop and oversee account teams’ performance, ensuring quality work is done, efficient processes are in place, and client requests are handled in a timely fashion.
• Lead and participate in new business activities. Identify new business prospects and lead business development activities to grow the business.
• Forecast revenues and benchmark progress monthly to meet profitability and revenue targets.
• Be the expert on the client’s business and industry. Understand global issues as well as marketing brand issues.
• Strong presentations skills are important. By being versed in the dual language of the client and our own brand design and communications business, you will be expected to bridge gaps and make connections to ensure the value and benefit of our solutions and recommendations are clearly grasped.
• Be the expert on our capabilities and those of our partners. As a member of the APEX team, you are expected to have a solid understanding of all of APEX/ruckus offerings.
• Identify work that you have been involved in for case studies/web/blog/social media use; assist in pulling together appropriate material. This may include drafting or writing case studies or blog posts.
• Identify new capabilities that our clients need and/or we can offer and the opportunities these can bring to the broader team.
• Lead by example. In order to evaluate and direct team members’ contributions, you must have a clear knowledge of their roles, skillsets and of the processes they are involved in. Use this knowledge to assign responsibilities and accountability appropriately.
• You are also expected to identify opportunities or gaps (such as skill gaps, new technologies, new software or capabilities) that could help us expand and evolve our service offering or support team development.
• Keep management up-to-date on big picture account issues and opportunities.
As a member of APEX’s client service team, you will contribute to the overall company planning processes (weekly workflow, forecasting, etc.) to proactively guide and prepare teams and company leadership to respond to client needs and business needs.
You have:
• 10-plus years public relations experience with agency and corporate client experience a requirement
• Strong team leadership and new business experience
• You are both a creative and a strategic thinker, and a natural team leader
• You have a track record in client service, a history of strategic media relations and building senior executive/brand thought leadership
• Media training experience is a nice to have, but issues/crisis communications skills are necessary • Insatiably curious, a lifelong learner
• Authentically passionate about great work, your team and our business • Diplomatic and empathetic leadership with an open mind at all times
Compensation
APEX PR is committed to offering competitive pay for the role and experience that the candidate brings. This is an opportunity to work with the best PR teams in the business. We offer learning, development and mentorship so that our team can grow, and we can promote from within where possible. We offer comprehensive health and dental benefits as well as a company-wide bonus structure. Location: The health and wellbeing of our employees is a priority. We currently work a hybrid week with staff being in the office 2-3 days a week.
APEX Public Relations is dedicated to employment equity and welcomes diversity in the
workplace. We recognize that the best candidate may not meet all of the criteria listed above. We encourage all those interested and with relevant experience to apply even if they don’t match the job posting perfectly. We welcome diverse, out-of-the-box thinking, and we strive to provide an environment for learning, growth and innovation. If you require any accommodation during the recruitment process, please reach out to hr@apexpr.com.
To apply, please e-mail your résumé to hr@apexpr.com. We thank all applicants, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.