Account Director

Job description

Role description
Lead Arilo's most important client partnerships and drive commercial growth as our next Senior Account Manager / Junior Account Director - an AI-native creative agency role for someone who's equal parts strategist, commercial operator and client-first relationship builder.

About Arilo
Arilo is an AI-native creative production and marketing agency with operations in Cape Town, New York and the Philippines. We partner with ambitious global brands across beauty, skincare, healthcare, FMCG, luxury and professional services to create world-class creative work powered by exceptional strategy, creativity and artificial intelligence. Our studio combines human creativity with emerging technologies to deliver work that is faster, smarter and demonstrably more effective — we believe AI isn't replacing agencies, it's enabling them to deliver greater strategic value.

We're building one of Africa's most advanced AI-enabled creative agencies, and this is a leadership seat at the table as we do it.

The role
Exceptional agencies are built on exceptional client relationships. We're looking for an experienced Account Director to lead some of Arilo's most important client partnerships while driving commercial growth across the agency. This is not a traditional account management role — we need someone who thinks strategically, builds lasting client relationships and understands how to translate business challenges into exceptional creative solutions. You'll become the trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, working closely with Strategy, Creative, AI Production and Development teams to ensure every project delivers measurable commercial value, and you'll own a portfolio of key accounts, identify opportunities for growth and ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget and to the highest creative standard.

Duties and responsibilities

Client leadership

• Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders.
• Become the strategic lead across your client portfolio.
• Lead client workshops, presentations and quarterly business reviews.
• Understand client business objectives and identify opportunities for growth.
• Deliver an exceptional client experience across every interaction.
• Become a trusted advisor rather than simply a service provider.

Commercial leadership

• Own the commercial performance of your client portfolio.
• Grow existing accounts through strategic upselling and cross-selling.
• Prepare proposals, estimates, scopes of work and statements of work.
• Monitor account profitability, utilisation and project performance.
• Ensure projects remain commercially successful while delivering exceptional client value.
• Identify new business opportunities within existing client relationships.

Project leadership

• Translate client briefs into clear project plans.
• Partner closely with traffic and production teams to schedule work effectively.
• Manage timelines, budgets, scopes and project risks.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget and to an exceptional standard.
• Drive accountability across multidisciplinary project teams.

Strategic consultancy

• Challenge client briefs to uncover stronger strategic opportunities.
• Collaborate with strategy, creative, AI production and development teams.
• Present strategic recommendations confidently to senior decision-makers.
• Ensure all work supports measurable business objectives.
• Help clients navigate emerging AI-enabled marketing opportunities.

Team leadership

• Mentor and support account managers and account executives.
• Build confidence and capability across the client services team.
• Encourage collaboration across global teams.
• Create an environment built on accountability, ownership and excellence.
• Lead by example through professionalism and integrity.

Client experience and quality

• Maintain exceptionally high standards across every client deliverable.
• Ensure work is strategically robust, creatively outstanding and commercially effective.
• Manage expectations with transparency and professionalism.
• Resolve issues proactively while strengthening client relationships.
• Champion continuous improvement across client service processes.

Minimum requirements

Essential:

• 5 years' experience within an advertising, creative or integrated agency.
• Proven experience leading major client accounts.
• Strong strategic marketing and communications knowledge.
• Experience delivering integrated campaigns across digital, social, content and traditional channels.
• Outstanding commercial and financial acumen.
• Excellent project management and organisational skills.
• Experience managing budgets, timelines and scopes of work.
• Exceptional presentation and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven experience leading multidisciplinary teams.
• High levels of professionalism and attention to detail.

Preferred:

• Experience with international brands.
• Beauty, skincare, luxury or premium consumer brands.
• AI-enabled creative production environments.
• Experience working across global teams.
• New business and business development experience.

Experience implementing agency workflow or operational improvements.

Package and remuneration

Market-related, based on experience.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit a CV and portfolio/case study summary to oc.olira@sreerac. Closing date: 31 Aug. 2026 



Key skills
Client services: Strategic Account Management, Client Relationship Management, Commercial Negotiation, Scope Development, Budget Management, Project Planning, Risk Management, Workshop Facilitation

Project management tools: Asana, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint, PowerPoint, Excel

Marketing and strategy: Integrated Marketing Communications, Brand Strategy, Campaign Planning, Digital Marketing, Creative Production, AI-enabled Marketing Workflows

Posted on 18 Aug 16:11, Closing date 18 Sep