About this Client Partner role at AKQA

AKQA · Onsite · Amsterdam

At AKQA (part of WPP) we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create beautiful ideas, products and services. With an entrepreneurial and collaborative approach, we design adaptive digital services and applications that capture the imagination, delivering impressive returns for our clients.The Client Services team are entrepreneurs who champion clients and colleagues alike. With a keen sense for turning insight into opportunity, they are responsible for building relationships that foster commercial viability for our studio and our clients business.

A Client Partner is a leadership position that requires expertise in transformational programs of work that deliver positive outcomes through products and service ecosystems, differentiated business models and the brand experience surrounding them. This role is central to driving the commercial health of the studio by ensuring the quality of AKQA deliverables, strong client satisfaction, and high employee engagement.

The Client Partner will drive existing and new deliverables, lead pitches and pursue new growth opportunities for the studio. As a key member of the Client Services team, the Client Partner will play a pivotal role in providing leadership so that the CS team-members have the best environment for excellence. Reporting to the Client Services Director, you will partner with our Leads and interdisciplinary teams to create a work environment that fosters collaboration and innovation.

Located on the Nieuwe Herengracht in central Amsterdam, you will also have access to our diverse network of specialists by collaborating across our European, Middle East and South African studios. You will work in an environment which fosters a meritocratic culture and encourages ownership, and you will be surrounded by some of the brightest minds in their fields.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Client Leadership

Grow organic business for key accounts - lead and mentor other Client Services team members.
Sets strategy for account group - Strategic leadership of the internal team, setting the vision for the account, helping the team understand what needs to be delivered.
Provides thought leadership to both clients and internal teams.
Makes the account team aware of senior level client challenges.
Reports on client activity for executive meetings.
Provides senior clients and their boards with digital marketing expertise and innovative ideas.
Consults on their business challenges to deliver a positive difference to their bottom line through experience, entrepreneurialism and incisive thought.
Presents Strategic services offering to develop partnerships, new services and solutions that help client businesses exceed growth targets.

Business Development

Identify, engage, convert and scale new opportunities into long-term client relationships
Lead regional pitch responses and procurement processes
Develop relationships with prospective clients, while maintaining existing client relationships
Partner with discipline leads to create contract-winning proposals for current and prospective clients
Understand the language of business to grow our CX, Venture and Product revenue targets
Become a subject matter expert on topics that drive our clients business
Maintain a strong understanding of products and services, and innovating new ways to serve businesses
Work tightly with a multidisciplinary team to design a new venture that creates new sources of revenue for our business
Leverage relationships to extend AKQA remit within client organisation.
Seek out opportunities with related client brands.
Run the entire pitch process and bring new clients into AKQA seamlessly.
Use AKQA knowledge and experience to generate new business opportunities (e.g. client Academy sessions, cross-selling of AKQA mobile, etc.).
Help others to understand strategy for identifying new business opportunities.

Financial + resource management

Revenue responsibility for +€7mm studio.
Ensure effective pricing strategy while maintaining overall client profitability targets at all times. Highlights team operational issues in relation to overall client profitability.
Successfully negotiate with client procurement teams
Negotiates rate cards with clients as well as retainers and financial structure of an account
Organise team resources and configuration and sets out detailed month by month forecasts against which resources can be planned.
Uncover, analyse, and anticipate appropriate payment models and pricing structures for target customers who represent early-stage businesses to enterprise scale-up

VALUE COMPETENCIES

Innovation

Seen as a transformational leader in the industry who is capable of driving change throughout an organisation.
Can articulate a compelling business case and can galvanise the team to action in the face of change.
Creates an environment that challenges traditional thinking and ensures the company stays far ahead of competition and clients.

Service

Able to deftly manage most senior client expectations, particularly those that conflict with the company’s recommendations, and can drive successful outcomes while maintaining (or even growing) the relationship.
Develops strategies to build a climate of trust, openness and respect; forges strong relationships to drive successful outcomes.

Quality

Can set the tone for the team and believes that without the greatest work, nothing else matters. Possesses a strong bias to action and is energised by challenges; is a visible champion of excellence and perfect delivery.

Thought

Develops long-term strategic partnerships that support business growth and financial success; aligns own and team objectives with overall business objectives.
Identified as a leader of insight-driven recommendations to clients; possesses general business savvy and expertise in the industry.
Possesses highly advanced writing skills to present a point of view, using logic, fact and a compelling storyline via any medium.
Commands the attention of the audience and can manage group dynamics during presentations to effectively engage audiences, counter objections and sell recommendations.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

7-10+ years working in a client services or account management role in a creative environment
Prior success in business development and building and maintaining client relationships
Understanding of a strategic consulting and professional services approach
Experience of managing global clients and leading accounts at a senior level
Comfort and experience in building and leading world-class teams
Demonstrates an in-depth understanding of wider commercial issues
Experience of inspiring and managing teams
Highly competent and confident presenter in Keynote
Possesses a strong quality of leadership, in both the work and in decision-making
High emotional intellect, the ability to drive projects and lead an internal team through various scenarios with clients
Operational savvy and know-how, in order to work with the teams and draw the balance between servicing our clients and protecting our own team and interests

Explore our extensive range of benefits here

We believe great work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach including required in-office days. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

AKQA is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

About WPP

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.

Ready to apply to AKQA?

Apply to AKQA

About AKQA

CORE VALUES

Our founding values guide our work and the philosophy of our firm:

Innovation – pioneering ideas combined with the application of technology, to achieve lasting improvements in performance for our clients.

Service – outstanding service to our clients and colleagues, so we retain exceptional people and create trust-based relationships with clients.

Quality – adhere to the highest professional standards and superior quality.

Thought – recommending the best solutions through the most rigorous thinking process.

TEAMWORK

AKQA provides the highest quality ideas and innovation services to clients around the world. Our consistent track-record of results achieved for clients have set our firm apart. Through our focus on our core values, thought-leadership, rigorous delivery, and industry initiatives, AKQA is today one of the world’s most influential companies. Our goal is to become a high-performance environment where the most talented people flourish. With our perfectionist approach, people join AKQA for the opportunity to do the best work of their careers.

We create digital products, services and immersive experiences that are useful, usable, delightful and enjoyed by millions. We employ a rapid ideation and prototyping process that focuses on getting pilots into market quickly, helping clients make a sustained impact, increase their relevance and expand their connection. By embracing a pioneering approach that continues to lead and define the industry, we deliver cohesive blueprints that fulfil audience needs and surpass business goals.

LONG-TERM COMMITMENT

AKQA is committed to helping our team develop into the best possible practitioners and to providing them with an unparalleled foundation for their career. We help develop well-rounded professionals acquire leadership skills more quickly than at other organisations. Our employees benefit from the trusted long-term nature of our client relationships as well as the cultural alignment between the client and our own organisation, creating an optimum environment to deliver the work without any compromises.

ORGANISED TO SUCCEED

The core motivation at AKQA is product excellence. Although we are part of WPP, AKQA operates as an independent firm. Organically grown, our team works as a single firm, without geographic division. This means we can bring the best resources from our network to provide solutions for our clients.

In addition to our own Future Lions initiative, we have formed partnerships with many of the world’s leading universities so we can hire their best graduates. We combine youth and energy with maturity and experience to form a community that has a unique diversity of knowledge and exceptional professional judgement.

DEVELOPMENT

In addition to on-the-job training, AKQA offers a menu of training through the AKQA Academy and WPP Professional Development. This comprehensive curriculum of formal training is designed to equip our team with the substantive creative, engineering, business acumen, communications, management and analytical skills required to have professionally rewarding careers. AKQA Academy and WPP Professional Development courses are taught by leaders in their fields including AKQA’s own senior team and respected external experts.

To maintain the continuous focus on our core values, and provide a clear career path for our team, all of our Managing Directors and Executive Partners are promoted from within AKQA.

All AKQA employees and clients are invited to participate in the AKQA Insight and AKQA Tech.Insight thought leadership programmes. These comprise a series of informative lectures and Q&A sessions with authors, artists, athletes, scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs who are recognised leaders in their respective disciplines.

DIVERSITY

We believe that diversity is vital to AKQA’s ability to provide our clients with the best recommendations and are committed to fostering a varied and inclusive work environment. We provide our employees with the canvas, tools and confidence to help them advance their careers in a way that best suits them.

SUSTAINABILITY

At AKQA we believe everything a company does should be about taking the responsibility to be respectful towards the community and the environment. We consider community and pro-bono work to be an important commitment of our employees. We encourage our team to devote their skills to a broad range of pro-bono and community activities, working with myriad charitable and not-for-profit organisations. AKQA is part of WPP’s Sustainability initiatives. WPP is ranked no. 49 in an annual round-up of the World’s Greenest Companies.