Sr. Account Manager

About Tempest Advertising

Tempest Advertising is a full-service, mainline advertising agency delivering integrated brand solutions across ATL, BTL, digital, and media. We partner with clients across diverse industry sectors to build brands through strategic thinking, compelling creative work, and disciplined execution. Our client servicing team is the backbone of the agency – the bridge between client ambition and agency output.

Role Summary

We are looking for a seasoned Senior Account Manager to own and grow a portfolio of key client accounts. The incumbent will act as the primary custodian of the client relationship – translating business and marketing objectives into sharp creative briefs, steering campaigns from brief to delivery across creative, media, production, and digital teams, and ensuring profitability and growth of the accounts handled. This is a leadership-track role for a client servicing professional who combines strategic brand thinking with flawless execution and strong commercial acumen.

Key Responsibilities

1. Client Relationship Management

•    Serve as the single point of contact and trusted advisor for assigned client accounts, building strong relationships at brand manager, marketing head, and CXO levels.

•    Develop a deep understanding of each client's business, category, competition, consumers, and brand architecture.

•    Conduct regular client reviews, status meetings, and annual/quarterly brand planning sessions.

•    Anticipate client needs, proactively bring ideas and opportunities to the table, and manage client expectations and escalations with maturity.

2. Brand Strategy & Planning

•    Partner with clients and the strategic planning team to define brand positioning, communication strategy, and annual communication calendars.

•    Write clear, insightful, and inspiring creative briefs; brief creative teams and evaluate creative work against the brief and brand strategy.

•    Contribute to consumer and market research, brand audits, and competitive tracking to inform strategy.

3. Campaign & Project Management

•    Drive end-to-end campaign execution across ATL (TV, print, radio, outdoor), BTL (activations, events, retail), digital, and media – from brief to launch.

•    Prepare and manage detailed project timelines, cost estimates, and delivery schedules; ensure on-time, on-budget, error-free delivery.

•    Coordinate seamlessly with internal teams – creative, copy, art, studio, production, media planning/buying, and digital – and with external vendors and production houses.

•    Supervise adaptations, releases, and quality control of all creative outputs across languages and media.

4. Commercial & Financial Management

•    Own the revenue, billing, and profitability of assigned accounts; prepare estimates, obtain client approvals, raise invoices, and follow up on collections and outstandings.

•    Negotiate scopes of work, retainers, and project fees in coordination with agency management.

•    Track account health metrics – revenue vs. target, margins, resource utilisation – and report to management.

5. Business Development & Account Growth

•    Identify and convert opportunities to grow existing accounts – new campaigns, new brands, new services (digital, BTL, media).

•    Play an active role in new business pitches: research, deck preparation, strategy inputs, and pitch presentations.

6. Team Leadership & Mentoring

•    Guide, mentor, and review the work of Account Executives and Account Managers on the team.

•    Foster a culture of ownership, responsiveness, and quality within the client servicing function.

•    Ensure adherence to agency processes – documentation, contact reports, approvals, and internal workflows.

Skills & Competencies

•    Client servicing expertise: Proven ability to independently manage large/key accounts in a mainline agency environment.

•    Strategic thinking: Strong grasp of brand strategy, consumer insight, and communication planning; ability to write and defend a sharp creative brief.

•    Creative judgement: Ability to evaluate creative work objectively, give constructive feedback, and sell good work to clients.

•    Communication & presentation: Excellent written and verbal communication in English; confident presenter at senior client levels. Proficiency in regional languages is an advantage.

•    Project management: Highly organised; able to run multiple campaigns and deadlines in parallel without dropping the ball.

•    Commercial acumen: Comfort with estimates, budgets, billing, margins, and negotiation.

•    Media & digital fluency: Working knowledge of media planning fundamentals and digital marketing (social, performance, content) to service integrated mandates.

•    Interpersonal skills: Team player who can rally creative, media, and production teams; calm under pressure; solution-oriented.

•    Tools: Proficiency in MS Office (PowerPoint, Excel, Word); familiarity with project management tools is a plus.

Qualifications & Experience

•    Graduate in any discipline; MBA / PG Diploma in Marketing, Advertising, or Mass Communication preferred.

•    3 – 5 years of client servicing experience, of which a substantial portion must be with a mainline / full-service advertising agency.

•    Demonstrated track record of independently handling key accounts, campaign launches, and account growth.

•    Exposure to both offline (ATL/BTL) and digital campaign execution strongly preferred.

Compensation & Benefits

•    CTC up to ₹6,00,000 - 8,00,000 per annum, commensurate with experience and current compensation.

•    Performance-linked increments and a clear growth path to Account Director.

•    Exposure to marquee brands across categories and integrated (ATL + BTL + digital) mandates.