Account Director- Saudi National

We are looking for an experienced, commercially driven, and highly relationship-focused Account Director to join our Riyadh office and play a key leadership role in strengthening client partnerships, developing our account management team, and driving sustainable business growth.The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 8 years of agency experience, strong knowledge of the Saudi market, and a proven track record of managing major client relationships, leading high-performing teams, growing existing accounts, and converting new business opportunities into long-term partnerships.This is a senior role for someone who combines strong client leadership, commercial thinking, strategic account management, and business development and is confident operating at senior management and C-suite level.

Key Responsibilities

Client & Account LeadershipLead and oversee a portfolio of key and strategic client accounts, ensuring strong relationships, high-quality delivery, client satisfaction, and long-term retention.Build trusted relationships with senior and C-suite client stakeholders and act as a strategic advisor to clients.Develop a deep understanding of clients' businesses, challenges, objectives, and growth priorities.Identify opportunities to add value beyond existing scopes and position the agency as a long-term strategic partner.Ensure consistently high standards of client servicing and delivery across all managed accounts.Proactively identify and resolve client issues, ensuring concerns are addressed quickly and professionally.Team Leadership & Development:Lead, manage, mentor, and develop the Account Management / Client Servicing team.Establish clear objectives, responsibilities, KPIs, and performance expectations across the team.Build a high-performance culture through coaching, training, feedback, delegation, and effective performance management.Identify and develop talent within the team and support individual career progression.Ensure the team operates proactively, commercially, and with a strong focus on client satisfaction and business growth.Account Growth & Commercial Performance:Take ownership of growing existing accounts through upselling, cross-selling, expanded scopes, and new service opportunities.Develop account growth plans and identify opportunities to increase revenue and share of client business.Maintain oversight of account profitability, budgets, scopes, resources, pricing, and commercial performance.Work closely with senior management to establish account growth targets and annual revenue objectives.Ensure commercial opportunities are followed through from identification to conversion and delivery.New Business Development:Play an active leadership role in developing new business opportunities across Saudi Arabia.Identify prospective clients, sectors, and opportunities aligned with the agency's capabilities and growth strategy.Build and maintain a strong network across the Saudi business and marketing landscape.Develop relationships with senior decision-makers, procurement teams, and potential clients.Take ownership of converting qualified opportunities into new clients and sustainable revenue.Pitch & Proposal Leadership:Lead and coordinate competitive pitches, proposals, credentials meetings, and client presentations.Work closely with Strategy, Creative, PR, Digital, Events, Media, Production, and other specialist teams to develop compelling integrated solutions.Ensure proposals are strategically strong, commercially viable, and aligned with client requirements.Lead senior-level presentations and negotiations where required.Take accountability for pitch outcomes and continuously identify ways to improve the agency's win rate.Key Skills & Competencies:Client LeadershipAbility to build trusted, long-term relationships with senior and C-suite client stakeholders and operate confidently as a strategic partner.Commercial AcumenStrong understanding of revenue growth, account profitability, pricing, scopes, budgets, resource management, and commercial negotiations.Business DevelopmentDemonstrated ability to identify, develop, and convert new business opportunities into meaningful revenue.Pitch LeadershipStrong experience leading competitive pitches, proposals, presentations, and new-business processes from opportunity through conversion.Team LeadershipProven ability to manage, motivate, coach, mentor, and develop high-performing account management teams.Strategic ThinkingAbility to understand clients' business challenges and translate them into effective communication, marketing, creative, digital, PR, events, and integrated solutions.Relationship BuildingExcellent networking and interpersonal skills, with the confidence and maturity to build relationships across different levels of an organization.Integrated CommunicationsStrong understanding of events, PR, creative, digital, social media, content, media, and integrated marketing communications.Communication & PresentationExcellent written and verbal communication, negotiation, presentation, and influencing skills.Ownership & AccountabilityEntrepreneurial mindset with a strong sense of ownership for clients, people, revenue, commercial performance, and overall agency growth.Qualifications & ExperienceMinimum 8 years of relevant agency experience, preferably within an integrated communications, advertising, PR, creative, events, or marketing agency.Proven experience at Account Director, Senior Account Director, Business Director, or equivalent level.Strong experience managing major, complex, and high-value client accounts.Proven ability to engage and influence senior and C-suite client stakeholders.Demonstrated track record of growing existing accounts and generating new business.Proven experience leading and successfully converting competitive agency pitches.Strong people-management experience, including coaching, mentoring, team development, and performance management.Strong understanding of the Saudi Arabian market and business environment.Previous agency experience in Saudi Arabia or the GCC is highly desirable.Established network and relationships within the Saudi market will be considered a strong advantage.Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, Advertising, or a related discipline.Fluency in English is essential; Arabic language capability is highly preferred.Saudi NationalWhat We’re Looking For:We are looking for someone who is commercially ambitious, highly connected, client-focused, and passionate about building both relationships and business.The successful candidate will be someone who does not simply manage accounts, but takes genuine ownership of them — understanding the client's business, identifying opportunities, developing people, winning new business, and contributing directly to the growth of the agency.If you are ready to take a senior leadership role in a growing agency environment and make a measurable impact on clients, people, and revenue, we would love to hear from you.