Executive Director, Client Partner

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention services across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Meta, eBay, and OpenAI. We have been certified B Corp and Climate Neutral since 2021.

JOB PURPOSE

This role is part of our Global Studios team. We create emotive yet conversion-focused ideas, products and campaigns at scale and speed. Our specialty is hyper-personalised, digital communications that change perceptions, shape new behaviours, and shift market share for our clients.

The Client Partner is a senior account lead, any given business or group of businesses, leading, inspiring and creating paths for creative and business opportunities. They are responsible for the overall strategy, sales, relationship management, and delivery oversight activities related to their assigned accounts. This position reports directly to the VP of Clients, partnering to develop and deliver the North American arm of the DEPT® Studio growth strategy. 

To achieve their goals, the Client Partner will manage global cross-channel teams and develop and maintain senior-level agency relationships. The Client Partner will consult on the best path forward to achieve strategic goals developed in relation to the client vision. They will nurture and build solid senior-level relationships with the executive layers of client leadership. They will have experience consulting for varied clients in the experience design, branding and technical spaces, and capable of driving conversations towards different capabilities in DEPT® Studio’s Portfolio. They are instrumental in developing and directing the engagement strategy across clients and must successfully execute this strategy across their business portfolio, ensuring smooth overall account operations, profitability and growth. They will also understand the value proposition of all DEPT® services, and include DEPT® partners relevant to aligning client roadmaps to all facets of DEPT®’s portfolio. 

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Define, manage and execute various types of projects for clients in order to maximize client business objectives, manage client expectations, and maintain profitability. 
• Understand client’s business goals, pressures, and requirements; convey client’s needs to the internal team.
• Foster collaboration among a cross-disciplinary team to deliver exceptional business results. 
• Maintains big-picture strategic and operational thinking balanced by strong attention to detail. 
• Provide resourcing recommendations and continuously monitor the effectiveness and bandwidth of the team.  
• Leads in meetings with existing clients and internal teams to identify new opportunities to meet clients’ evolving needs as required; serves as the subject matter expert on processes, capacity, and timelines. 
• Lead pitches, proposals, and contract negotiations for organic growth opportunities. 
• Communicate role expectations to team leads and direct reports, if applicable. 
• Frequent client travel is encouraged and required

WHAT YOU BRING:

• Extraordinary interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills. 
• Excellent problem solving, organization, time management, and risk management skills. 
• Expert conflict resolution skills
• Enterprise experience partnering with clients at Fortune 500 companies
• The ability to be self-directed and work in an ambiguous and dynamic environment. 
• Willingness to travel to client sites regularly
• Experience working within and selling the following services: user-centric digital and integrated marketing; business transformation; digital products and services; design systems and branding at the intersection of content, content strategy and commerce solutions work.
• Experience across strategic, omnichannel and production-based projects.
• Experience managing $10 - $15M+ Portfolio and/or driving clients to enterprise relationships at $10 -  $15M+
• Bonus metrics in 2025 will be tied to the following:
• Experienced with retaining top-tier accounts
• Ability to drive realized revenue beyond initial forecasts
• Background in farming additional opportunity out of legacy client-relationships

• Experience managing vendors/partners, partner agencies and entities to drive revenue success with Fortune 500 accounts.
• Knowledge of current issues, trends and tools within ecommerce and the consumer technology industry.
• 12+ years of account management and client partnership experience in a digital design environment.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent degree of education relevant to the industry. 

WE OFFER

• A flexible, hybrid/remote working policy
• An excellent salary based on experience and equal pay policies
• Mental health support, and company sick pay scheme.
• 15 days paid holiday annually (plus Public Holidays).
• Refreshments are provided in the office all week, as well as drinks at 4 pm on a Friday.
• Enhanced family friendly policies to support new parents.
• Social and Cultural Events, plenty of opportunities to connect with colleagues through organised activities and celebrations.
• Inspirational Talks, bringing the outside in with regular guest speakers and events.
• Learning and Development, supporting your growth with continuous opportunities to learn and advance.
• Buddy Programme: You will be paired with a ‘Buddy’ to help you through your first weeks’ at DEPT®.
• A reputation for doing good. DEPT® has been a Certified B Corp® since 2021 and named ‘Agency of the Year’ at both The Lovies and The Webby Awards.
• Awesome clients. Whether big or small, local or global — at DEPT® you’ll get the opportunity to work with clients of all sizes and across all industries. And we celebrate all of our successes together!
• The opportunity for possibility. We want to enable you to do what you do best and help you develop your skills further with training, development and certifications.
• Global annual DEPT® Cares Month in which employees come together and donate their skills to support local charities.

The anticipated annual salary range for this position is $140,000 – $150,000 CAD. Salary is based on relevant experience, expertise, and organizational impact.

AI Disclosure: At DEPT®, we use AI-assisted technology (Metaview) to capture notes and summarize interview conversations, so our interviewers can stay fully focused. Using the AI is optional, just let us know if you’d prefer it not be used.

This posting reflects an existing vacancy at DEPT®.

WHY DEPT®?

We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA.

We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter.

At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION 

At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives.

Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine.

We also encourage you to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us.

Want to know more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out our efforts here.