Strategic Account Director, Media Buying

- Serve as the senior strategic lead and executive point of contact for one to two high-value enterprise clients

- Build and sustain trusted partnerships with C-suite, VP-level, and senior marketing leadership at the client organization

- Lead executive-level conversations including QBRs, annual planning, business reviews, strategic planning sessions, and renewal discussions

- Act as the primary escalation point for complex client, operational, or strategic concerns

- Connect media performance - across CTV, OLV, display, native, audio, and emerging channels - to client business objectives, marketing organization priorities, and broader commercial outcomes

- Maintain a high standard of executive communication, professionalism, and relationship management across all client interactions

- Develop and lead long-term account strategy across the full programmatic stack, in close partnership with the assigned media strategist, media buyers, operating leadership, and analyst(s).

- Translate performance insights and analytics into actionable, executive-ready recommendations

- Anticipate organizational shifts, market changes, and competitive pressures that may impact client priorities or partnership health

- Guide clients through annual and quarterly planning cycles, budget reallocations, and channel expansion conversations (e.g., CTV scale-up, retail media, audio, DOOH)

- Ensure agency recommendations align with enterprise client realities - approval structures, brand safety standards, measurement frameworks, and procurement timelines

- Stay fluent in the broader programmatic landscape - DSP changes, supply-path optimization, privacy regulation, attention metrics, AI-driven optimization - and translate the implications into client strategy

- Own retention, NRR, and account satisfaction across the assigned portfolio

- Identify and convert strategic growth opportunities tied to client business needs, performance trends, and evolving media priorities

- Lead scope expansion conversations - additional channels, increased budgets, adjacent service lines - in partnership with practice leadership

- Own renewal strategy and forecasting; partner with agency leadership on commercial planning, pricing, and structural agreement evolution

- Co-own the client's staffing and resource budget - making intentional, accountable decisions about how dedicated and shared resources are deployed in service of client outcomes and engagement profitability

- Maintain visibility into engagement profitability, resource allocation, and delivery quality across the account

- Operate as a player/coach on the account - leading the relationship and the strategy while remaining directly involved in the work

- Hold accountability for delivery quality, on-time execution, and integrated work product across media strategy, buying, creative, and analytics

- Own day-to-day meetings and client communication, in conjunction with project management and media strategists.

- Set the cadence, the standards, and the priorities for the integrated team supporting the account; create the conditions for a focused, distraction-free team

- Scale the engagement model thoughtfully as the book of business grows - bringing on additional dedicated resources as account complexity warrants, never ahead of need

- Escalate and resolve operational risks, delivery challenges, and stakeholder concerns proactively

- Help establish scalable best practices for senior-led, performance-accountable account leadership as the practice grows

- Co-ownership of the client staffing and resource budget with Media Buying President and Leadership.

- Full accountability for retention, NRR, account health, and expansion contribution

- Direct executive reporting line into client C-suite and senior marketing leadership

Twelve months into the role, the Strategic Account Director has succeeded when the following retention and revenue outcomes are demonstrably true across the assigned portfolio:

- 100% gross logo retention across the assigned portfolio at the 12-month mark

- 115%+ Net Revenue Retention across the book of business in the first full year

- All assigned accounts have completed renewal or extension at or above original contract value

- No material churn risk indicators on any active engagement at the 12-month mark, validated through documented account health reviews

- Documented expansion roadmap for each account with quantified opportunity sizing and a clear path to year-two NRR targets

- Active, codified relationship with at least two senior stakeholders per account (CMO/VP plus a secondary executive sponsor)

- QBR cadence established and consistently delivered at or ahead of client expectation

- Strategic plan presented and adopted by client leadership within the first 90 days of account ownership

- Engagement profitability and resource budget managed within target ranges; staffing decisions demonstrably tied to client outcomes

- 10+ years of experience in agency client services, account leadership, or strategic account management with a focus on performance media or programmatic buying

- Demonstrated history of owning enterprise client relationships at significant scale, with clear ownership of retention, expansion, and revenue outcomes

- Direct experience leading clients through programmatic media strategy - CTV, OLV, display, native, audio - at the executive level

- Working fluency (not necessarily hands-on execution) in major DSPs (The Trade Desk, DV360, Amazon DSP, Xandr, or similar), supply-path optimization, attribution and incrementality frameworks, and brand safety standards

- Proven track record of driving NRR and expansion within named enterprise accounts

- Comfort operating as a player/coach - willing to lead the relationship and stay close to the work, with the maturity to scale that posture as a team grows around them

- Experience navigating complex client organizations - multi-stakeholder structures, procurement cycles, brand and category gates, longer planning horizons

- Exceptional executive communication, presentation, and storytelling skills; comfort presenting to C-suite

- Experience leading integrated teams without direct authority - strategists, creative, analytics, project management

- Comfort in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment; agency or consulting background strongly preferred