The Account Director problem
Ask three media agencies what an Account Director does and you might get three perfectly sensible, completely different answers.
One leads the client relationship and brings the specialists together. One is deep in communications planning. Another is responsible for a particular channel or activation team.
None of those descriptions is wrong. The problem starts when you recruit for the title before deciding which of those jobs you actually need doing.
If you're hiring into a media agency in Manchester or the North West, start with the work, the team around it and the decisions this person needs to make. Then decide what to call them.
Strategy: what are we trying to change?
A strategy role should get underneath the client's problem: the business context, audience, category, evidence and the choices that will make a difference. Depending on the agency, that might mean brand strategy, communications strategy, media strategy or a combination.
A strategist in a media agency may work closely with planners and channel specialists, but don't assume their job is to build every media plan. Equally, don't assume that somebody with 'strategy' in their title has owned the particular kind of strategy your client needs.
Ask what they personally shaped, what evidence informed the recommendation, what trade-offs they made and what happened next. A beautiful deck is useful. Knowing what was actually behind it is more useful.
Planning: how does the thinking become a plan?
Planning turns the strategic direction into choices about audiences, channels, timing and investment. In some media agencies, communications planning is a distinct discipline; elsewhere, planning and client leadership sit together, or planning and buying are combined.
A Planning Director may lead a specialist planning team, direct integrated communications planning for clients or sit closer to media investment. The title alone won't tell you which.
Be clear about whether you need somebody to set the planning approach, lead the day-to-day plan, connect strategy to execution or manage the client through the whole thing. Sometimes you need more than one of those. That doesn't automatically mean one person should do all of them.
Client leadership: who owns the relationship and the work?
Media Account Managers, Account Directors, Associate Directors and Managing Partners can carry different responsibilities depending on the agency and account. Senior client leaders might own the relationship, shape the work, lead teams, manage commercials and bring planning, strategy and activation together.
A strong client lead needs enough understanding of the work to challenge it. That doesn't necessarily mean they need to be the deepest specialist in every channel.
When writing the brief, be specific about account size and complexity, decision-making authority, team leadership, client seniority and commercial responsibility. 'Must be strategic' is not a job description. What should they actually be able to change?
Media activation, buying and investment: where is the specialist depth?
Media buying, investment and activation can involve different levels of channel expertise, platform knowledge, negotiation, trading and delivery. Some people plan and buy; others specialise in one part of the process. Structures vary by agency.
If you need someone to lead paid social, programmatic or another specialist team, say what they will own and how close to the work they need to be. Don't make a broad client-service brief carry a shopping list of platform requirements unless those requirements really matter.
Don't forget data and insight
Insight can sit inside strategy and planning, or in a dedicated research, analytics or effectiveness team. Those people may be brilliant at turning data into a useful decision, without being the person who owns the client relationship or every element of the plan.
Work out whether the gap is research and audience understanding, analytics and measurement, effectiveness, or using insight to shape a recommendation. Then assess the actual work, not just the tools listed on a CV.
How to brief the hire properly
Start with the problem. Is a client relationship under pressure? Does the team need stronger planning? Is there a gap between the strategy and the work getting delivered? Or does the agency need senior leadership to develop its people and grow accounts?
Agree what the person will own, who they will work alongside, the decisions they can make and what good looks like in the first six to twelve months. Be honest about the accounts, team, location, working pattern and salary before going to market.
Then agree the evidence you need to see. Ask candidates to explain a real piece of work, their personal contribution, the difficult decisions and how they judged the outcome. Keep confidential client information confidential.
Manchester and the North West: price the actual role
The same title can carry very different weight in an independent agency and a large network. Salary also moves with the scope, the accounts, the team, specialist expertise and the working arrangement.
Our Manchester & North West Marketing Salary Guide includes agency strategy and planning, media agency roles, and data and insight. Use it as a starting point, not a substitute for a conversation about the actual brief.
I've worked on senior agency appointments in Manchester, including the Managing Partner search for Havas Media Manchester. The lesson is the same whether you're hiring an Account Director or a Managing Partner: understand the job behind the title before deciding who fits it.