Account Manager

 

Account Manager

Hybrid | Chicagoland Candidates Only  |  Reports to Chief Strategy Officer

As an Account Manager at Marcel Digital, you'll serve as the primary point of contact and trusted advisor for a portfolio of B2B clients. You'll manage a book of business spanning mid-market to enterprise firms — typically companies with $10M to $3B in revenue — working directly with their marketing teams to ensure every engagement delivers measurable business outcomes.

You can expect to manage 20 or more active accounts at any given time, requiring sharp organizational skills, the ability to balance competing priorities, and the composure to thrive in a fast-paced agency environment. You'll collaborate closely with Project Managers and cross-functional specialists across SEO, Paid Media, Analytics, UX, and Software Development.

This role is ideal for someone with agency experience who excels at building trusted client relationships, navigating complex business challenges, and managing a high-volume portfolio with professionalism and care.

The expected salary range for this role is $70,000 to $85,000 annually.

Role Description

Client Relationship Management

Serve as the primary relationship manager for your assigned accounts. Build strong, trust-based relationships with client stakeholders — primarily marketing teams — by developing a deep understanding of each client's business, goals, challenges, and competitive landscape. Ensure clients consistently feel supported, informed, and confident in Marcel's partnership.

Strategic Alignment

Ensure that the strategies developed by Marcel's internal specialists are aligned with your clients' business objectives and are being executed consistently. You'll be responsible for communicating strategy clearly to clients — helping them understand the rationale behind recommendations and how they connect to broader business goals. While you'll influence strategic direction and serve as an important checkpoint on strategic decisions, the primary development of channel-level strategy is driven by Marcel's subject matter experts.

Account Leadership

Lead recurring client meetings, quarterly business reviews, and strategic planning discussions. Keep conversations outcome-focused and ensure clients are clear on priorities, progress, and next steps. Maintain a proactive approach to communication and relationship management across a large and active portfolio.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Partner closely with Project Managers and service delivery teams to ensure client priorities are clearly understood and followed through. Advocate for client interests internally, help remove obstacles, and ensure the right work is being done for the right reasons.

Growth, Upselling & Cross-Selling

Identify and actively pursue opportunities to expand client partnerships through additional services, upsells, and cross-sells. You'll be directly responsible for revenue growth within your accounts — developing business cases, presenting expanded service recommendations, and collaborating with leadership on larger opportunities. Growth is earned through demonstrated value and strong relationships.

Issue Resolution & Escalation

Identify client concerns proactively before they escalate. When challenges arise, coordinate internal resources, guide resolution efforts, and maintain transparent communication with stakeholders throughout. Help clients navigate difficult situations while protecting and strengthening the relationship.

Account Health & Retention

Monitor client satisfaction, engagement levels, and potential risks across your portfolio. Proactively identify red flags and develop action plans to strengthen relationships and support long-term retention. Your success is directly tied to the health and stability of your accounts.

Business Acumen & Financial Awareness

Develop and maintain a strong understanding of how your clients' businesses operate — how they make money, what drives their decisions, and how their marketing goals both align with and differ from their broader business objectives. This is essential for ensuring Marcel's recommendations are grounded in business context and land effectively with client stakeholders. Internally, maintain visibility into account budgets, scopes, and profitability to ensure engagements remain healthy for both clients and Marcel.

Communication & Transparency

Ensure clients and internal teams have clear, consistent visibility into priorities, progress, risks, and opportunities. Foster an environment of trust through honest and proactive communication at every level of the engagement.

Qualifications & Ideal Fit

• 4–6 years of experience in account management, client services, or a related field — agency experience is required
• Proven ability to manage 20+ client accounts simultaneously while maintaining quality, responsiveness, and strong relationships
• Experience navigating the pace and pressure of an agency environment: shifting priorities, tight timelines, and competing demands
• Strong communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills, including experience working with executive and senior-level client stakeholders
• Clear understanding of how businesses operate — including how marketing goals relate to and differ from broader business objectives
• Demonstrated ability to identify and pursue upsell and cross-sell opportunities and develop supporting business cases
• Strong problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills
• Comfortable ensuring strategy is understood and followed, and capable of influencing strategic direction through client and internal dialogue
• Understanding of digital marketing channels including SEO/AEO, Paid Media, Analytics, UX, and Software Development
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail
• Growth-minded and eager to leverage AI tools to improve efficiency and effectiveness
• Experience with HubSpot CRM, Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, or Service Hub is a plus
• Experience with project management tools such as ClickUp, Workfront, or Jira is a plus
• Bachelor's degree required

Success in This Role

Success will be measured by:

• Client retention and overall account health
• Client satisfaction and relationship strength
• Revenue growth through upsell and cross-sell activity
• Account profitability and scope management
• Proactive identification and resolution of risks and issues
• Clear alignment between client goals and Marcel's service delivery

Benefits & Culture

Marcel offers a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and a flexible, collaborative work environment. You'll have meaningful ownership over a portfolio of B2B client relationships, direct influence over account growth, and the opportunity to help shape long-term business outcomes for both our clients and our agency.

We value curiosity, accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement. If you're passionate about building trusted partnerships, solving business challenges, and thriving in a high-energy agency environment, we'd love to hear from you.