Account Director

Job Description

Account Director – Banking & Financial Services

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Are you an experienced client strategist who thrives at the intersection of customer experience, branded environments, and commercial growth? Miller Zell is looking for an Account Director to serve as a trusted advisor to senior executives across the banking and financial services sectors. In this consultative leadership role, you will define long-term account strategy, shape branch transformation programs, and drive revenue growth—partnering with dedicated delivery leaders who manage day-to-day project execution so you can focus on driving big-picture impact.

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Why You’ll Love This Role

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• Strategic Advisory Over Production Tracking: Our dedicated Senior Project Managers own project delivery and logistics, freeing you to focus entirely on senior client relationships, business vision, and strategic roadmaps. You will spend your time solving complex business problems rather than managing tactical status reports.
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• High-Impact Thought Leadership: You will be encouraged to proactively challenge client thinking, bring innovative concepts to the table, and guide how top financial institutions reimagine their retail branch footprint. This role positions you as an indispensable industry partner, not an order-taker.
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• End-to-End Creative Collaboration: You will partner closely with world-class internal teams across design, strategy, engineering, and digital solutions to bring physical spaces to life. Your perspective will directly influence consumer engagement and environmental brand design.
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What You’ll Do

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• Lead Client Strategy & Trusted Advisory: Build and maintain deep relationships with senior executives across retail banking, marketing, brand, real estate, and operations. You will immerse yourself in each client's business landscape to uncover pain points, anticipate market shifts, and offer an authoritative, value-focused point of view.
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• Drive Commercial Growth & Account Health: Take complete ownership of account revenue, profitability, retention, and long-term expansion. You will develop multi-year strategic roadmaps, identify high-margin program opportunities, and lead contract negotiations and high-stakes proposals.
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• Champion Branded Environments & Customer Experience: Guide experiential design by evaluating creative and structural concepts with a critical, strategic eye on behalf of the client. You will ensure all environment solutions align with client brand standards, operational realities, and human-centered design principles.
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• Apply Financial Rigor & Data-Driven Insights: Evaluate client initiatives through an analytical lens focused on return on investment, scalability, and margin health. You will leverage advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills to build persuasive business cases and communicate complex performance metrics clearly to senior stakeholders.
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• Foster Cross-Functional Alignment: Collaborate hand-in-hand with Senior Project Managers and shared service leaders in creative, production, engineering, and logistics. You will align internal teams around a shared client vision, driving internal clarity, speed, and shared accountability.
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What You Bring

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• 8–12+ Years of Strategic Account Leadership: You have a proven track record of growing complex, multi-million-dollar client accounts within an agency, design consultancy, or experiential marketing firm. You know how to navigate large, matrixed organizations and earn the confidence of C-suite and VP-level leaders.
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• Strong Commercial & Financial Acumen: You are comfortable working with client budgets, assessing profitability trade-offs, and building solid financial justifications for innovative programs. You understand how to turn relationship equity into sustainable commercial growth.
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• Fluency in Environmental Design & CX: You bring an intuitive understanding of spatial branding, retail environments, and customer journey strategy. You can review creative deliverables critically and provide constructive, articulate guidance to design teams.
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• Influence & Cross-Functional Team Leadership: You excel at rallying cross-functional teams around a strategic goal and leading effectively without direct authority. You build productive, high-trust partnerships across both client organizations and internal service departments.
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• Executive Communication & Presentation Skills: You possess superior written and verbal presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex narratives succinctly. You are advanced in Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel, capable of building high-caliber decks and financial models independently.
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