Managing Director, Client Strategy & Innovation

Overview Placement Type: Permanent Salary: $130,000-180,000 Salary Start Date: Oct 17, 2026 This role is HYBRID Location: Puget Sound [Hybrid] Aquent Studios is seeking a Managing Director, Client Strategy & Innovation to lead a multimillion-dollar enterprise engagement with a global technology client who can drive both business growth and operational excellence. This is not a traditional account management role. We're looking for someone who can think strategically, solve complex business problems, lead large teams, manage a multimillion-dollar P&L, and rethink how work gets done. You'll serve as a strategic consultant and trusted partner to senior client stakeholders, helping them move beyond what they think they need toward the solutions that will drive better business outcomes. You are a leader who can critically evaluate how work is being done and identify opportunities to push it forward through thoughtful application of AI, emerging technologies, automation, and new ways of working. You'll play a critical role in transforming how creative and operational workflows evolve. Your leadership will directly influence revenue growth, client satisfaction, cost efficiency, innovation, and the future direction of one of Aquent Studios' most strategic enterprise engagements. What You’ll Do Lead the overall business and creative operations of a multimillion-dollar client engagement. Serve as a strategic advisor to senior client stakeholders, diagnosing business challenges and developing solutions-not simply responding to requests. Challenge assumptions and influence clients toward better approaches based on expertise, business judgment, and a clear understanding of their goals. Lead complex programs from strategy through execution, balancing quality, cost, speed, resources, and business impact. Own P&L, forecasting, budgeting, profitability, and growth. Identify opportunities to expand the partnership across events, content, social, design, marketing, and other business areas. Build and lead high-performing, cross-functional teams. Continuously evaluate how work is being done and identify opportunities to improve efficiency, creativity, quality, cost, and scale. Bring a modern, hands‑on approach to AI and emerging technology, identifying where new tools and approaches can fundamentally improve how work gets done. Turn innovative ideas into real‑world programs, pilots, and scalable solutions. Help shape the future of how Aquent Studios delivers creative and business services to enterprise clients. Who You Are We're looking for someone with an unusual combination of intellectual curiosity, strategic thinking, commercial judgment, innovation, and execution. You may come from consulting, agency, creative operations, technology, business transformation, or another environment where you've had to solve complex problems and lead through ambiguity. Most importantly, you are a builder and a doer. You can develop the strategy, structure the solution, get the right people involved, and make it happen. You also have a naturally curious relationship with technology. You don't simply use the tools your company provides—you experiment, explore, and look for new ways technology can solve problems, both professionally and personally. You understand that innovation isn't about using technology for technology's sake; it's about creating better outcomes. What We Are Looking For Significant leadership experience in business operations, creative services, consulting, agency, technology, transformation, or related environments, with a demonstrated trajectory of increasing responsibility and impact. Demonstrated record of academic excellence and intellectual achievement, with evidence of succeeding in rigorous academic environments and pursuing challenging areas of study. Evidence of achievement and initiative beyond formal coursework—such as research, independent projects, entrepreneurship, leadership, competitive programs, technical or creative pursuits, publications, or other self‑directed work. Proven experience managing both business and creative operations within large‑scale, enterprise‑level engagements. Proven experience managing multi‑million‑dollar client relationships, ideally at the $8M+ level, in complex organizations. Strong expertise in P&L management and financial oversight. Demonstrated success leading and scaling cross‑functional teams. Experience driving business development and expanding client partnerships. Deep understanding of creative, design, content, marketing, events, digital, or related ecosystems. Demonstrated ability to operate as a strategic consultant and trusted advisor, rather than simply an account or delivery manager. Proven ability to understand complex or ambiguous business problems, structure solutions, and drive those solutions through execution. Demonstrated ability to challenge a client's initial request when appropriate and articulate a better path forward based on expertise, business judgment, and a clear understanding of the desired business outcome. Demonstrated ability to act as an AI and Technology Innovator, with a practical, business‑first approach to applying AI and emerging technologies. Hands‑on experience experimenting with or integrating AI into workflows, with a clear understanding of where it can create meaningful value. Strong intellectual curiosity and a demonstrated pattern of learning quickly, tackling difficult problems, and applying knowledge in new or unconventional ways. Exceptional communication, negotiation, influence, and stakeholder management skills. Strong strategic thinking, problem‑solving, and decision‑making abilities. Demonstrated ability to take ideas from concept through execution and measurable outcome. 10+ years of experience is preferred, but not required. We are open to candidates earlier in their careers who have demonstrated an exceptional trajectory, taken on significant responsibility, and achieved at a level that indicates they are ready for this opportunity. We are looking for candidates who have demonstrated exceptional academic performance and intellectual rigor, particularly within demanding or highly selective academic environments. We are equally interested in what candidates did beyond the classroom. This could include research, independent study, leadership, entrepreneurship, competitive programs, technical or creative projects, publications, organizations, or other pursuits that demonstrate a genuine drive to learn, explore, and accomplish more than what was required. We are less interested in a particular degree or school than in the pattern of achievement behind it. We are looking for someone with a modern and highly curious relationship with technology. You do not need to be an AI engineer. You do need to be someone who naturally explores new technologies, experiments with tools, and thinks differently about how technology can be applied. We want someone who doesn't wait for technology to become mainstream before exploring it and who can distinguish between technology that is genuinely useful and technology that is simply interesting. What Will Set You Apart Above all, we are looking for a builder, problem solver, and strategic thinker who can execute. You can sit with a client who says, "This is what we need" and ask the questions necessary to determine whether that is actually the right problem to solve. You can take an ambiguous challenge, structure it, develop a solution, build the right team and operating model, and drive it through execution. You are comfortable challenging conventional thinking, but you also understand that innovation only matters when it produces a better business outcome. You bring ideas, but more importantly, you know how to turn those ideas into real programs, measurable outcomes, and repeatable capabilities. You are equally comfortable discussing strategy with an executive, evaluating a P&L, redesigning an operating model, experimenting with new technology, and getting into the details necessary to make an idea work. This is a role for someone who doesn't simply ask, "What does the client want us to do?" They ask, "What is the client actually trying to accomplish and what is the best, most innovative way for us to help them get there?" Nice-to-Have Qualifications Experience working with large global technology or enterprise clients. Background in experiential design, creative operations, consulting, business transformation, or digital transformation initiatives. Experience delivering both live and digital event-based work. Track record of building operational efficiencies through emerging technologies. Experience expanding a client relationship across multiple business units or disciplines. Experience across content, social, design, marketing, events, or other creative services. Experience in a creative agency, consulting, technology, or professional services environment. Experience developing new business models, operating models, or service offerings. Strong writing skills for proposals, thought leadership, or strategic content. #J-18808-Ljbffr Skill