Automotive Marketing Account Director, Houston TX

Who is PureCars? PureCars helps unlock the full sales potential of automotive dealers across the US and Canada using our proprietary multi-channel advertising and analytics platform combined with our team of high-touch digital strategy experts. By utilizing our extensive data library and proprietary technology, our digital advertising and attribution solutions enable dealers to capture more customers, optimize spend efficiency and maximize profitability while providing mission critical business insights and analytics. We are focused on investing in world-class talent and technology in order to help our partners dominate their markets in new and innovative ways. PureCars is seeking a full-service Account Director (AD) to own the agency relationship with a regional portfolio of dealerships. The AD is the single point of accountability for everything the agency delivers to those stores, across every discipline. Purpose of the Role The Account Director is the voice of the agency to every General Manager in their region. They translate PureCars' overarching Group 1 strategy into a clear, store-specific plan for each dealership, then make sure every discipline delivers against it. This is a full-service role, not a digital role. The AD is expected to speak with equal confidence about a broadcast buy, a paid search budget, a creative campaign, and what the audience data says about a store's market. They connect those pieces into one integrated recommendation rather than a set of channel updates. The AD earns the GM's trust as a business partner. That means understanding each store's sales and service goals, inventory position, competitive set, and manufacturer requirements, and showing how the agency's work moves those numbers. What we stand for as an agency, the Account Director must stand for as well. The AD is a change agent who helps the agency grow with the needs of Group 1 and its stores. Key Responsibilities Serve as the primary agency contact for 15-20 dealership General Managers, owning every agency interaction with each store and holding a regular cadence of meetings and in-store visits. Understand each store's business, including sales and fixed ops goals, inventory, market share, competitors, and manufacturer programs, and act as a trusted business partner to the GM. Represent and champion the agency's overarching strategy, while building relationships with the enterprise dealer group’s regional and corporate marketing leadership so store plans align with group priorities. Develop integrated, store-specific annual, quarterly, and monthly advertising and marketing communication plans that bring together Traditional Media, Digital Media, Creative, Market & Audience Insights, Social, CRM/Direct, and Web. Turn a GM's goals into clearly defined business needs, then into one cohesive recommendation across channels rather than a set of separate channel updates. Partner with the Media team on broadcast, streaming/CTV, radio, audio, print, OOH, and direct mail, and with the Digital team on search, social, programmatic, video, and vehicle listings, so every tactic works as part of one plan. Review and approve media plans, flowcharts, and buy summaries, and explain reach, frequency, and coverage decisions in plain business terms. Brief the Creative team with clear, strategic creative briefs, contribute ideas on concepts, offers, and messaging, and give final account-side sign-off on all work before it goes to vendors. Use research, audience data, competitive activity, and manufacturer incentive programs to shape store strategy, and bring those insights to GMs in a way that drives decisions. Review performance reporting for accuracy, connect agency activity to outcomes such as leads, traffic, units sold, and service ROs, and recommend optimizations and budget shifts. Identify growth opportunities proactively, including new services, conquest markets, service drive growth, and seasonal or model-launch moments. Oversee each store's advertising budget and pacing, manage co-op submissions and funds to maximize available dollars, and approve client draft invoices for media and production. Ensure all work complies with federal, state and regional automotive advertising laws and with manufacturer advertising guidelines across every brand in the book. Oversee website content, specials, and inventory merchandising for accuracy and manufacturer compliance. Act as the connection point between the GM and the Media, Digital, Creative, Insights, Production, and Accounting teams, overseeing internal meetings, timelines, and conference reports. Communicate account status and risks regularly to agency leadership, and contribute to agency processes and growth within the Group 1 relationship. Qualifications Required Bachelor's degree in advertising, marketing, communications, business, or a related field. 7+ years in advertising agency client services, including 3+ years leading accounts. Automotive retail or dealer group experience, working directly with GMs or dealer principals. Hands-on experience across traditional media, digital media, and creative, with the ability to build strategic, integrated plans. Experience managing a multi-location or multi-client book of business. Proven ability to build trusted relationships with senior business owners or operators and influence their decisions. Working command of media math, budgets, and performance reporting. Ability to travel monthly within the assigned region, including occasional overnight travel. Preferred Knowledge of manufacturer co-op programs and OEM advertising compliance. Familiarity with dealership operations, including sales, F&I, BDC, and fixed ops. Experience presenting audience and market research to non-marketing audiences. Key Competencies Take Initiative. Initiates solutions and identifies opportunities for the client while demonstrating ongoing commitment and responsibility for their book of business through communication, responsiveness, and knowledge. Full-service thinker. Sees the whole marketing mix and recommends what the store needs, not what one channel offers. Business partner to operators. Speaks the GM's language of units, gross, traffic, and ROI. Confident communicator. Presents clearly, listens well, and voices a professional point of view, even when it differs from the client's. Organized under pressure. Manages dealer priorities and deadlines at the speed of retail. Accountable. Takes ownership of every store's results and relationship. Entrepreneurial and curious. Brings new ideas, keeps learning, and adapts as the business changes. Integrity. Represents the agency's values in every interaction. PureCars provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, religion, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. #J-18808-Ljbffr PureCars