Strategic Account Director, Media Buying

The Strategic Account Director is the senior relationship and strategy owner for one to two of 829’s most important enterprise advertisers — high-value clients running 6- to 7-figure monthly media budgets across CTV, OLV, display, native, audio, and emerging digital channels. The role sits within 829’s Enterprise Media Buying practice and serves as the executive-level point of contact for client leadership, including CMOs, VPs of Marketing, and senior media decision-makers.

This is a true player/coach role. You are accountable for the relationship, the strategy, and the commercial outcomes — and equally accountable for the day-to-day quality of the work. Early in the role you will operate with a deliberately lean, integrated team supporting a single high-value account. As the practice and your portfolio scale, dedicated resources scale alongside it — but the standard does not change. This role owns net revenue retention, and the long-term trajectory of every account on its desk.

The Strategic Account Director is part executive sponsor, part strategic advisor, and part commercial owner — the person clients trust to translate media performance into business outcomes, and the person 829 trusts to grow these relationships into multi-year, performance-accountable partnerships.

What You'll Do

Executive Client Leadership

Serve as the senior strategic lead and executive point of contact for one to two high-value enterprise clients

Build and sustain trusted partnerships with C-suite, VP-level, and senior marketing leadership at the client organization

Lead executive-level conversations including QBRs, annual planning, business reviews, strategic planning sessions, and renewal discussions

Act as the primary escalation point for complex client, operational, or strategic concerns

Connect media performance — across CTV, OLV, display, native, audio, and emerging channels — to client business objectives, marketing organization priorities, and broader commercial outcomes

Maintain a high standard of executive communication, professionalism, and relationship management across all client interactions

Strategy & Business Impact

Develop and lead long-term account strategy across the full programmatic stack, in close partnership with the assigned media strategist, media buyers, operating leadership, and analyst(s).

Translate performance insights and analytics into actionable, executive-ready recommendations

Anticipate organizational shifts, market changes, and competitive pressures that may impact client priorities or partnership health

Guide clients through annual and quarterly planning cycles, budget reallocations, and channel expansion conversations (e.g., CTV scale-up, retail media, audio, DOOH)

Ensure agency recommendations align with enterprise client realities — approval structures, brand safety standards, measurement frameworks, and procurement timelines

Stay fluent in the broader programmatic landscape — DSP changes, supply-path optimization, privacy regulation, attention metrics, AI-driven optimization — and translate the implications into client strategy

Retention, Growth & Commercial Ownership

Own retention, NRR, and account satisfaction across the assigned portfolio

Identify and convert strategic growth opportunities tied to client business needs, performance trends, and evolving media priorities

Lead scope expansion conversations — additional channels, increased budgets, adjacent service lines — in partnership with practice leadership

Own renewal strategy and forecasting; partner with agency leadership on commercial planning, pricing, and structural agreement evolution

Co-own the client’s staffing and resource budget — making intentional, accountable decisions about how dedicated and shared resources are deployed in service of client outcomes and engagement profitability

Maintain visibility into engagement profitability, resource allocation, and delivery quality across the account

Account Leadership & Player/Coach Execution

Operate as a player/coach on the account — leading the relationship and the strategy while remaining directly involved in the work

Hold accountability for delivery quality, on-time execution, and integrated work product across media strategy, buying, creative, and analytics

Own day-to-day meetings and client communication, in conjunction with project management and media strategists.

Set the cadence, the standards, and the priorities for the integrated team supporting the account; create the conditions for a focused, distraction-free team

Scale the engagement model thoughtfully as the book of business grows — bringing on additional dedicated resources as account complexity warrants, never ahead of need

Escalate and resolve operational risks, delivery challenges, and stakeholder concerns proactively

Help establish scalable best practices for senior-led, performance-accountable account leadership as the practice grows

Portfolio Scope

1 - 2 enterprise client relationships

Co-ownership of the client staffing and resource budget with Media Buying President and Leadership.

Full accountability for retention, NRR, account health, and expansion contribution

Direct executive reporting line into client C-suite and senior marketing leadership

Twelve months into the role, the Strategic Account Director has succeeded when the following retention and revenue outcomes are demonstrably true across the assigned portfolio:

Retention & Net Revenue Retention (Primary)

100% gross logo retention across the assigned portfolio at the 12-month mark

115%+ Net Revenue Retention across the book of business in the first full year

All assigned accounts have completed renewal or extension at or above original contract value

No material churn risk indicators on any active engagement at the 12-month mark, validated through documented account health reviews

Documented expansion roadmap for each account with quantified opportunity sizing and a clear path to year-two NRR targets

Strategic Account Health (Supporting)

Active, codified relationship with at least two senior stakeholders per account (CMO/VP plus a secondary executive sponsor)

QBR cadence established and consistently delivered at or ahead of client expectation

Strategic plan presented and adopted by client leadership within the first 90 days of account ownership

Engagement profitability and resource budget managed within target ranges; staffing decisions demonstrably tied to client outcomes

What You'll Bring

10+ years of experience in agency client services, account leadership, or strategic account management with a focus on performance media or programmatic buying

Demonstrated history of owning enterprise client relationships at significant scale, with clear ownership of retention, expansion, and revenue outcomes

Direct experience leading clients through programmatic media strategy — CTV, OLV, display, native, audio — at the executive level

Working fluency (not necessarily hands-on execution) in major DSPs (The Trade Desk, DV360, Amazon DSP, Xandr, or similar), supply-path optimization, attribution and incrementality frameworks, and brand safety standards

Proven track record of driving NRR and expansion within named enterprise accounts

Comfort operating as a player/coach — willing to lead the relationship and stay close to the work, with the maturity to scale that posture as a team grows around them

Experience navigating complex client organizations — multi-stakeholder structures, procurement cycles, brand and category gates, longer planning horizons

Exceptional executive communication, presentation, and storytelling skills; comfort presenting to C-suite

Experience leading integrated teams without direct authority — strategists, creative, analytics, project management

Comfort in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment; agency or consulting background stron