[Hiring] Strategic Account Director, Media Buying @829 Studios

Role Description

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:
  • 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.

Qualifications

• 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 strongly preferred.

Benefits

• Remote Workplace: Option to work at our office in Boston or remotely in several states.
• Paid Time Off: Generous paid vacation benefits that increase each year, 14 Company Holidays, and Summer Fridays from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
• 401K + Match: 401K plan with 4% Safe Harbor employer match after one year of employment.
• Life Insurance Benefit: No-cost coverage to ensure peace of mind for your family.
• Short Term Disability Benefit: Coverage for illness or injury that keeps you out of work.
• Healthcare: Competitive healthcare plans with significant employer coverage.
• Commuter Benefits: Pre-tax funds allocation towards your commute.
• Continuing Education: Access to webinars, learning platforms, and funding for conferences.