A Senior Account Executive (SAE) strives to be a leader of client teams and tasks, typically within a specific practice area of R&J. The SAE is responsible for partnering with agency senior management in developing and executing effective strategies based on client objectives, leading day-to-day activities for their clients and account teams, maintaining strong client/agency relationships across their practice, and facilitating account work with all internal agency staff.

The SAE will be a strong tactical executioner – significantly involved in his/her accounts’ activities on the front lines of media relations, writing and client services. The SAE develops and executes activities to meet the “big pictures” of their clients’ needs, with senior management oversight and contribution.

The SAE is focused on achieving strong results for clients, and polishing his/her client service skills, team management abilities, contribution to the agency’s profitability, and success with a wide range of PR techniques as key indicators of his/her readiness to advance to the Account Supervisor level.

• A significant drive to proactively accomplish great things for all clients across an account group, which will lead to client and agency satisfaction, stable and then increased budgets, and positive effects on the clients’ and agency’s bottom lines
• Demonstrates media relations success, including phone, in-person, e-mail and social media outreach, with a continual track record of generating results within each, and recognizing client needs in this area
• Display ability to focus on strategic long-term R&J and client needs without losing ability to focus on immediate client needs; drive development of client PR plans
• Set the standards and implement procedures to avoid issues with projects or clients
• Anticipate challenges and opportunities, ensuring use of the best team, resources and specialty services
• Manage client challenges and initiate innovative solutions
• Consistently offer outstanding, consistent and creative counsel on programs and issues
• Demonstrate ability to effectively manage the productivity level of internal teams
• Serve as the client leader for an R&J account group
• Demonstrate strong understanding of how online community engagement integrates into a complete communications program, and implement it as appropriate per client needs
• Demonstrate ability to ensure online relevance, online community value and risk mitigation for clients
• Ensures that day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month, and year-to-year goals and activity levels are met, all within allocated budgets
• Consistently sets and achieves stretch goals
• Demonstrating the ability to work with top-tier media contacts and craft and drive outreach plans; Demonstrate a superior understanding of the media within a given industry; Generate original ideas for sustainable media relations and online community engagement across the account group
• Edit all agency and client-generated documents to ensure the documents are in final format
• Manage media relations for several clients simultaneously, and foster ongoing relationships with media

• Demonstrate strong leadership skills over account teammates to have them produce the results the clients need and will love. This includes delivering constructive feedback, supporting organizational change efforts, and demonstrating loyalties to R&J policies, while leading by example
• The AE is on the front line with the client and must display confidence and poise, as well as being comfortable, adept and effective at communicating with executives, client contacts, sales staffs, case study targets, and/or vendors

• Consistently look for opportunities to develop and increase business, and grow your clients, across your account group
• Create superior results for clients, earning contract renewals, additional budgets and project work, when possible
• Engage in professional community activities to spread the R&J “brand” while scouting for new business possibilities

• Recognizes the need for and strives to maintain profitability in their account group, managing teams and tasks for maximum benefit for both the clients and R&J
• Budget management including the oversight of account workloads for all colleagues on his/her accounts, ensuring invoicing and activity reports/clip reports are completed on time, and increasing or pulling back activity levels to meet retainer levels
• Seeking out and addressing opportunities (with senior managers) to increase client retainers or adding on new programs

• Consistently add value to your account teams’ activities and clients
• Proactively initiates projects including determining appropriate resources and tasks needed, such as specific personnel, outside vendors, timelines, brainstorming sessions, client updates, etc.
• Ensuring that the agency, its values, and standards of quality are represented in the best possible light in all interactions with clients (as well as vendors, partners and other third parties)
• Identifying problems that could damage client relationships or affect the outcome of projects, resolve problems and alert a supervisor with what has occurred or been resolved
• Identifying online opportunities and develop engagement strategies for clients
• Initiating, attending and conducting client status meetings and internal project status meetings, pulling in teammates of all levels as needed, with special recognition as to when there should be involvement by senior management or the agency as a whole
• Possess a high awareness of current events that could affect a client’s business, as well as industry trends in their clients’ business categories, and provide strategic public relations counsel based on that knowledge
• Stay up to date on emerging technologies and trends and demonstrate understanding of their business applications

• Demonstrates positive and enthusiastic approach to career training and development
• Identifies best practices and recommends solutions
• Develops teammates in the account group to aid their growth and achievement, consistently holding them accountable for performance
• Plays an active role in R&J’s mentor program (as mentee and/or mentor)
• Displays initiative in growing network of industry contacts, aiding both skills development and new business growth
• Delivers constructive feedback and supports organizational change efforts
• Demonstrates loyalties to R&J policies and leads by example
• Thoughtfully recommends R&J’s various consulting skills/processes, including audience engagement, message development, brand development, social media campaigns, crisis management, and stakeholder identification