At AKQA (part of WPP) we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create beautiful ideas, products, and services. With an entrepreneurial and collaborative approach, we design adaptive digital services and applications that capture the imagination, delivering impressive returns for our clients.
Client leadership at AKQA builds trusted partnerships, provides cross-functional direction, and ensures our teams deliver exceptional work that meets both client goals and customer needs. Senior Client Directors bring strategic rigor and operational excellence to complex engagements: balancing relationship leadership with the practical realities of delivering high-quality digital products and services at pace.
We are seeking an experienced Freelance Senior Client Director to support a nationally recognized, category-leading brand that is looking to AKQA to innovate in ways that meaningfully impact people’s lives. This role will lead senior client relationships and guide delivery across digital products and services that serve large, diverse customer bases. You will work in a fast-moving, highly collaborative environment, aligning cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders, navigating complexity, and ensuring work delivers measurable outcomes.
ROLE REQUIREMENTS
• Own senior day-to-day client relationships, building trust and credibility through strategic counsel, operational excellence, and consistent delivery
• Act as the client’s strategic partner: understand business goals, identify opportunities, and shape initiatives across digital products and services
• Lead multiple concurrent workstreams with clear prioritization, escalation paths, decision-making, and stakeholder alignment
• Partner closely with Strategy, UX, Research, Technology, and Delivery leads to translate business needs into actionable plans and high-quality outputs
• Drive proactive growth by identifying whitespace, bringing forward new ideas, and expanding work beyond the initial remit
• Establish and maintain a strong “brand of service” for the engagement, including communication rhythms, working norms, and clarity of roles/responsibilities
• Anticipate risks and spot issues early; manage expectations, drive resolution, and keep work moving without sacrificing quality
• Guide and influence senior stakeholders, communicating persuasively to both executive and working-team audiences
• Ensure account health by supporting scope management, forecasting, and resourcing alignment in partnership with operations and delivery leadership
QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS
• Significant experience in agency client leadership, including ownership of complex engagements delivering digital products and services (web/app/platform/service ecosystems)
• Proven ability to operate at senior stakeholder levels, building durable relationships grounded in substance, follow-through, and sound judgment
• Strong strategic thinking paired with hands-on execution; comfortable working with ambiguity and moving quickly across parallel efforts
• Highly organized and detail-oriented; able to manage competing priorities while maintaining a high bar for quality and client experience
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills (written, verbal, and presentation), able to align cross-functional teams and drive decisions
• Proactive, solutions-oriented mindset with a commitment to measurable outcomes and continuous improvement
• Collaborative, team-first leadership style; able to motivate teams and navigate complex organizations effectively
Location & Commitment
• Start Date (Freelance): March 30, 2026
• End Date (Freelance): June 5, 2026
• 40 hours/week
• Expected compensation: $4,000–$4,750 per week
• Must be based in New York or the tri-state area for in-person collaboration as needed (hybrid expectation)
We believe great work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach including required in-office days. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.
AKQA is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.
About WPP
WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.
Skills Required
- Significant experience in agency client leadership
- Proven ability to operate at senior stakeholder levels
- Strong strategic thinking paired with hands-on execution
- Excellent communication and storytelling skills
- Highly organized and detail-oriented
AKQA Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about AKQA and has not been reviewed or approved by AKQA.
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Parental & Family Support — Policies include fully paid parental leave for all parents, adoption support, and family leave for caregiving needs. Additional supports such as subsidized backup childcare and regional enhancements reinforce family care.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage offers multiple plan options with full preventive care, mental‑health resources, and dental and vision coverage. Some regions provide 24/7 virtual doctor access and supplementary healthcare budgets for services not covered by insurance.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time‑away provisions include generous paid holidays with increases over tenure and a companywide year‑end closure. Special, study, and event‑based leave (e.g., weddings, moving) broaden the range of available time off.
AKQA Insights
What We Do
The imaginative application of art and science. AKQA is a design and communications company that employs 2,200 professionals in 29 studios across five continents. Awarded two Cannes Lion Grand Prix’s in 2019, and recently named by Gartner and Forrester as one of the world’s leading experience design and innovation agencies.
