At Map Project Office, (part of the AKQA Group and WPP), we design products that make life feel simpler, smarter, and more human. From everyday objects to next-gen tech, our work sits at the intersection of design and innovation. We turn bold ideas into things people love to use. But what really defines Map is our culture. We’re a curious, collaborative team who believe the best ideas come from working openly together. Whether it’s partnering with start-ups or world-leading brands, we thrive on solving tough challenges and pushing design in new directions.
We are looking for an experienced Senior Account/Project Manager to join our team. Reporting to the Business Director, you will play a key role in managing and growing client relationships across the studio, ensuring projects are delivered successfully while maintaining strong commercial performance. Working closely with senior creative counterparts, you will lead projects from brief through to completion, balancing client needs with project scope, timelines, and budgets. This is an exciting opportunity for a confident, proactive account leader who enjoys building trusted partnerships, spotting opportunities for growth, and helping teams do their best work.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage multiple projects from initial brief through to completion, ensuring delivery on time, within scope, and within budget.
- Act as the primary client contact for assigned accounts, building strong and lasting relationships.
- Work closely with creative teams to develop commercially viable responses to client briefs.
- Create clear, detailed proposals and scopes of work in collaboration with creative counterparts.
- Monitor project health, revenue, and pipeline, providing regular updates to the Growth Director.
- Identify opportunities to grow existing accounts and support new business activity.
- Lead new business conversations, presentations, and responses to RFPs and RFQs alongside senior creative team members.
- Take ownership of the financial performance of assigned accounts, including forecasting, budgeting, invoicing, and change control.
- Work with the Resource Manager to ensure projects are appropriately staffed while maintaining healthy margins.
- Ensure all project administration is completed to a high standard, including agendas, meeting notes, project plans, and purchase orders.
- Support and mentor junior team members, contributing to their development and growth.
- Play an active role in shaping and maintaining Map’s studio culture
Essential Skills & Experience
- Proven experience in an Account Manager or Senior Account Manager role within a creative, design, branding, or agency environment.
- Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously.
- Excellent client relationship and stakeholder management skills.
- Commercially minded with strong financial acumen and experience managing project budgets.
- Experience working closely with creative teams and navigating creative processes.
- Exceptional organisational skills and attention to detail.
- Positive, proactive, and solution-oriented approach.
- Comfortable working independently while collaborating effectively across teams.
- Confidence in challenging assumptions, solving problems, and taking ownership of outcomes.
- Strong communication and presentation skills.
If you're a commercially savvy relationship-builder who thrives in a creative environment and enjoys bringing people, ideas, and projects together, we'd love to hear from you.
NOTE: this is a role within Map Project office, an AKQA Group Company and part of WPP
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
- Proven experience as an Account Manager or Senior Account Manager in a creative, design, branding, or agency environment
- Strong project management skills, including managing multiple workstreams simultaneously
- Excellent client relationship and stakeholder management skills
- Commercial and financial acumen, including project budget management
- Experience working closely with creative teams and navigating creative processes
- Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail
- Positive, proactive, and solution-oriented approach
- Ability to work independently and collaborate effectively across teams
- Confidence challenging assumptions, solving problems, and taking ownership of outcomes
- Strong communication and presentation skills
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
AKQA is the frontier agency, uniting imagination, design, craft and technology to create new forms of value. For more than three decades, we've helped brands imagine what’s next and make what matters, from pioneering digital to defining the next era of AI. Operating across 19 countries and 30 locations, we work with organisations to build intelligent systems, digital products, connected ecosystems and immersive experiences that shape culture, deepen brand relevance and unlock growth. AKQA is a WPP agency.
