Account Director

Location: Dubai Reporting to: Business Director

Travel: Regular travel to Saudi Arabia is required. Candidates must be comfortable with frequent KSA travel as part of the role.

Works closely with: Creative Directors, Strategy, Production, Finance, Clients

Fluency in English is essential.

Arabic language capability is a strong advantage, particularly for client engagement and cultural nuance in regional markets. Familiarity with GCC business culture, especially Saudi Arabia, is highly valued.

Role Overview

The Account Director at Liwa is the senior guardian of client relationships and business outcomes. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, creative ambition, and production reality.

You are responsible not just for servicing clients, but for shaping the work, protecting the process, and growing the account. You are expected to think commercially, challenge briefs when required, and ensure that Liwa's hybrid agencyproduction model delivers both creative excellence and operational discipline.

This is not a traffic or coordination role. It is a leadership role with clear ownership and guiding 2 senior account managers at the agency.

• Own senior client relationships and act as the primary point of strategic contact.

• Build trust through clarity, consistency, and sound judgement, not over-servicing.

• Lead client conversations with confidence, including difficult discussions around scope, timelines, budgets, and expectations.

• Anticipate client needs rather than react to them.

• Translate client objectives into clear, actionable briefs for creative and production.

• Ensure briefs are well-considered, properly contextualised, and commercially sound before work begins.

• Challenge weak inputs from clients and internal teams constructively and early.

• Maintain strategic consistency across campaigns, content, and long-term brand narratives.

• Identify organic growth opportunities within existing accounts.

• Work with leadership to convert opportunities into scoped, costed proposals.

• Own account profitability, including scope management, change requests, and cost control.

• Ensure that goodwill does not quietly erode commercial health.

• Lead and mentor Account Managers and Account Executives.

• Set standards for briefing quality, follow-through, and accountability.

• Be the point of escalation when things drift, stall, or risk misalignment.

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• Foster a culture of clarity between account management, creative, and production.

• Ensure all work follows Liwa's agreed briefing, approval, and production processes.

• Uphold documentation discipline including scopes, estimates, timelines, and approvals.

• Work closely with finance to ensure invoicing, collections, and commercial hygiene are maintained.

• Protect the agency by ensuring decisions are documented, not assumed.

• 7-8 years of experience in an agency or integrated content environment.

• Proven experience managing large, complex, or multi-market accounts.

• Strong understanding of film, content, and production processes.

• Commercially literate with a clear grasp of scopes, margins, and resourcing.

• Calm under pressure and decisive when ambiguity arises.

• Comfortable operating at senior client and internal leadership levels.

A clear, structured thinker who communicates with intent and precision; confident without being confrontational; attentive to detail while retaining a strong grasp of the bigger picture; respected internally for sound judgement rather than volume; and naturally collaborative, yet firm and decisive when standards or discipline begin to slip.