Director of Client Services

About the Role

As a Client Services leader at Heady, you are the primary steward of a select portfolio of our most important client relationships. You are responsible for growing those accounts and for the strength of the partnerships behind them.

You do this by being a credible commerce voice with your clients. You bring a point of view on commerce and retail that comes from having seen these problems across many organizations, and you use it to help clients see where their business is going and what they should do next. That perspective is what earns you a seat at the table with senior stakeholders, and it is what turns a client relationship into new work for Heady.

You will build and own relationships at the VP and Director level, working alongside our founders, who hold our most senior executive relationships, and our Product Managers, who own the day-to-day of delivery. You are the connective tissue between them: translating what our delivery teams see on the ground into a business case a client decision-maker will act on, and translating a client's goals into work our teams can deliver.

You are accountable for account growth, not for producing strategic deliverables. When a client needs research, a specification, or a detailed plan, you scope that work, sell it, and hand it to our delivery team. Because clients value your perspective, you can expect to carry a billable advisory load on the accounts you own.

This is a hybrid role based in Brooklyn, NY, with in-office collaboration on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in our Dumbo office, with the potential to increase to three days per week in the future.

Travel Requirements: This role will require travel (up to 50%) depending on client assignments. You will be expected to conduct on-site meetings with key client executives and stakeholders on a routine basis.

What You'll Own
Growth and the Client Relationship

• Account Growth: You bring a clear point of view on commerce and retail, and you know your clients' businesses well enough to apply it. You spot where they're headed, frame how Heady can help, and shape the next piece of work with them.
• Mining Opportunities: You keep an eye out for signs that a client might need more help, such as a new department, a new product phase, or a shift in their market, and you show them how Heady fits.
• Strategic Partnerships: You identify moments where our clients could benefit from working with our network of partners.
• Looking Forward: You work with the CEO to predict future revenue and lead the pitches and proposals for growing the accounts you manage.
• Industry Insights: You bring a clear, credible point of view on industry trends, particularly in retail and e-commerce, and you explain our capabilities in terms of the client's specific business challenges.

Relationships and Trust

• Strategic Stakeholder Mapping: You learn the client's internal hierarchy, who really makes the decisions and what their internal goals are, and you build real relationships at the VP and Director level where budgets get shaped.
• Broadening Our Access: You develop relationships across the client's organization, both with the teams closest to the work and with the leaders who approve it, so that our value is understood at every level.
• Strategic Check-ins: You own the relationship at the leadership level. You lead regular business reviews that focus on the client's big-picture goals, making sure we're helping them grow rather than just checking off daily tasks.
• Taking the Pulse: You stay close to the internal team to understand how things are actually going, then surface any important insights to our leadership. You'll also watch for any signs of frustration or silence before they become real problems.
• The Heady Host: You are a main face of the agency once a project starts. Whether it's at our Dumbo office or at their headquarters, you coordinate and lead client visits to make sure they feel welcome and valued.

Supporting the Internal Team

• Partnering with Product: You work closely with our Product Managers, who are your window into how the work is actually going. You partner with them rather than manage them, bringing the client context they need and taking what they see on the ground into your conversations with client leadership. When new work is sold, you scope it with them and hand it off cleanly.
• Support for the Team: You're the person the team calls when a client is being difficult. You resolve the friction so the Product Managers and developers can stay focused and keep moving.
• Client Budget Awareness: In partnership with the VP of Delivery, you keep an eye on how much of the client's budget is being used. You make sure the client knows exactly where their money is going so we can avoid surprises or find extra funds for new work.

Contract Management and Staying Ahead

• The Contract Lifecycle: You own the full process for renewals and extensions. Your goal is to stay ahead of expiration dates by at least 60-90 days so we never have a last-minute rush to get a signature.
• Managing Scope: You act as a protector for the Heady project team. When a client asks for work not covered in our current agreement, you step in to lead that conversation. You'll handle the paperwork and pricing for such changes so the team is paid for their extra effort.
• Drafting Agreements: You pull together the requirements, scope of work, and pricing for new contracts, and you package that content into a clear, professional agreement.

Who You Are

• A Commerce Expert: You have deep experience across commerce or e-commerce organizations, and you can speak credibly about purchase architecture, conversion, and average order value. You draw on patterns from the businesses you've worked with to advise the one in front of you.
• A Confident Point of View: You can take a substantive commerce question from a senior client, offer a defensible position, and hold or adjust it thoughtfully under scrutiny.
• A Translator of Goals into Work: Given a broad client objective, you can shape it into a clear first engagement for Heady and articulate the business case behind it.
• Experienced with Senior Stakeholders: You have the executive presence and the confidence to advise senior leaders candidly, including on budget and investment decisions.
• A Skilled Communicator: You can translate technical delivery realities into client-friendly language. You aren't afraid of healthy conflict or direct communication.
• Commercially Minded: You're comfortable owning conversations about money, pricing, and contracts. You know how to protect the agency's interests while still being a champion for the client's success.
• Technically Aware: You understand tech stacks and product roadmaps enough to spot where we can help a client next. You know when to lean on our internal experts and how to avoid stepping on the toes of the technical team.

Experience: You have 5-8 years of experience in commerce strategy, digital product consulting, or senior account leadership within a digital product or tech environment.

• Note: This role is likely not a fit for those from traditional advertising or marketing agency backgrounds; you must understand the nuances of software delivery.

Education: Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field (MBA preferred).

Culturally, you are:

• Socially Intelligent + Empathetic: You are a highly intuitive communicator who maintains the perfect balance between being a warm, trusted partner and a firm agency protector.
• Exceptional Situational Awareness: You pick up on tone, subtext, and subtle cues to read between the lines of every client interaction.
• Strategic Diplomacy: You know exactly when to push for growth and when to pull back, navigating "give and take" with professional grace.
• Balanced Advocacy: You build deep trust with clients while maintaining the backbone to say no when a request compromises the team or the project.
• Curious and Growth-Oriented: You are always looking to learn more and improve how we do things.
• Comfortable with Ambiguity: You are excited about building structure and processes in an environment that moves fast.

How We Define Success in This Role
To be successful in this role, you will focus on four key areas:

• Growth: Meeting revenue targets by finding new business problems for Heady to solve.
• Retention: Keeping our long-term partners through great service and early renewals.
• Relationship Depth: Becoming the trusted advisor your clients rely on, and widening our access inside their organization over time.
• Healthy Accounts: Keeping your accounts commercially sound through smart scope and budget management.

In the first 6 months, you will have:

• Mastered the Portfolio: Built trusted relationships with the VP and Director stakeholders across your accounts; they now see you as their strategic contact for where their business is going.
• Secured Paperwork: Audited all active SOWs to ensure 100% accuracy on expiration dates and billing terms.
• Relieved the Delivery Team: Successfully stepped in to lead at least 3-5 out-of-scope or challenging conversations.
• Launched the Review Engine: Established a consistent schedule for Business Reviews and account plans that highlight Heady's impact and the client's direction.

In the first 12 months, you will have:

• Proven Expansion Growth: Identified and closed multiple expansion opportunities totaling a meaningful percentage of your revenue target.
• Achieved Strong Retention: Successfully managed the renewal process for all expiring contracts.
• Stabilized Margins: Reduced scope creep by proactively managing change orders and client expectations.
• Operational Excellence: Helped refine how Heady runs strategic account management as a repeatable practice.

What You'll Get
Compensation + Incentives

Base Compensation: $155,000 - $175,000
A competitive fixed salary reflecting the leadership, client management, and commercial responsibilities of the role.

Variable Incentive-Based Compensation
Incentive compensation provides additional earnings opportunity based on performance across three dimensions:

• Portfolio Health: Maintaining strong, durable client relationships, measured through client satisfaction, retention, and other indicators of overall portfolio health.
• Portfolio Revenue Attainment: Delivering against the annual revenue expectations established for the client portfolio, with incentives tied to achievement against the annual plan.
• Portfolio Expansion: Creating incremental growth within existing client relationships, with additional upside tied to expansion revenue generated above established expectations.

The structure is intended to reward both stewardship and growth: building strong client relationships, delivering the expected performance of the existing portfolio, and creating meaningful new revenue opportunities within those relationships.

Payout Schedule: Bonuses and commissions are calculated and paid annually at Year-End.

Benefits + Perks

• Health + Wellness: Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage - effective from Day 1.
• Time Off: Flexible PTO (we encourage at least 4 weeks per year) plus 13 paid company holidays.
• Future Planning: 401(k) eligibility after 3 months of service.
• Growth: A dedicated Continued Learning Program to support your professional development.
• Rest + Recharge: Sabbatical Benefit eligibility after 3 years of service.
• Family First: Generous and inclusive Parental Leave plans.
• Hybrid Flexibility: 2 days of in-person collaboration in our Dumbo office (Tuesdays + Wednesdays).

Note: We highly encourage you to apply even if you don't meet 100% of the requirements above. We value the unique perspective and expertise you bring to your craft.