Client Manager

MSQ Asia & Elmwood Singapore is our hybrid hub for Southeast Asia, where brand distinctiveness meets joined-up activation for greater impact.

MSQ is the world's most AI-enabled challenger group, with AI-powered human creativity at the heart of everything we do. We fuse the right mix of capabilities to unlock momentum for brands, connecting creative performance to business outcomes in real time. We have global specialists across creative, social and influencer, media and commerce, strategy & insights, CX & creative, tech, sports & entertainment, and AI products & data. This is MSQ's Joined-Up Thinking: the scale of a holding company with the agility of an independent.

Elmwood is our global brand and design capability, with almost 50 years of experience as one of the world's most effective brand and design agencies. With studios in London, New York, Singapore and Shanghai, we create brands that are more meaningful, more memorable and built to move faster than the market. Our work covers brand strategy and identity, packaging and experience design for clients across global personal care, food and beverage, financial services and technology. Elmwood is proud of its long track record at the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards, the longest-running awards for design that delivers measurable business results.

The Account Manager is responsible for managing day-to-day client relationships and projects, translating client needs into clear briefs, and ensuring work is delivered on time, on budget and to an excellent standard, directly impacting client satisfaction, retention and account growth.

People & Team accountabilities:

• Collaborate closely with Account Executives, aiding in their development while also managing smaller-scale projects or specific workstreams independently.
• Encourage collaboration, knowledge sharing and feedback within project teams to build capability and improve how we work together.
• Implement studio and network-wide strategies within your account teams, ensuring ways of working align with the one Elmwood vision and goals.
• Manage team dynamics on your projects, holding people (including yourself) accountable for agreed actions, quality standards and timelines.

Work/offer accountabilities:

• Oversee the daily delivery of client projects, making sure tasks are completed on time, meet requirements, and stay within budget.
• Lead internal briefings, manage timelines, and coordinate estimates and contact reports, ensuring clarity for internal teams.
• Work in partnership with cross-functional teams such as creative, strategy and production to monitor progress and manage deliverables throughout the project lifecycle.
• Collaborate with creative and operations teams, as well as external partners, to ensure all work aligns with strategy and achieves the desired creative outcomes.
• Track and evaluate project effectiveness with senior team members, helping to define success metrics and feeding learnings back into future work.
• Advocate for internal systems, processes, and financial tools, ensuring we stick to budgets and timelines and support accurate reporting.
• Document project insights and outcomes through post-project reviews (“washups”) to drive continuous improvement.

Client accountabilities:

• Foster trust with client contacts through clear, professional communication, consistent follow-up, and well-managed expectations.
• Act as a dependable point of contact for daily updates and issues on your accounts, with support from your senior team members where needed.
• Assist in preparing for meetings, presentations and proposal writing, helping to shape compelling, on-brand responses.
• Keep detailed records of client feedback, approvals and change requests to ensure alignment and avoid scope creep.
• Manage key client relationships and day-to-day interactions, demonstrating a measurable impact on their business and identifying opportunities to grow and deepen the relationship.

Business accountabilities

• Engage in weekly planning, resource and forecasting meetings to maintain transparency, accountability and visibility of pipeline and capacity.
• Manage and meet specific business targets for your accounts in line with the studio business plan and Strategic Account Plans.
• Build and manage the client revenue pipeline for your accounts, ensuring accurate forecasting, visibility and strong recoverability.
• Support value-based pricing and project costing, using financial tools and data to manage scope, protect margins and escalate risks early.
• Contribute to award entries, case studies and marketing initiatives that build Elmwood’s fame and reputation in the region.

The knowledge you'll need:

• 3–5 years of experience in a design, branding, or marketing agency in client servicing and/or project management roles.
• Relevant experience in advertising agencies is a plus.
• A background in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a similar field is preferred.
• Solid understanding of brand and design processes, from briefing and strategy through to creative development and production.
• Good commercial acumen, including familiarity with scopes of work, pricing models, budgets, forecasting and profitability drivers.
• Proficient in project management, collaboration and file-sharing tools such as ClickUp, Pitch, LucidLink or similar. platforms.
• AI fluency: confident using AI tools day to day to work smarter across briefing, planning, reporting and client communication. You're curious about how AI is changing agency workflows and keen to bring new ideas to the team.

The skills that'll set you apart

• Proven ability to manage multiple projects and cross-functional teams simultaneously, balancing priorities and deadlines.
• Keen attention to detail and accuracy across timings, budgets, documentation and deliverables.
• Outstanding organisational and time management abilities, with a proactive, solutions-focused mindset.
• Professional writing tone, style, and email etiquette, with the ability to communicate clearly and persuasively with clients and colleagues.
• Strong eagerness to listen, learn, and grow in a dynamic, occasionally unstructured environment, bringing a genuine passion for creativity, innovation, and delivering exceptional work.
• High sense of responsibility and commitment to the role, taking ownership of outcomes for your clients, projects and team.

The work

The opportunity to work with leading global and regional brands across categories, shaping strategies and design that get seen and felt in the real world.

The people & culture

A fun studio environment working alongside great and talented individuals, with a collaborative, down-to-earth culture where craft, curiosity and generosity are valued.

Annual festivities and various social events throughout the year that bring the team together.

Growth & development

Access to learning, feedback and stretch opportunities across studios and disciplines, with support to shape a career that works for you.