Client Service Director, Brand Activations

Location: Remote, operating within a time zone supportive of Creative Riff's core business hours (between Eastern and Pacific U.S.), with travel to activations and client meetings as needed. Candidates based in Los Angeles are preferred. Direct Reports: 2 to 4 Client Service Managers and Client Service Coordinators Compensation: $140,000 to $165,000 annually, based on experience and location

• Full time
• Exempt

Plan Year: 2026 Position Overview Creative Riff creates immersive, world building experiences for entertainment IPs and brands. The Client Service Director is a client leader responsible for turning strong client relationships into profitable, well run, growing accounts. This role owns the operational and financial performance of their client portfolio and respective projects: from Pitch spend and pricing through project scope, resourcing, delivery, and client satisfaction. The Director builds strategic relationships with key clients, identifies opportunities to expand those relationships, and collaborates with their Creative, Production, and Finance teams to deliver exceptional experiences. Additionally, this role will own the project management and commercial lifecycle of Creative Riff’s managed media and activation spaces at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). This includes driving the annual sales strategy in partnership with New Business and Marketing, managing inventory from initial outreach through sale, and building strategic relationships with select SDCC partners. This is a role for someone who can move seamlessly between big picture strategy and concepting, and the details that make their events work. Someone who builds trust quickly, sells with confidence, anticipates problems, and makes decisions that keep clients, teams, and the work moving forward. Core Responsibilities 1. Client Management & Account Strategy Own a portfolio of client accounts, driving account strategy and revenue growth by generating new leads and pitches. Own the commercial lifecycle of Creative Riff’s managed media and activation spaces at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), driving annual sales strategy in partnership with New Business and Marketing, managing inventory through sale, and building strategic relationships with select SDCC partners. Build trusted, strategic client relationships by understanding their business objectives, priorities, stakeholders, and culture. Serve as the primary point of contact throughout the project lifecycle, leading clear, proactive client communication and ensuring alignment at every stage. Be a confident seller who can uncover needs, shape opportunities, and persuasively connect client needs to Creative Riff’s capabilities. Resolve client issues directly and decisively, anticipating challenges and escalating only when executive involvement is required. 2. Project Delivery Own project delivery from pitch through execution, ensuring work is delivered on strategy, on time, on scope, and on budget. Establish clear scopes, priorities, timelines, and accountability across project teams and with the client. Maintain strong project and client communication throughout delivery, ensuring teams have the clarity and support needed to execute. Anticipate risks and dependencies, address issues early, and make decisive calls when circumstances change. Own client delivery satisfaction, ensuring project teams have the clarity and client support needed to deliver. 3. Cross Functional Collaboration Lead collaboration across Client Service, Creative, Production, and Finance to align teams around the work, client experience, and project outcomes. Translate client objectives into clear direction for project teams, balancing creative vision with budget, scope, timeline, and feasibility. Partner with Creative and Production on concept development, pitch strategy, and campaign development to create compelling, culturally relevant experiences. Partner with Finance on pricing, margin management, forecasting, and resource planning to ensure projects are commercially sound and appropriately staffed. Foster a collaborative, solutions oriented environment where teams communicate openly, resolve issues quickly, and stay focused on delivering exceptional work. 4. Financial Management Own revenue, gross margin, and profitability across the client portfolio, including applicable SDCC commercial opportunities. Own pricing strategy and execution, ensuring project pricing reflects scope, complexity, value, and target margins. Maintain disciplined scope management; ensure changes are documented, priced, and approved before work expands. Optimize staffing plans and resource allocations in collaboration with the Resource Manager and Finance, ensuring the roles and rates are aligned to Pitch spend, project budgets, and utilization targets. Manage financial performance throughout the project lifecycle, proactively identifying and addressing risks to budget, revenue, and margin. Maintain accurate financial visibility and forecasting across Pitch spend and project budgets. Key Performance Metrics Account Growth: Maintain and grow a $4M to $8M portfolio through organic expansion and new business, bringing in $1M to $2M of new or expanded Client funded billings a year. Client Success: Retain and expand key accounts, building relationships where clients see Creative Riff as a strategic partner, not just a vendor. Operational Leadership: Keep budgets, cross functional delivery, and team alignment on track with minimal Managing Director involvement; escalate issues early with clear recommendations. Financial Performance: Protect margins, maintain accurate forecasts, and ensure scope changes are clearly documented and billed across all projects. Delivery Excellence: Deliver programs on time, on budget, and to the creative standard Creative Riff and its clients expect. What a Successful Candidate Needs to Succeed Relationship oriented and emotionally intelligent: Builds trust quickly, reads the room, and navigates clients and teams with empathy and sound judgment. Confident communicator and natural seller: Communicates with clarity and conviction, builds alignment, and knows how to turn relationships into opportunities. Proactive, highly organized, and collaborative: Anticipates needs, creates clarity, and brings Creative, Production, Finance, and Client Service together to move work forward. Resilient, calm under pressure, and decisive: Stays composed when stakes are high, solves problems quickly, and makes informed decisions without unnecessary escalation. Strategic, persuasive, and culture obsessed: Brings a strong point of view, connects ideas to business outcomes, and is deeply invested in the team, the work, and the fandoms our clients serve.

Qualifications

Required Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or a related field. 8 to 10 years of experience in client service, account management, brand or experiential marketing, or a related role within an agency, brand, entertainment company, or in house marketing organization. Proven experience leading multi million dollar programs or client engagements with accountability for revenue, margin, pricing, budgets, forecasting, and scope. Proven experience working at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), including managing client relationships, commercial opportunities, or activations within the convention environment. Track record of growing client relationships, generating new business opportunities, and leading successful pitches or proposals. Strong experience leading cross functional teams with the ability to influence. Deep understanding of experiential marketing, entertainment, brands, audiences, and culture. Exceptional communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship building skills, with sound judgment in high stakes situations. Preferred Experience with entertainment IPs, fan driven experiences, or large scale cultural events. Experience building or scaling a client service function or team. P&L ownership at the department or portfolio level. Familiarity with project and resource management tools (Asana, Runn, or similar) and data driven client reporting. Reporting & Collaboration Direct reports: 2 to 4 Client Service Managers and Client Service Coordinators Cross Functional Partners: Production, Creative, Resource Management, Finance, and the Executive Team. Serves as a senior voice of the client inside the agency, and senior voice of the agency to the client. We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or any other protected status.