Account Director

About Brilliant Marketing 

Brilliant Marketing is a branding and marketing agency for brands reimagining the world. We work with nonprofits, B2B, and purpose-led businesses providing marketing strategy, branding, social media, advertising, and content creation. As a nimble team, our employees are given ample opportunity to shine. We believe in personal responsibility, self-motivation, flexibility, and enjoying our work together. Our clients are mostly in Seattle and Bellingham, WA.

About the Role

We're looking for an experienced agency account leader to own day-to-day client relationships across our retainer roster of roughly 8 to 10 accounts. These accounts include a mix of content marketing and paid social engagements for clients ranging from downtown business associations to nonprofits and B2B service companies. These are primarily low to medium-touch accounts. Your focus will be on client communication, account leadership, and project management.

You'll be directing a talented delivery team that includes our Marketing Manager, designer, and established contractor network, while our founders focus on agency growth, business development, and high-level strategy.

Several of our clients are right here in Bellingham, so while day-to-day work is remote, this role includes in-person client and team meetings in the Bellingham area 2 to 3 times per month. Candidates based in Bellingham or Whatcom County are strongly preferred. 

A key part of this role is helping us build account management capacity as we grow. You'll mentor and develop our Marketing Manager by involving her in client meetings, training her in account management, and creating opportunities for her to gradually take on more responsibility. You'll remain the senior account leader while helping strengthen and scale the team around you. We're looking for someone who genuinely enjoys coaching and building a collaborative team culture.

Core Responsibilities & Objectives:

• Own client relationships and project management for 8–10 retainer accounts: kickoffs, weekly client and team emails and meetings, content and ad reviews and approvals
• Run monthly client reporting and review meetings, translating performance data into clear stories and next steps
• Oversee the execution of client work by leading and coordinating our Marketing Manager and contractor team. Translate client goals into actionable plans, delegate work appropriately, and maintain quality control across copywriting, social media, paid media, email marketing, strategy, and branding projects while ensuring work stays on schedule, aligned with brand standards, and within budget.
• Manage client approval workflows in our social scheduling and project management tools (Notion)
• Spot and flag upsell and expansion opportunities to the founder
• Coach our Marketing Manager on client and account management 
• Help refine SOPs and adopt AI-assisted workflows as we build them out

Experience and Qualifications:

Must-haves:

• Based in Bellingham/Whatcom County, or close enough to reliably meet in person in Bellingham 2-3 times per month
• 5 years in agency account management, with at least 2 owning client relationships independently
• Experience managing multiple retainer accounts simultaneously
• Experience across content marketing and paid social (Meta Ads at minimum)
• Demonstrated experience mentoring, training, or managing junior team members 
• Excellent written communicator; calm, warm, and direct with clients
• Self-directed: comfortable being the senior client voice in a small remote team

Nice-to-haves:

• Experience with nonprofits and B2B
• Familiarity with Notion, Canva, HubSpot, Mailchimp, and social scheduling platforms 
• Comfort with AI tools in marketing workflows such as Claude 
• Former agency leaders seeking part-time flexibility 

Compensation 

• Rate: $50–$60 per hour, depending on experience
• Hours: 20–25 per week, with flexibility in how you schedule them — client meetings aside, we care about outcomes, not clock-watching
• Structure: 1099 independent contractor; 3-month initial engagement
• Growth path: a defined conversation at month 3 about employment status and/or expanded hours as the agency grows
• Location: Bellingham / Seattle-based, work from home with in-person meetings in the Bellingham area 2-3 times per month; Pacific business hours availability required

Why this role works for the right person: This is steady, senior, flexible work — a consistent weekly retainer of hours, and no business-development pressure. It suits an experienced account leader who has deliberately chosen part-time: parents, semi-retired, etc. 

How to Apply

Send the following to info@hellobrilliantmarketing.com with the subject line "Account Director — [Your Name]":

• Resume 
• LinkedIn profile
• A short note (no cover letter needed) answering two questions: 
• What's the hardest client situation you've turned around, and how? 
• Why are you a good fit for this role?
• Your hourly rate expectation and weekly availability

We review applications on a rolling basis and aim to respond within 2-3 weeks.

Benefits and Culture:

Our culture, flexibility and values are why team members and clients love to work with us. We believe in caring for the whole person through listening and empathy. That also means the team members we attract are motivated and self-sufficient. We offer a flexible schedule and offer a 10% commission for new or upsold clients that you bring in. 

We are an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances.