Account Director, VP

ABOUT M&C SAATCHI WORLD SERVICES

M&C Saatchi World Services is a full-service marketing company renowned for using commercial advertising to solve the world’s toughest challenges. World Services is a specialty branch of M&C Saatchi Group, and we provide strategic communications, behavior change, and marketing support to Public Sector clients with special emphasis on the US Federal Government and State, Local, Tribal, & Territorial leaders. M&C Saatchi World Services US is seeking an experienced and highly strategic Account Director, VP. This role ensures all communications, outreach, and engagement activities integrate seamlessly across functional teams and output, providing structured operational oversight and ensuring mission continuity across interconnected workstreams.

THE ROLE

M&C Saatchi World Services is seeking an accomplished Account Director to provide strategic leadership for stakeholder engagement, relationship management, and outreach activities across a high-profile federal portfolio.

Serving as the senior engagement lead for the program, this role is responsible for shaping and executing enterprise-level stakeholder strategies that support organizational priorities, inform decision-making, and strengthen relationships with key internal and external audiences. Working closely with senior government stakeholders, program leadership, communications teams, and cross-functional partners, you will act as a trusted advisor and strategic partner, ensuring stakeholder insights are translated into meaningful action and measurable impact.

You will lead engagement planning, oversee stakeholder governance and reporting, and drive collaboration across diverse stakeholder communities to support mission success. You will combine strategic vision with operational leadership, balancing stakeholder needs, client priorities, and program objectives to deliver measurable outcomes.

This role requires exceptional relationship-building skills, executive presence, sound judgment, and the ability to navigate complex organizational environments while fostering collaboration across multiple teams and stakeholder groups. As a senior leader within the Account Handling team, you will help shape the long-term direction of stakeholder engagement efforts, mentor team members, champion best practices, and identify opportunities to strengthen partnerships, enhance program effectiveness, and drive continuous improvement.

This is a hybrid role; however, the ideally you live in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and execution of enterprise-level stakeholder engagement strategies that support program objectives, policy priorities, and organizational goals.
• Serve as the senior strategic advisor to client leadership on stakeholder affairs, engagement priorities, stakeholder risks, and relationship management approaches.
• Own the stakeholder engagement vision, governance framework, and long-term engagement roadmap across the program.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, client leadership, partner organizations, and cross-functional teams.
• Act as the primary escalation point for stakeholder engagement matters, ensuring challenges are addressed proactively and effectively.
• Design and oversee stakeholder engagement activities, including consultations, listening sessions, workshops, forums, working groups, and executive engagements.
• Lead stakeholder consultations across multiple organizations and functional areas, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and program priorities.
• Capture, analyze, and synthesize stakeholder feedback, translating qualitative insights into strategic recommendations that inform decision-making, communications, and program execution.
• Partner with communications, analytics, research, and program leadership teams to integrate stakeholder insights into campaigns, outreach strategies, reporting frameworks, and operational planning.
• Develop and oversee stakeholder engagement plans, executive briefings, reports, dashboards, and performance measurement frameworks.
• Monitor stakeholder sentiment, participation trends, engagement effectiveness, and emerging issues to identify opportunities, risks, and areas for improvement.
• Provide leadership, mentorship, and direction to stakeholder engagement and account teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and excellence.
• Drive continuous improvement of engagement m