Senior Account Manager (Experiential & Live Events)

Department: Client Services / Project

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Detroit

Description

Imagination is seeking an experienced Experiential & Live Events Senior Account Manager to join our client service team at our Detroit studio.  This is a hybrid role encompassing senior-level account leadership, project oversight, and production. It supports high-profile automotive clients, including senior leadership and executive stakeholders. It is accountable not only for client relationships but also for the overall health, performance and delivery excellence of assigned accounts.

The Senior Account Manager is a project lead who owns the day-to-day success of large-scale experiential and communications programs while also overseeing financial stewardship, administrative responsibilities, and junior team support. This role ensures projects are not only delivered successfully but are strategically aligned, operationally sound, and financially well-managed. This role serves as a trusted, highly responsive day-to-day partner to clients, often operating in fast-moving, high-stakes environments where priorities shift quickly, and attention to detail is critical. Success in this role requires sound judgment, discretion, and a strong understanding of the live-event and production processes, enabling the Senior Account Manager to guide teams confidently, flag risks early, solve complex challenges, and anticipate client and business needs before they arise.

In addition, this role incorporates strong internal executive support and business development components, serving as a strategic and operational extension of the Executive Director. This includes managing executive-level communications, preparing materials, maintaining visibility into key priorities, and identifying opportunities to expand and strengthen client relationships.

Our work follows the heartbeat of major live events and launches. While this occasionally requires evening or weekend support, we prioritize 'flexibility both ways'—ensuring our team can balance these peak moments with dedicated downtime.

Key Responsibilities

• Project Leadership and Delivery:
  • Serve as the day-to-day project lead across multiple workstreams, owning scope, timelines, deliverables, and overall forward progress. Proactively drive projects forward by defining next steps, assigning responsibilities, and holding internal teams accountable.
  • Anticipate challenges, dependencies, and production considerations before they become issues, and propose clear solutions.
  • Translate client goals into actionable plans for creative, production, and logistics teams.
  • Maintain a strong understanding of the event production lifecycle, from concept through on-site execution and wrap.
  • Ensure documentation, workflows and internal systems are consistently maintained at a high standard.

• Client Communication and Relationship Management:
  • Serve as the senior point of contact for clients, providing consistent updates and ensuring their needs are addressed promptly.
  • Provide proactive strategic guidance beyond immediate project needs. 
  • Manage high-touch client relationships with professionalism, discretion, and urgency, responding effectively to time-sensitive requests and evolving priorities.
  • Anticipate client needs and provide thoughtful guidance to help navigate complex decisions and deliverables.
  • Build long-term trust to foster account stability and growth opportunities.
  • Thoughtfully manage client hospitality, including curated gifts, birthdays, milestone recognition, hosted experiences, and personal touches that strengthen relationships beyond active projects and day-to-day deliverables.
  • Coordinate client-facing details, including meeting F&B, parking, and executive-level accommodations, to ensure a polished, seamless experience at every interaction.

• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
  • Lead internal coordination across strategy, creative, production, and external partners.
  • Run internal status meetings, set agendas, document decisions, and ensure alignment across teams.
  • Act as the connective tissue between teams, ensuring clarity, accountability, and momentum.
  • Escalate risks early and align with senior team members on mitigation strategies.

• Event Execution and On-Site Leadership:
  • Provide senior-level support for the execution of live events and moments, including on-site leadership when required.
  • Ensure teams are prepared, timelines