Account Director.

Location: Riyadh, KSA
Employment Type: Full-time, permanent
Industry: Events, Exhibitions and Experiential
Regional Scope: Riyadh and wider GCC
Client: Confidential

The Opportunity

Our client is seeking an experienced Account Director to lead and grow a portfolio of major client accounts across the events, exhibitions and experiential sector.

Based in Riyadh, the successful candidate will hold full commercial responsibility for account revenue, profitability, client retention and project performance. They will oversee the delivery of exhibitions, conferences, live events, brand activations and other large-scale experiential projects across Riyadh, covering all of KSA with possible events in the wider GCC.

This is a senior, client-facing position requiring a commercially astute leader who can build trusted relationships, identify opportunities for account growth and ensure complex projects are delivered to the highest standard.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial and Financial Leadership

• Take ownership of annual revenue and profitability targets across assigned accounts and projects.
• Ensure projects achieve approved gross-profit margins and wider commercial objectives.
• Develop accurate account budgets, revenue forecasts and resource plans.
• Monitor project expenditure, operational costs and profitability throughout the complete project lifecycle.
• Maintain strong commercial controls covering pricing, procurement, approvals and project expenditure.
• Ensure changes in project scope are documented, commercially approved and recovered through appropriate variation orders.
• Identify and convert opportunities for account growth, upselling and additional services.
• Work closely with finance to support timely invoicing, payment collection and financial reconciliation.
• Identify potential commercial risks at an early stage and implement appropriate corrective action.
• Contribute to the organisation’s wider revenue and profitability objectives.

Client and Stakeholder Management

• Act as the senior point of contact for major corporate, government and institutional clients.
• Build trusted, long-term relationships that encourage repeat business and sustainable account growth.
• Develop a detailed understanding of each client’s organisation, objectives, stakeholders and decision-making processes.
• Lead strategic account meetings, project reviews and commercial discussions.
• Ensure client requirements are translated into clear internal briefs and deliverable project plans.
• Maintain regular communication with clients throughout the planning and delivery process.
• Ensure all deliverables meet agreed objectives, timelines, budgets and contractual requirements.
• Manage sensitive client conversations and escalations with professionalism and sound judgement.
• Gather structured client feedback and use it to improve service delivery and account performance.
• Maintain a high standard of client satisfaction across every stage of the relationship.

Account Growth and Strategic Planning

• Develop and implement account plans for existing and prospective clients.
• Identify opportunities to expand the scope, value and duration of client relationships.
• Build a strong pipeline of future projects and revenue opportunities.
• Monitor account performance against agreed commercial targets.
• Analyse client expenditure, buying patterns and potential areas for growth.
• Work with internal specialists to develop new solutions that respond to changing client requirements.
• Protect existing revenue while reducing dependency on individual projects or stakeholders.
• Provide senior management with clear updates on account performance, opportunities and risks.
• Maintain accurate records of account activity, commercial opportunities and forward workload.

Events and Exhibition Delivery

• Maintain senior oversight of exhibitions, conferences, live events, experiential activations and related fit-out projects.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget and in accordance with the agreed brief.
• Coordinate closely with creative, production, operations, technical, procurement and logistics teams.
• Establish clear project objectives, responsibilities, timelines and approval processes.
• Review project plans, budgets, production schedules and operational requirements.
• Ensure creative and technical solutions remain achievable within the approved budget and delivery schedule.
• Monitor project progress and intervene when commercial, operational or client risks emerge.
• Oversee on-site execution and maintain a visible leadership presence during important project phases.
• Ensure appropriate quality-control procedures are followed throughout production and delivery.
• Lead project reviews and ensure lessons are incorporated into future client work.

Business Development

• Identify and pursue new revenue opportunities across Riyadh, covering all of KSA with possible events in the wider GCC.

• Lead or support pitches, tenders, proposals and commercial presentations.
• Develop compelling responses that balance creativity, operational feasibility and commercial value.
• Coordinate internal contributors throughout the proposal-development process.
• Build relationships with prospective clients and relevant industry stakeholders.
• Convert market intelligence and client feedback into practical business-development opportunities.
• Maintain awareness of competitor activity, industry developments and changing client expectations.
• Represent the business professionally at client meetings, industry events and networking functions.
• Support negotiations and contribute to the successful conversion of new opportunities.
• Ensure new business activity is commercially sustainable and aligned with organisational capabilities.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Create clear and comprehensive briefs for creative, production, operations and technical teams.
• Ensure all departments understand the client’s objectives, scope, budget and delivery requirements.
• Facilitate effective communication and decision-making across multidisciplinary project teams.
• Resolve conflicts relating to priorities, resources, timelines or commercial requirements.
• Work with procurement and production teams to identify suitable suppliers and delivery solutions.
• Coordinate with finance on budgets, invoicing, profitability and reconciliation.
• Promote collaboration while maintaining clear ownership and accountability.
• Ensure internal stakeholders receive timely and accurate information throughout the project lifecycle.

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead, manage and develop Account Managers, Project Managers and Account Executives.
• Establish clear roles, performance objectives and standards of accountability.
• Allocate workloads and resources according to project priorities and team capacity.
• Monitor individual and team performance and provide regular feedback.
• Coach team members in client management, commercial decision-making and project delivery.
• Conduct performance reviews and support individual development plans.
• Create a high-performance culture based on collaboration, ownership and commercial awareness.
• Address performance or capability concerns promptly and constructively.
• Support recruitment and succession planning as the team and account portfolio develop.
• Promote effective communication between account teams and operational departments.

Commercial Governance and Risk Management

• Ensure projects comply with internal commercial and operational approval processes.
• Review client contracts, scopes of work, budgets and delivery obligations alongside the appropriate specialist functions.
• Maintain strong control of project changes, additional requests and non-recoverable costs.
• Identify financial, contractual, operational and reputational risks.
• Ensure project documentation, approvals and commercial records are complete and accurate.
• Maintain appropriate contingency planning across complex or high-profile projects.
• Escalate significant risks to senior management at the appropriate stage.
• Ensure project teams understand and follow agreed governance procedures.

Health, Safety and Operational Compliance

• Ensure projects comply with applicable health, safety and environmental requirements.
• Maintain awareness of venue regulations and relevant local-authority approval processes.
• Work with operational and safety specialists to identify and mitigate project risks.
• Ensure suppliers and project partners meet the required operational and safety standards.
• Support the preparation and review of appropriate risk assessments and method statements.
• Promote a proactive safety culture across project and account teams.
• Ensure on-site issues are documented, investigated and addressed appropriately.

Key Measures of Success

Performance in the role will be assessed across the following areas:

• Achievement of agreed revenue and profitability targets.
• Consistent delivery of approved project margins.
• Year-on-year account growth and increased client expenditure.
• New business and account-development performance.
• Client retention, satisfaction and repeat-business levels.
• Effective scope management and recovery of project variations.
• Accuracy of commercial forecasts and project reporting.
• Timely invoicing and financial reconciliation.
• Successful delivery of projects against agreed objectives.
• Projects completed on time and within approved budgets.
• Effective management of operational and commercial risk.
• Pitch and tender conversion.
• Team performance, utilisation, engagement and retention.
• Positive collaboration across internal departments.

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate will be a senior account-management professional with substantial experience delivering complex events, exhibitions and experiential projects within the Riyadh and GCC.

They will combine excellent client-leadership skills with strong commercial judgement and a detailed understanding of live project delivery. The individual must be equally comfortable leading strategic client conversations, reviewing project profitability and maintaining senior oversight during demanding on-site delivery periods.

A collaborative and solutions-focused leadership style will be essential. The successful candidate will be expected to build confidence with clients, motivate multidisciplinary teams and make effective decisions within a fast-moving agency environment.

Essential Experience

• A minimum of eight to ten years’ experience within the events, exhibitions or experiential industry.
• Significant professional experience gained within the Riyadh or wider GCC market.
• Proven experience managing major corporate, government or institutional accounts.
• Demonstrable success delivering large-scale exhibitions, conferences, live events or brand activations.
• Strong account-management and client-retention experience.
• Proven responsibility for account revenue, project margins and commercial performance.
• Experience developing budgets, forecasts and account-growth plans.
• Strong understanding of project scope, variation orders and commercial approvals.
• Experience leading complex pitches, tenders and proposal-development processes.
• Demonstrable success managing multidisciplinary project and account teams.
• Strong knowledge of Riyadh venues, suppliers, production processes and operational requirements.
• Experience managing several complex projects simultaneously.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Willingness to travel across the Riyadh and wider GCC.

Preferred Experience

• Experience delivering projects for government entities or major regional organisations.
• Exposure to experiential campaigns, temporary environments, fit-out or brand activations.
• Experience managing projects across multiple GCC markets.
• An established network within the regional events and exhibitions industry.
• Experience working within an international or multidisciplinary agency environment.
• Familiarity with local-authority approvals, venue requirements and regional procurement practices.
• A valid KSA driving licence would be advantageous.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Event Management, Communications or a related discipline.
• Additional qualifications in commercial management, project management or leadership would be beneficial.
• Relevant health and safety training would be advantageous.

Key Competencies

• Commercial and financial management
• Strategic account leadership
• Client relationship development
• Events and exhibition delivery
• Business development
• Revenue growth and account expansion
• Budgeting and profitability management
• Negotiation and influencing
• Project and operational oversight
• Team leadership and development
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Pitch and presentation delivery
• Risk management
• Strategic problem-solving
• Executive communication
• Resilience and adaptability
• Personal accountability

Additional Requirements

• Flexibility to work extended hours and weekends during live project periods.
• Availability to attend project sites throughout build-up, live delivery and breakdown.
• Willingness to travel throughout the KSA and GCC when required.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and remain effective under pressure.
• Commitment to maintaining high ethical, professional and safety standards.

What the Role Offers

• A senior commercial and client-leadership position within the events and experiential sector.
• Responsibility for a portfolio of major regional accounts and projects.
• The opportunity to lead complex exhibitions, conferences, live events and brand experiences.
• Significant involvement in account growth and new business development.
• Leadership responsibility for a multidisciplinary account and project team.
• Regular engagement with senior corporate and government stakeholders.
• A competitive remuneration and benefits package.