Senior Account Executive

About us We are an award-winning team of PR pros who are proud to be awarded Best Agency To Work For EMEA Network by Provoke in 2024 as well as shortlisted as Technology Agency of the Year in 2024 for the EMEA Sabre Awards and we’re looking to welcome new talent into our team. We bring together a diverse group of people who share a passion for integrated communications and tech and want to tell the world amazing stories about the transformative power of technology. Axicom delivers integrated communication campaigns for the world’s most innovative technology companies. We’re Burson’s dedicated tech agency – offering agile ways of working whilst being backed by the power and resources of the global WPP network. With offices in Amsterdam, Austin, Los Angeles, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Stockholm and more recently Brazil and Mexico, a lot of the clients we work with (across finance, AI, integrated electronics, smartphones, coffee machines and more) involve working across teams and time zones (within office hours) globally. We design, build and deliver ground-breaking and thought-provoking campaigns. We offer our clients analyst and influencer relations, content, digital marketing, media relations, integrated communications, internal communications, and research and insights services. Intelligent Working At Axicom, we work ‘intelligently’. ‘Intelligent working’ is our industry-leading approach to flexible working. It is an adaptable framework that gives you more freedom every day and the flexibility you need to achieve balance. As a progressive workplace, we welcome and support flexible working and believe that with high trust, we don’t need rules; just principles that we can all agree to. Our Guiding Principles We Play at Work We delight in differences and prize peculiarity We find fun in the most unexpected places We are brave and bold in the face of the unknown We Push Everyone Ourselves: We take initiative and exceed expectations One Another: We are generous with constructive and appreciative feedback Our Clients: We are challengers and counsellors as well communicators We Win Together We readily ask for help and eagerly offer support. We are clear on our goals and accountable for our results. We are united as one team. Every single success is shared. Our promise to candidates At Axicom, Diversity isn’t just a word for us – it’s power. We recognise what makes us great is the individuality of our teams. As such, we actively welcome applications from individuals and groups who are under-represented and celebrate difference; be it ethnicity, religion, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability. We will only assess candidates on abilities we believe are critical for the role. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments needed to ensure a level playing field during the recruitment process. About you We look for three values when onboarding talent: intelligence, initiative, and integrity. The role We’re looking for a go-getter – someone who is curious and eager to learn. Someone who is excited to work across our award-winning geographical agency network, as well as our prestigious client teams. Someone who understands how to work across accounts of different sizes and knows how to prioritise. Your role will be to support the delivery of high-impact, creative and integrated communications campaigns for our tech clients, coupled with contributing to the growth and success of Axicom as a business. You will be a well-rounded individual who is passionate about tech and knows how to translate technical concepts into engaging media stories. Knowledge of the media landscape is essential. We are seeking someone who is confident in executing PR strategies and producing high-standard written content. We look to our Senior Account Executives as creative thinkers who actively contribute to client meetings and take part in new business brainstorming sessions. As a futurist you will stay up to date with the latest industry news, developments, and issues ready for strategic planning and counsel. In this role, you will: Client management Develop a good understanding of your clients’ business and be familiar with their full range of products, services and their points of difference Read around and develop your knowledge of your clients’ industries and their key competitors, enabling you to comment on industry developments and begin to provide media recommendations Earn the trust and respect of clients and account teams alike by promptly responding to requests and anticipating their needs Confidently and concisely present progress reports, simple project updates and new ideas to clients either face to face, by Teams/phone call or by email Ensure that you contribute in every client meeting by being fully prepared, asking questions and always looking to add value Regularly write documents that you have developed on your own (i.e. press releases, statements, opinion pieces etc) that demonstrate your attention to detail and skills in producing written materials for clients and media. These should require minimal correction from your line manager Demonstrate your ability to understand and interpret client briefs and ask insightful questions relating to the brief Manage day-to-day client relationships Media Stay on top of the news landscape, as well as industry PR news, staying on top of the fast-changing news cycle and sharing findings and implications with your client, team or the broader agency Build and maintain relationships with press, and in time learn who your clients’ key journalists and go-to media contacts are (who do we need to get coverage with and who do we rely on coverage for) Manage media enquiries from start to finish on a regular basis, including the publication of approved client statements/comments that you have created Provide reactive comment in response to media enquiries, following guidance from line managers Confidently manage relationships with journalists both reactively and proactively Understand when it is necessary to escalate a media enquiry to a more senior member of the team Demonstrate your ability to piggyback on the news agenda and successfully connect a clients’ issues to a journalist’s agenda and pitch and place suitable stories for clients Confidently and successfully pitch stories to national and trade media on behalf of your clients Further develop and maintain an understanding of digital/social media, specifically in the identification of online opinion formers/influencers Be proactive in coming up with ideas and suggestions to your line manager for client projects with a view to increasing client media coverage and meeting pre-agreed objectives Management Provide your line manager with regular updates, demonstrating your ability to articulate progress and meet all deadlines Delegate work as appropriate to junior members of the team, ensuring that senior members are kept abreast of workloads and deadlines as appropriate Make yourself accessible to the junior team to answer their questions and provide support and advice Provide constructive feedback to your line manager on the progress of the junior team that can be used for developmental purposes New Business Support the senior team to respond to new business proposals by completing activities such as compiling detailed research, creating reports via tracking tools and collating slides Attend new business brainstorming meetings and contributing creative ideas Finance Understand and meet guidelines on best business practices including utilisation, daily timesheets, accurate billing, timely expense reports, etc. Work with client leads/your line manager to understand the hours allocated to you and the scope of work involved Source, secure and negotiate cost estimates for third-party suppliers, locations for events and inserts for press packs whilst tracking spend against pre-agreed budgets General Demonstrate the ability to manage your time in an effective manner Take ownership/accountability for the results of your actions and decisions Represent both clients and Axicom in a professional manner at external events Come up with and develop alternative solutions that still meet a project goal when you are unable to progress with activity as planned or when results aren’t as expected Understand how to use other teams from around the agency to help build your ideas, for example media partnerships, CSR, talent, etc Collaboration Collaborate to our inclusive and welcoming environment Play an active, effective and helpful part in all your client teams and broadly within Axicom and be an ambassador for the agency at all times Demonstrate flexibility in an always-evolving work environment Participate in and identify professional development opportunities in partnership with your line manager and the talent team and look to share learnings with the broader business Consistently demonstrate integrity and credibility and build trust through inclusive behaviour What We Offer As well as exciting career growth opportunities, we offer a generous remuneration package and employee benefits – including office lunch vouchers, a broadband allowance, and generous wellness benefit and many more. You will also have access to Employee Assistance and LinkedIn Learning, along with other training and development opportunities.