Account Director

Hamster Garage is a partner management agency based in Chicago. Our expertise spans across the partnerships and affiliates channel, encompassing affiliate marketing, brand partnerships, podcasts, influencer marketing, and more. We work with leading brands that are in a high-growth phase, like Airbnb, Canva, Uber, Brex, Masterclass, etc.

HG is a newer (established mid-2019), lean, and growth-minded agency working with innovative brands to meet their acquisition needs. We’re growing fast and looking to add team members to grow with the agency, and we need talented marketing professionals to help us leave our mark on the industry.

We are expanding and seeking an Account Director to join our HG team and provide leadership and senior-level support to our accounts. This role involves deeply understanding our clients' goals, KPIs, and products to develop strategic affiliate partnerships that align with their objectives. The Director is responsible for client relationship management, strategy ideation, collaborating with and developing junior staff, guiding them to achieve goals, overseeing progress, and effectively managing account economics.

The role is based in the Chicago office, although we’re open to remote hires. This is an exciting and critical role in building and scaling user acquisition with a top-tier agency in a growth stage. The Account Director will have exposure to many different aspects of Partnership Marketing and overall company building in a fast-paced, collaborative team environment, while also reporting directly to the COO and will have multiple touchpoints with the CEO.

• Delivering creative and well-thought-out ideas to achieve client objectives, effectively managing team deliverables, and monitoring performance metrics.

• Continuously analyze campaign performance metrics (ROI, ROAS, conversion rates, affiliate partner performance) using data-driven insights to optimize strategies.

• Identify opportunities to grow client accounts through upselling, campaign optimization, and revenue-generating initiatives, supporting effective strategy development.

• Lead efforts to maintain operational excellence, streamline processes, and ensure high-quality deliverables that meet company and client standards.

• Effectively communicate program performance and strategic direction to clients and team members.

• Build and nurture strong client relationships, understanding their goals, challenges, and opportunities in affiliate marketing.

• Prepare and deliver compelling and engaging client presentations, explaining strategic recommendations and providing insightful analysis on growth initiatives.

• Lead and mentor a team, providing guidance and support in executing campaigns and achieving goals.

• Act as an advisor and the highest point of escalation for clients.

• Formulate and test new tactics, including outside traditional affiliates, to improve performance.

• Prepare and manage budget vs actual reports for hours on accounts on a monthly basis and provide narratives for their portfolio of clients to management.

• Own the performance bonus calculation for client invoicing.

• Ad hoc support in operational and sales, depending on capacity, including support with performance reviews, automation support, tool discovery to support account management, sales pitches, and other areas required to build the agency.

• Minimum 6 years of experience working with top recognizable brands in affiliate marketing.

• Proficiency in third-party affiliate tracking platforms such as Impact, CJ, ShareASale, etc.

• Strong project management skills with a track record of successful execution.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills are crucial, as this role involves extensive coordination via email and calls. It's imperative to consistently represent HG in a highly professional manner.

• Experience interacting with various publishers and high-value clients, showcasing strong communication skills.

• Strong attention to detail.

• Driven by KPIs and results, with a focus on strong analytical skills - working understanding of Microsoft Excel for data analysis and reporting.

• Proficient in navigating extensive data to extract insights, optimize strategies, and make informed decisions on strategy for client presentations.

• Proficiency in creating impactful presentations using tools like Microsoft PowerPoint or Canva is highly valued. The role involves frequent client presentations where crafting compelling decks as client deliverables is essential.

• Resourcefulness is vital to this position. There will be many scenarios that require the Director to be able to research solutions independently for discussion purposes with the client and HG team.

• The ideal candidate will be able to provide creative and innovative solutions to address brands’ user acquisition needs.

• Operational and process-focused. As a young agency, we’re looking for someone who can help us build processes that scale across multiple accounts.

HG brings an in-house marketing incubation team approach to Partnership Marketing. We exist because our founder worked internally for one of the largest tech hospitality brands in the world and worked with the top agencies in the space but couldn’t find the talent necessary to meet the highest standards required by the best brands. Our mission is to provide best-in-class service and quality to our clients through top-tier talent and strategy.

If you join our team, you’ll be past a fast-growing team that is passionate about marketing and be able to make an impact on not only your clients but the company. We’re small enough that you will be part of special projects and task forces to help build the company while working on client portfolios for some of the fastest-growing brands in the world and helping them cultivate strategies on how to acquire users.