VP, Client Partner

Job Description:

Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that delivers unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. With 16,000+ teammates across 50+ global offices, we partner with Fortune 1000 companies to drive measurable growth through integrated data, CX, and technology solutions.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As Vice President, Client Partner, you are the senior-most Merkle executive on the account. You carry the account’s commercial result, set its strategy, and hold the client relationship at the altitude where budget decisions are made. Every other Merkle function on the account—account management, delivery, solutioning, and sales—contributes to a plan you own.

You will lead a portfolio of strategic accounts generating $5M to $30M+ in annual net revenue across Merkle’s integrated capabilities: Modern CRM, Content Supply Chain, Martech for Media, Connected CX, B2B Transformation, and AI & Agentic Services, supported by alliance partnerships with Adobe, Google, Salesforce, AWS, and Braze, and the full power of One Merkle + One dentsu.

The mandate is deliberate in its order: retention precedes growth. An account that is expanding while its base erodes is not growing. You are measured on the health and defense of the existing book before the increment. That means re-underwriting the value of current work every quarter—not just at renewal—then extending into adjacent scope where Merkle’s delivered performance is already the evidence, and finally opening new buying centers and capabilities with the Enterprise Sales Lead.

You are not an account manager, a delivery leader, or a sales lead. Account management administers the commercial mechanics you direct. Delivery owns method and quality; you set the outcome and the commercial envelope. The Enterprise Sales Lead originates against the strategy you set. The client should be able to name one Merkle executive accountable for their account, and that executive should be able to answer any commercial, relationship, or delivery question about it without deferring. Where the client routes around the Client Partner, the role is not being performed.

This is a remote opportunity that requires regularly being onsite at the client location that is based in Princeton, NJ. Reports to the SVP, Growth Officer.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own a portfolio of strategic accounts end-to-end: client satisfaction, revenue retention (>90%), margin quality, forecast accuracy, and year-over-year growth

• Defend the contracted revenue base against scope erosion, in-housing, offshore substitution, procurement-driven rate compression, and competitive displacement—re-underwriting the value case quarterly, not annually

• Drive revenue expansion through cross-sell, adjacent-scope extension, new buying center entry, and AOR expansion, with at least two qualified non-CXM opportunities per book in support of the One dentsu growth model

• Set and own the account strategy and growth plan, ensuring account management, delivery, and the Enterprise Sales Lead are working to a single, current, written plan you chair

• Hold executive relationships personally at the altitude where budget decisions are made—CMO, CIO, CFO, and their direct reports—and map stakeholder coverage so that no single departure creates material account risk

• Navigate complex multi-stakeholder environments across business, technology, operations, vendor management, and procurement, adapting your approach to each buyer style and extending Merkle’s footprint up and across the client organization

• Manage all commercial aspects of the account: contracts, pricing, profitability, revenue and margin forecasting, and AR health, with the discipline to keep Salesforce accurate and current at all times

• Bridge sub-Practice delivery with Solutioning, Account, and Program Management to streamline execution and deliver a white-glove client experience, holding delivery accountable for method and quality while you hold the commercial result

• Partner with Alliance leaders (Adobe, Google, Salesforce, AWS, Braze) on joint account planning, pipeline mapping, and co-sell motions—bringing at least one Alliance Joint Teaming motion per account growth plan annually

• Run a proactive Client Partner cadence: Innovation Days, Discovery Workshops, Executive Business Reviews, and quarterly value reviews structured around measured outcomes rather than activity

• Maintain a frequent, consistent stream of thought leadership into your accounts—events, POVs, workshops, and executive narratives that position Merkle as a strategic partner, not a vendor

• Provide leadership and direction to Account Directors, Engagement Leaders, and Capability teams in a matrixed environment, ensuring the account team operates as one seamless unit

CLIENT CHALLENGES YOU’LL SOLVE

Client Partners at Merkle operate at the intersection of strategy and execution. Your portfolio will span clients facing transformation challenges that require integrated thinking across data, technology, and customer experience. You’ll build account strategies—and create opportunities for clients to think more broadly about Merkle’s capabilities—around problems like these:

• Unifying fragmented customer data and CRM systems to power personalization, loyalty, and orchestrated journeys across every channel—replacing siloed point solutions with a connected experience architecture

• Scaling content production without scaling headcount, using AI to accelerate creation, manage assets, and streamline creative operations across markets and channels

• Transforming B2B go-to-market from siloed marketing and sales into integrated, account-based motions with measurable pipeline impact and closed-loop attribution

• Deploying AI and agentic automation across the customer experience—conversational interfaces, adaptive commerce, intelligent service—to drive engagement and operational efficiency simultaneously

• Defending marketing investment against CFO scrutiny by building enterprise measurement and analytics capabilities that tie experience spend to revenue outcomes the finance function will accept

• Navigating platform migrations and martech rationalization—helping clients move from legacy stacks to modern, composable architectures without disrupting the customer experience in flight

THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE WILL BRING

• 15+ years of progressive experience in client services, client management, or enterprise account leadership within an advertising agency, consultancy, marketing services firm, systems integrator, or client-side marketing organization, with direct P&L accountability for accounts of meaningful scale

• Demonstrated success owning $20M+ books and leading complex, multi-service-line engagements across multiple industries, with a track record that includes both growing and defending revenue under pressure

• Executive relationships held personally at CMO, CIO, or CFO level—not inherited or brokered—with the presence and credibility to earn trust at the altitude where budget decisions are made

• Deep working knowledge of CXM/CRM, Loyalty, Data and Analytics, Identity, Digital Marketing, Content Supply Chain, B2B, and Enterprise AI / Martech—sufficient to hold a substantive conversation with a client technology leader, not just name the categories

• Experience directing account teams you do not line-manage, and the judgment to set direction without relying on escalation—comfortable being accountable for outcomes produced by people who do not report to you

• Strong commercial acumen: pricing strategy, multi-year deal structuring, negotiation, margin defense against procurement, and the discipline to manage forecasts, contracts, and AR with rigor

• A specific account you defended against in-housing, offshore substitution, or a competitive displacement attempt—with the story of how you did it

• Working command of modern AI capability and its effect on delivery timelines, commercial models, and client expectations

• Alliance experience with Adobe, Salesforce, or a comparable platform partner, including joint account planning and co-sell execution

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree a plus

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• In your first 30 days, you’ve taken full handover of the commercial position, contract terms, delivery status, and relationship map for your portfolio. You’ve met every named client stakeholder and identified the retention risks nobody has written down

• By day 60, you’ve published the account plan for each account and established the operating cadence. Account management, delivery, and the Enterprise Sales Lead are working to it. You’ve agreed the annual commitment with the SVP, Growth Officer

• By day 90, you hold executive relationships at least one level above your predecessor’s highest contact. You’ve closed or addressed the most urgent retention exposure and opened at least one extension opportunity in your largest account

• By month six, you’ve completed one renewal on improved terms, produced a client-attested value result, and have a qualified pipeline of growth opportunities across your book that reflects the full breadth of Merkle’s capabilities

• By year one, you’ve delivered the committed revenue and margin, retained >90% of your base, opened at least one new buying center, and your account plans are the operating document the team actually works against—not a shelf artifact

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

At dentsu, we believe great work happens when we're connected. Our way of working combines flexibility with in-person collaboration to spark ideas and strengthen our teams. Employees who live within a commutable distance of one of our hub offices, currently located in Chicago, metro Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York City, are required and expected to work from the office three days per week (two days per week for employees based in Los Angeles). Dentsu may designate other Hub offices at any time. Those who live outside a commutable range may be designated as remote, depending on the role and business needs. Regardless of your work location, we expect our employees to be flexible to meet the needs of our company and clients, which may include attendance in an office.

The annual base salary range for this position is $197,225 - $230,000 Placement within the salary range is based on a variety of factors, including relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and other factors permitted by law. Additionally, this position is eligible for discretionary incentive compensation.

Benefits available with this position include:

• Medical, vision, and dental insurance

• Life insurance

• Short-term and long-term disability insurance

• 401k

• Flexible paid time off

• At least 15 paid holidays per year

• Paid sick and safe leave

• Paid parental leave.

Dentsu also complies with applicable state and local laws regarding employee leave benefits, including, but not limited to providing time off pursuant to the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, in accordance with its plans and policies. For further details regarding Dentsu benefits, please visit www.dentsubenefitsplus.com. 

APPLY

If you are ready to own every account, every relationship, and every commercial result—and to lead accounts where retention is earned, not assumed—we want to meet you. Click Apply at the top of this posting. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, and qualified candidates will be contacted for next steps.

Growth is not by accident. The team with the strongest growth agenda leads and wins. Come build it with us.

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