Buscar empleo: 80 ofertas de trabajo de ai en York (mayo 2026)

Client Services Director

hace 3 días

York

Lead and grow Cursive’s client services function – and help shape the next chapter of an established digital agency for changemakers. About Cursive We’re Cursive – digital makers for the changemakers. For almost two decades we’ve built and cared for mission-critical web platforms for charities, NGOs, think tanks, academic institutions and other social change-makers. Our clients include ODI Global, GO Lab (Blavatnik School of Government), Power for Democracies, Full Fact, Dementia UK, Artangel and The Churchill Fellowship. We’re Wagtail specialists. We design, build, host and maintain websites and bespoke digital tools that help impact-led organisations do their best work. Our long-term approach has earned us a 92% client retention rate over the last five years – we’re proud of that, and we want to keep it that way. We’re a Good Business Charter-accredited, Living Wage employer that offsets its carbon footprint. We take our work seriously. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. About the role This is a senior role with three connected dimensions: running excellent day-to-day client operations, growing existing accounts and winning new business. This role will help shape the strategic direction of the agency alongside the founder. You’ll be the senior point of contact for our clients, a co-owner of our new business pipeline, the architect of how we deliver and develop accounts, and a key partner to our MD in steering Cursive’s growth strategy and plan. The right person is a confident operator who’s equally comfortable ensuring effective and efficient delivery, leading a pitch, designing a client services process, and contributing to a board-level conversation about where Cursive goes next. Areas of responsibility 1. Account management Owning the quality, profitability, and professionalism of our day-to-day client services. • Lead the account management function, setting the standard for how Cursive looks after its clients, • Act as senior client lead and escalation point across the portfolio, • Oversee ticketing, support and ongoing maintenance work – making sure clients get clear, timely, high-quality responses, • Manage internal organisation: workflow planning, capacity management, prioritisation and scheduling across the team, • Run and oversee projects to time, scope, budget and margin – using appropriate methodologies and tools, • Maintain high-quality client communications: status reporting, change control, expectation management and difficult conversations handled well, • Track account health, utilisation and project profitability; identify and resolve issues before they affect delivery or margin, • Ensure we deliver against contracts, SLAs and commitments – and that our commercial position is protected as scope and circumstances change 2. Account development & new business Building the systems, methods, and relationships that grow client accounts and bring new ones in – positioning Cursive as a long-term strategic partner. • Define, implement, and continually evolve Cursive’s client services methods, processes, and tooling, • Develop account growth plans for each strategic client – mapping needs, stakeholders, opportunities and risks, • Identify, qualify and convert upsell and cross-sell opportunities across our service lines: design and build, Wagtail consultancy, software development, hosting and maintenance, content strategy, AI/SEO services, • Reposition Cursive in client conversations from supplier to long-term strategic partner – proactively bringing ideas, roadmaps, and recommendations, • Lead account reviews, QBRs, and strategic planning sessions with senior client stakeholders, • Build a structured approach to client retention and renewal across maintenance, hosting and retainer engagements, • Take shared ownership of the new business pipeline alongside the CEO – qualifying inbound enquiries, leading discovery conversations, and converting opportunities into won work, • Lead and / or contribute to proposals, pitches, scoping documents, and commercial negotiations for new business, • Build and maintain a structured sales process – CRM hygiene, pipeline reporting, conversion tracking and forecasting, • Develop relationships with referral partners, sector networks, and prospective clients to generate sustainable new opportunities, • Work with the CEO and delivery team to scope, price and win larger pieces of work from existing and new relationships, • Capture and feed insight from client and prospect conversations back into our service propositions, marketing and sales activity 3. Leadership Partnering with our founder and MD to develop Cursive as a business. • Act as a senior leadership partner to the CEO – a trusted second voice on strategy, operations and direction, • Take ownership of key strategic initiatives agreed with the CEO (e.g. new service propositions, operational improvements, sector or partnership plays), • Contribute to business strategy formation: shaping objectives, plans and priorities, and helping deliver them, • Help shape Cursive’s commercial model, service mix, and go-to-market positioning, • Support the development and activation of Cursive’s wider marketing strategy – contributing to messaging, propositions, sector plays, content themes, and campaign priorities, • Work closely with marketing activity (content, SEO, events, partnerships, thought leadership) to ensure it generates qualified opportunities and reinforces Cursive’s positioning in the sector, • Line-manage, coach, and develop members of the client services team; contribute to recruitment, onboarding, and team development, • Represent Cursive externally where appropriate – with clients, partners, prospects and in our sectors, • Champion Cursive’s culture and values: rigour, reliability, plain-speaking, social purpose What you’ll bring • Substantial experience in a client services, account director, or client lead role within a digital, design, or technology agency – ideally including time at director level or running a function, • A proven track record of growing existing accounts: identifying opportunities, leading commercial conversations, and converting them into delivered work, • Demonstrable new business experience – running a pipeline, leading discovery and pitches, writing strong proposals, and closing work, • An understanding of how marketing supports new business – and an ability to contribute meaningfully to marketing strategy, propositions, and activation, • Strong commercial instincts – comfortable with utilisation, margin, forecasting, scoping, and pricing, • A forward-facing grasp and ability to navigate the fast-paced emerging tech landscape, • First-class project and programme management experience using common methodologies and tools, • Confident, credible communicator with senior client stakeholders – trustees, CEOs, directors of digital, heads of comms, • Experience designing and implementing client services processes, not just operating them, • Genuine interest in, and empathy with, the charity, NGO, think tank, academic, and wider social-purpose sectors, • A collaborative, low-ego, high-standards working style that fits a small, senior team, • Comfortable working at pace across the strategic, operational, and detail levels in the same week It would be a bonus if... You’ve worked with content management systems (Wagtail, Django, or comparable open-source CMS) You have experience with hosting, support and maintenance commercial models (retainers, SLAs, ticketing) You bring an existing network in the charity, think tank, academic, or public-good sectors You have working knowledge of GA4, SEO, AI search, and digital strategy You’ve helped shape a small agency through a growth or transition phase What we offer A senior leadership role with real ownership and influence in shaping the next chapter of a respected, established agency A portfolio of clients doing genuinely meaningful work A small, expert, close-knit team that takes pride in doing things properly Flexible, hybrid working with a base in York 50k salary, performance-related element, and benefits package (Living Wage employer, Good Business Charter accredited) The chance to work directly alongside the founder on the future of the business To apply Send a CV and short note (no more than a page) telling us why this role and Cursive are right for you, to Cursive is committed to building an inclusive team. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are happy to discuss flexible working arrangements.

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