The posting
01 Meet the studio.
MSQ Asia & Elmwood Singapore is our hybrid hub for Southeast Asia, where brand distinctiveness meets joined-up activation for greater impact.
MSQ is the world's most AI-enabled challenger group, with AI-powered human creativity at the heart of everything we do. We fuse the right mix of capabilities to unlock momentum for brands, connecting creative performance to business outcomes in real time. We have global specialists across creative, social and influencer, media and commerce, strategy & insights, CX & creative, tech, sports & entertainment, and AI products & data. This is MSQ's Joined-Up Thinking: the scale of a holding company with the agility of an independent.
Elmwood is our global brand and design capability, with almost 50 years of experience as one of the world's most effective brand and design agencies. With studios in London, New York, Singapore and Shanghai, we create brands that are more meaningful, more memorable and built to move faster than the market. Our work covers brand strategy and identity, packaging and experience design for clients across global personal care, food and beverage, financial services and technology. Elmwood is proud of its long track record at the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards, the longest-running awards for design that delivers measurable business results.
Requirements
02 Why this role matters.
The Senior Account Executive sits between the Account Executive and Account Manager levels — and it is one of the most important developmental roles in the client services team. You will step up to own day-to-day client relationships on key workstreams, manage projects end to end, coordinate internal and external teams, and ensure work is delivered on brief, on time and on budget. You will be a trusted partner to clients and an organised, proactive driver of project excellence within the studio.
03 What you will be doing.
People & Team accountabilities:
- Begin to coach and support more junior team members, sharing your knowledge and applying developing coaching techniques to help them grow.
- Contribute actively to knowledge-sharing initiatives and encourage team interaction — helping to build a collaborative, high-energy team environment.
- Begin to understand and connect your work to the wider agency strategy and business goals, and help your team do the same.
- Assist in managing small-scale project or team changes, helping to maintain momentum and morale when things shift.
Work/offer accountabilities:
- Manage day-to-day delivery of assigned client projects, from brief through to final implementation, ensuring timelines, budgets and quality standards are met.
- Support in writing and refining clear, actionable creative, design execution and production briefs for internal teams and suppliers.
- Coordinate closely with design, strategy and provocation teams to ensure creative work aligns with client objectives and brand strategy.
- Prepare proposals, cost estimates, project timelines, contact reports and maintain up-to-date project documentation and folders.
- Liaise with third-party suppliers and production partners to manage implementation phases and ensure delivery excellence.
- Begin to manage resources more effectively — tracking your own time, supporting workflow management and contributing to team capacity planning.
Client accountabilities:
- Handle day-to-day client communications, proactively managing expectations, sharing status updates and ensuring a consistently high standard of service.
- Play a more active and independent role in maintaining and nurturing client relationships, taking ownership of your assigned workstreams with growing confidence.
- Identify and suggest new areas for client development — recognising opportunities for additional briefs and up-selling relevant services.
- Assist in preparing proposals, credentials and pitch materials, beginning to take active management of smaller pitch responses.
- Develop a more detailed understanding of specific client industry segments — leading in gathering and analysing client and competitor data.
Business accountabilities
- Monitor project financials, including tracking hours, costs and billing information, flagging risks early and supporting revenue and profitability targets.
- Assist in managing parts of the client revenue pipeline and support accurate forecasting and reporting.
- Support new business efforts with research, credentials collation, case study preparation and pitch support when required.
- Identify and begin to act on growth opportunities within your client accounts, flagging potential new projects or service extensions to your senior team.
- Participate in negotiation processes as an active contributor, building your commercial awareness and confidence in client conversations.
- Develop your industry knowledge — researching trends and consumer behaviours and sharing findings with the broader team.
- Contribute to award submissions, case study development and agency reputation initiatives.
04 What you know and bring.
The knowledge you'll need:
- 3–4 years of account management experience in a branding, packaging, design or marketing agency, with exposure to FMCG or consumer brands preferred.
- Experience working with packaging design across 2D graphics; 3D structural design experience is strongly preferred.
- Growing understanding of brand and design processes, from briefing through to creative development, production and delivery.
- Strong commercial awareness, with experience working to budgets, timelines and financial targets.
- A background in Business, Marketing, Communications or a related field is preferred.
- Experience in project management, collaboration and file-sharing tools such as ClickUp, Pitch, LucidLink or similar. platforms.
- AI fluency: confident using AI tools day to day to work smarter across briefing, planning, reporting and client communication. You're curious about how AI is changing agency workflows and keen to bring new ideas to the team.
The skills that'll set you apart
- Clear, concise communicator with excellent written, verbal and presentation skills.
- Proven ability to manage multiple simultaneous projects, coordinating cross-functional teams efficiently in a fast-paced environment.
- Highly organised, detail-oriented and rigorous, with strong time management skills and a proactive, solution-focused mindset.
- Confident working directly with clients, building trust and contributing to strategic conversations with senior team support.
- Developing storytelling skills — able to enhance project presentations and communicate ideas with growing clarity and impact.
- A strong eagerness to listen, learn and grow within a dynamic, sometimes unstructured environment.
- A genuine passion for creativity, innovation and delivering outstanding work, with a growing appreciation for what makes a brand truly great.
- High sense of responsibility and commitment — you take pride in the quality and accuracy of everything you deliver.
Benefits
05 What we offer.
The work
The opportunity to learn your craft on real, high-impact brand and design projects for some of the world's most exciting companies — from day one.
The people & culture
A fun studio environment working alongside great and talented individuals, with a collaborative, down-to-earth culture where craft, curiosity and generosity are valued.
Annual festivities and various social events throughout the year that bring the team together.
Growth & development
Access to learning, feedback and stretch opportunities across studios and disciplines, with support to shape a career that works for you.
