Senior Client Manager

The Role

You’re an experienced Senior Client Manager who thrives at the intersection of relationships, process, and creative excellence. You’re meticulous, proactive, and a natural people-person, building trust with clients while keeping a close eye on the details that make great projects happen.

In Koto’s LA studio, you’ll manage a range of branding projects from kick-off through delivery, partnering closely with our creative and strategy teams to keep work moving, clients engaged, and projects on time and on budget. You’ll understand what makes for a great client experience and play an important role in advancing Koto’s commercial goals and studio culture.

Your Responsibilities

1. Lead the day-to-day running of multiple branding projects, balancing scope, budget, timelines, and resourcing without compromising quality. You work autonomously, anticipate challenges, and keep clients and internal teams moving confidently toward great outcomes.

2. Build strong, trusted relationships with clients and act as a senior day-to-day partner. You advocate for both the client and the creative team, navigating challenges with clarity, empathy, and confidence.

3. Develop strong proposals, scopes, timelines, and project plans and take ownership of your projects and their resourcing. You know what’s happening now, anticipate what’s coming next, and identify risks and opportunities early.

4. Understand the commercial health of your projects and confidently manage budgets, financial reporting, scope extensions, and upsell opportunities. You can navigate project financials with clarity, identify opportunities to grow existing relationships, and work closely with senior Client Services, the MD, and Finance to turn them into action.

5. Negotiate scope, fees, timelines, extensions, and feedback. You know how to bring clients back on side when challenges arise and when to escalate more complex commercial, legal, or financial concerns.

6. Play an active role in new business, from developing credentials and proposals to supporting and participating in pitches. You understand how to present the Koto experience in a way that inspires confidence and excitement.

7. Set a strong example for project management and Client Services best practice. You keep communication clear, resourcing organized, and projects running smoothly while continually looking for ways to improve how we work.

8. Bring curiosity and a strong awareness of branding, design, culture, and the wider creative industry. You can talk confidently about the work and understand what it takes to deliver ambitious creative projects.

9. Be an active, in-person presence in our LA studio, contributing positively to the team and embracing opportunities to collaborate and travel across Koto’s global studios.

Our Responsibilities

1. We will ensure you have meaningful and regular access to your manager to support your personal development and career trajectory.

2. We will actively reward performance with promotions, pay increases, and a discretionary annual bonus of up to 10% of salary to all employees.

3. We ensure Koto is an equal environment for all its employees.

4. We will support you in taking family leave and offer significant paid maternity and paternity.

5. We will actively encourage you to take 25 vacation days per year, in addition to US national holidays (on average, 10) and a studio closure between Christmas and New Year.

6. We offer a 401(k) that you can contribute to, and Koto matches contributions up to 4%.

7. We deploy a monthly ‘employee wellness’ benefits package via Juno of $105 per month.

8. We offer YCN access and fund relevant training opportunities for any employee looking to develop themselves and their career.

9. We reward five years of service with $5,000 and five days' holiday. We reward ten years of service with $10,000 and four weeks' holiday.

10. We will allow you to work from any of the five Koto studios globally, with appropriate planning and application.

Our Culture

• At Koto, we encourage our team to be ‘rationally optimistic’ about the potential of our work, our clients, their businesses, and the power of brand.

• We pursue the best briefs, aiming to inspire meaningful work and, for those interested, to provide an opportunity to create a life's work. We are actively cultivating leadership, culture, and spaces to encourage this.

• We work in person, with an optional WFH day on Friday and an additional two weeks of remote work per year. We believe this produces the best work, mentoring opportunities, collective learning, and culture.

• We encourage autonomy in each member of our team, allowing them to manage their own time, hours, and personal commitments appropriately to complete work