Director, Account Services - bswift

About bswift

At bswift, we’ve been transforming benefits administration since 1996, making it simpler, smarter, and more human. Our state-of-the-art, cloud-based technology and services empower employees to understand, manage, and love their benefits. From downtown Chicago, and remotely across the country, we serve thousands of companies and millions of people nationwide.

bswift Engagement Solutions is our communication agency, a team of more than 50 strategists, writers, designers, researchers, and communication experts who help HR, benefits, and internal communications leaders create communication employees actually notice, understand, and act on. We support annual enrollment, year-round benefits engagement, total rewards, benefits education, and workforce communication, taking clients from research and strategy through creative development and multichannel execution.

The Role

The Director, Account Services leads the account management function within the bswift Communication Agency. This is a newly created role, built to bring structure, consistency, and strategic leadership to a team that sits at the center of how our clients experience bswift.

Reporting to the Vice President, Engagement Solutions, you will lead and develop a team of account managers, own the standards and processes by which client work moves through the agency, and serve as the team’s strongest advocate. You will partner closely with the Senior Directors, Communication and collaborate with our Creative and Operations teams to ensure account managers are set up to deliver exceptional, on-time work.

What You Will Be Responsible For (Essential Functions)

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of six account managers, including regular one-on-ones, goal setting, performance reviews, and career development planning.
• Hire, onboard, and train new account managers, building ramp plans that bring new team members to full productivity quickly.
• Serve as a visible advocate for the account management team—surfacing capacity concerns, removing roadblocks, and ensuring the team has the tools, information, and support needed to do their jobs well.
• Balance workload and resourcing across the team, matching account manager capacity and strengths to client needs.
• Establish clear expectations, competency standards, and career paths for the account management function.
• Build a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Client and Account Oversight

• Own the overall health of the agency’s client relationships from an account management standpoint, ensuring consistency and quality across all accounts.
• Directly manage a small volume of high-visibility and revenue accounts within the business, implementing account and project management best practices.
• Set and enforce best practices for client management, including communication cadence, status reporting, escalation paths, and documentation standards.
• Step in on complex, high-visibility, or at-risk accounts to provide senior-level support, issue resolution, and direct client engagement.
• Partner with the Senior Directors of Communication to align account management support with client strategy and consulting priorities.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen and expand client relationships, partnering with consulting leads to execute.
• Represent the account management perspective in client planning, renewal, and new business conversations as needed.

Project Management, Process, and Operations

• Own and continuously refine the agency’s project management standards, intake processes, and workflows.
• Ensure projects across the team are scoped, scheduled, resourced, and delivered on time and within budget.
• Maximize the capability of the agency’s project management platform (including Monday.com), driving consistent adoption, meaningful reporting, and automation wherever possible.
• Establish clear visibility into team capacity, project status, and delivery metrics, and report on them to leadership.
• Partner with Creative and Operations to streamline handoffs, reduce rework, and eliminate low-value manual steps.
• Move the function from reactive and tactical toward proactive and strategic by anticipating client needs and building repeatable approaches.

Innovation and AI Enablement

• Stay at the forefront of AI and emerging tools in project and account management, identifying, piloting, and scaling the applications that improve speed, quality, and consistency.
• Bring new ideas to how the agency works, building the business case and leading change management for adoption.
• Champion continuous improvement, using team feedback and delivery data to prioritize the changes that matter most.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Report to the Vice President, Engagement Solutions, providing regular updates on team performance, capacity, risks, and opportunities.
• Collaborate with the Creative, Operations, Consulting, Client Service, and Implementation teams to ensure coordination, visibility, and knowledge sharing on behalf of clients.
• Serve as a connective point between account management and the broader bswift organization.

What You Need to Succeed (Required Education and Experience)

• Experience: 10 or more years of experience in project management, account management, or client services, including at least 2 to 3 years directly managing and developing people.
• Leadership: Demonstrated success leading teams that deliver complex, multi-stakeholder client projects on time and within budget.
• Client Management: Deep knowledge of client management best practices, with the judgment to know when to standardize and when to flex.
• Process Improvement: Proven ability to design and implement processes and workflows that measurably improve efficiency and quality.
• Tools: Hands-on experience with workflow and project management platforms such as Monday.com, including building boards, automations, and reporting.
• Communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the presence to engage senior client stakeholders and internal executives.
• Organization: Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills.
• Time Management: Strong time management skills with a proven ability to meet deadlines across multiple accounts and competing priorities.
• Adaptability: Ability to function well in a fast-paced and at times high-pressure environment.
• Software: Proficiency with the Microsoft suite, including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Teams.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.

Nice to Have (Preferred Education and Experience)

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Advertising, Journalism, English, or Business.
• Experience in employee benefits, HR communication, or employee engagement.
• Prior agency or consulting experience, preferably in a leadership capacity.
• Practical experience applying AI tools to project management, content workflows, or team productivity.
• Experience standing up or maturing an account management or client services function, including processes, templates, and standards.
• Experience managing print and digital vendor relationships, and working in SharePoint.
• Familiarity with benefits administration technology or the broader benefits ecosystem.

Working Hours

Standard working hours are 8am-5pm Central Time.