Overview:
Company Name: Coegi
Job Title: Senior Account Director - Client Engagement (Canada)
Location: Toronto, ON (Hybrid)
Department: Client Engagement
About Coegi
Coegi is a marketing force multiplier built on collaboration, innovation, and data-driven agility. Rather than operating as a traditional vendor, we integrate directly into the businesses we support, acting as a true strategic partner focused on sustainable growth, measurable outcomes, and long-term brand success. We deliver tailored media and content strategies designed to address real business challenges and accelerate performance.
Our greatest competitive advantage is our people. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse workplace where individuals are empowered to bring their authentic selves to work. Guided by values of integrity, empathy, and ambition, we continue to cultivate a collaborative culture where innovation thrives and teams grow together.
Summary
The Senior Account Director - Client Engagement (Canada) is the senior strategic lead and primary client relationship owner for one of Coegi's established pharmaceutical client accounts in the Canadian market. This role serves as the day-to-day senior point of contact for the client, partnering with brand leadership on strategic planning, business planning input, regulatory media execution, and integrated cross-agency coordination. The Senior Account Director acts as a trusted consultant to the client, contributing to broader business decisions in ways that extend beyond media.
In addition to leading this account, the role partners with the President on growing Coegi's Canadian client portfolio through agency-to-agency relationship building, consultative new business conversations, and representation of Coegi within the Canadian market. This is a senior, individual contributor leadership role with dotted-line collaboration across a dedicated account team that includes a Client Engagement strategist, a Project Manager, and a Senior Account Manager focused on partner, vendor, and regulatory submission management.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Other duties may be assigned. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.
Client Leadership and Strategic Counsel
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Serve as the senior day-to-day strategic point of contact for client brand and marketing leadership, building and maintaining a long-term, trust-based relationship.
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Operate as a consultative partner to the client, contributing to broader brand and business planning conversations that extend beyond paid media execution.
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Develop and deliver senior-level strategic recommendations, business reviews, and presentations to client leadership audiences.
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Anticipate client needs, business risks, and timing considerations across the brand calendar and proactively bring forward solutions.
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Translate complex media, regulatory, and operational context into clear, direct counsel that supports confident client decision-making.
Account Leadership and Team Direction
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Set strategic direction for the account team, working closely with the Client Engagement strategy lead, Project Manager, and Senior Account Manager to ensure aligned execution against client goals.
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Own account health, including client satisfaction, retainer scope alignment, profitability, and renewal positioning.
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Partner with the Senior Account Manager to ensure regulatory submissions, partner and vendor coordination, and tactical deliverables are tracked and delivered against client expectations.
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Partner with the Project Manager to ensure timelines, workback schedules, and task management align with brand and campaign cadence.
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Lead account-level financial oversight in coordination with internal finance and operations, including retainer management, forecasting input, and identification of scope changes that warrant client discussion.
Media Strategy and Planning Oversight
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Oversee the development and quality of integrated media strategies and seasonal media briefs across paid social, programmatic, search, influencer, OOH, and emerging channels in the Canadian market.
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Partner with the Client Engagement strategy lead to translate brand objectives, audience priorities, and competitive context into actionable media plans the client can confidently approve.
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Provide senior review on campaign performance narratives, optimization recommendations, and reporting deliverables before they reach the client.
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Stay current on the Canadian digital media landscape, including platform availability, regulatory limitations, and emerging vendor capabilities relevant to pharma.
Regulatory and Compliance Oversight
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Maintain working fluency in Canadian pharmaceutical advertising regulation, including PAAB and ASC requirements, to inform client recommendations and protect account compliance.
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Provide senior oversight on Veeva PromoMats submissions, MLR cycles, and approval workflows managed at the account manager level, ensuring submissions are positioned for first-pass approval where possible.
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Coordinate with the client's creative agency partner on integrated execution of regulated materials, including PTM campaigns, rep-triggered emails, conference materials, and HCP communications.
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Maintain a working understanding of the client's product portfolio and category to ensure strategic guidance reflects therapeutic-area nuance and indication-level context.
Cross-Agency and Partner Collaboration
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Act as the senior Coegi point of contact for the client's creative agency, ensuring integrated planning, aligned timelines, and consistent communication.
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Manage strategic relationships with select external vendors, partners, and sister agencies on behalf of the account.
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Represent Coegi in senior-level client and partner meetings, including in-person presence in Toronto as needed.
Canadian Market Growth
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Partner with the President on growing Coegi's Canadian client portfolio through consultative agency-to-agency relationships, network building, and inbound opportunity development.
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Contribute to new business pitches and capabilities conversations for Canadian opportunities, with a focus on regulated industries and pharma where applicable.
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Represent Coegi at relevant Canadian industry events and within the local agency community to strengthen Coegi's presence in the market.
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Note: this growth contribution is a meaningful but secondary part of the role. Account leadership remains the primary focus.
Operational Excellence and Continuous Learning
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Maintain a high standard of documentation, communication, and account hygiene, including knowledge transfer practices that support team continuity.
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Stay informed on relevant industry and regulatory developments in Canada and apply insights to client recommendations and internal team direction.
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Champion the adoption of AI capabilities, knowledge bases, and evolved ways of working within the account team.
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Support cross-functional collaboration with Coegi's U.S. team and contribute to process improvements that strengthen the Canadian client experience.
Supervisory Responsibilities
This role does not carry direct people management responsibility at hire. The Senior Account Director leads a dedicated cross-functional account team through strong dotted-line collaboration, including a Client Engagement strategist, a Project Manager, and a Senior Account Manager. Direct supervisory responsibility may be added over time as the Canadian portfolio grows.
Qualifications
The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
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Education and Experience: Bachelor's degree in marketing, advertising, communications, business, or a related field. Minimum of seven to ten years of progressive experience in client-facing account management at a digital media or advertising agency, with demonstrated experience leading senior client relationships and complex regulated accounts.
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Industry Experience: Direct experience in pharmaceutical or healthcare advertising is required. Familiarity with vaccine, biologic, or specialty pharmaceutical categories is a strong asset.
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Canadian Market Depth: Genuine on-the-ground experience working in the Canadian media and advertising market is required. Working knowledge of PAAB and ASC requirements is essential. Familiarity with Health Canada submission context is preferred.
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Regulatory Workflow: Hands-on familiarity with Veeva PromoMats, MLR submission processes, and the realities of compliant pharma marketing operations.
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Media Discipline: Strong working knowledge of integrated digital media planning across paid social, programmatic, search, influencer, OOH, and emerging channels. Comfort interpreting performance data and translating it into strategic recommendations. This is a media-side role; creative agency or production backgrounds are not a fit.
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Communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication, including senior client presentation skills and the ability to synthesize complex information into direct, decision-ready recommendations.
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Tools: Proficiency in Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. Familiarity with project management tools such as Asana. Comfort working with AI tools to scale insight, knowledge management, and account operations.
What Makes You Successful in This Role
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Consultative posture, not a sales posture. You lead with strategic counsel and earn growth through trust.
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Comfort owning a senior client relationship as the primary day-to-day point of contact, including with stakeholders well above account-manager level.
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High retention of context across a complex, regulated account, and the discipline to document and share that context with a distributed team.
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Strong agency instincts and operational maturity. Pharma category context can be learned; agency client stewardship cannot.
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Comfort working across a hybrid team where a portion of account collaborators sit in the United States.
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Interest in helping grow a Canadian client portfolio as a secondary, longer-term contribution.
Competencies
To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following knowledge, skills, and abilities.
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Diversity: Shows respect and sensitivity for cultural differences; promotes a harassment-free environment.
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Ethics: Treats people with respect; keeps commitments; inspires the trust of others; works with integrity and principles; upholds organizational values.
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Continuous Learning: Seeks feedback to improve performance; pursues training and development opportunities; shares expertise with others.
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Problem Solving: Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner; gathers and analyzes information skillfully; develops alternative solutions.
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Customer Service: Responds promptly to client needs; solicits feedback to improve service; meets commitments.
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Communications: Expresses ideas clearly in verbal and written form; listens actively; keeps others adequately informed.
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Teamwork: Balances team and individual responsibilities; supports a collaborative team environment across geographies.
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Adaptability: Adapts to changes in the work environment; manages competing demands; deals well with frequent change.
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Dependability: Follows through on commitments; prioritizes work effectively; communicates proactively on shifts in plan.
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Innovation: Displays original thinking; meets challenges with resourcefulness; generates suggestions for improvement.
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Technology and Computer Skills: Demonstrates proficiency with standard business software, learns new systems quickly, and adapts to evolving digital tools and platforms including AI.
Coegi Way Alignment
In addition to the competencies above, this role is expected to contribute to and embody the five pillars of the Coegi Way Forward.
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Identity: People-Centered, Pride and Passion, Balance, Expertise with Empathy. In this role: builds a strong, trust-based partnership with the client and a supportive collaboration culture across the dedicated account team.
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Evolution: Embraces AI as a force multiplier; challenges the status quo; scales what works. In this role: champions adoption of AI-driven knowledge management, account operations, and media intelligence within a regulated pharma context.
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Unity: Breaks down silos; creates unified processes; co-creates with clients. In this role: connects U.S. and Canadian team workflows, partners closely with sister agencies, and ensures one seamless Coegi experience for the client.
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Impact: Drives measurable business results; builds lasting partnerships. In this role: accountable for account performance, client satisfaction, and renewal positioning.
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Prosperity: Delivers measurable growth for business, clients, and people. In this role: owns retainer health for the account and contributes to longer-term Canadian portfolio growth.
Interview Process
Our recruitment process is structured and transparent, with candidates assessed consistently against role-related criteria.
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Step 1: Qualified candidates complete an initial virtual interview with a Talent Acquisition Specialist.
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Step 2: Shortlisted candidates participate in a virtual interview with the Hiring Manager.
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Step 3: Selected candidates attend a virtual interview with the Hiring Manager and relevant team members.
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Step 4: Final candidates participate in a virtual or in-person interview with Senior Leadership.
AI Disclosure
We use AI-assisted tools to help screen resumes for key skills and minimum requirements relevant to the role. All results are reviewed by our hiring team to ensure thoughtful and balanced decision making.
Travel
Regular in-person client presence in Toronto is expected. Periodic travel to Coegi U.S. offices and client or industry events may be required.
Work Environment
This position requires prolonged periods of sitting and working on a computer. The employee must be able to frequently use hands and fingers to type, handle, and operate office equipment, and occasionally stand and walk. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Equal Opportunity
Coegi is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment for all.
Acknowledgements
The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Responsibilities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.
