Senior Client Manager

To apply: send your CV and a short covering letter to leila@sweetandchilli.com, answering the two questions below. Applications close Tuesday 7th July 2026.

1. Tell us about a client relationship you've owned end to end - what did you bring to it beyond delivery?
2. Describe a project that went off track and how you managed it with the client and internally.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

Sweet&Chilli is a leading creative and experiential agency with offices in London, Sydney, Los Angeles, Singapore, Sao Paolo & Paris. Founded in 2003, our long successful history with the biggest brands in drinks and hospitality allows us to remain true to our ethos whilst exploring new territories, sectors, and clients across strategic, content and advocacy campaigns.

S&C UK is broadly split into 2 client-facing departments: Event Production and Creative Strategy, supported by our Client Services, Finance and Logistics teams. The foundation of Sweet&Chilli has always been our people; we prioritise synergy by fostering a healthy company culture and empowering our team to bring bold ideas and fresh thinking to their work. In an ever-changing industry, our commitment to diversity and inclusivity keeps us on the cutting edge of the marketing landscape. Through merging detail-driven, specialist expertise with daring curiosity, we deliver the unmistakable creative experience that is Sweet&Chilli.

ROLE OVERVIEW

This is a 6-month contract role. As Senior Client Manager at Sweet&Chilli, you are the senior point of contact for a portfolio of drinks, luxury and hospitality clients - owning the relationship and delivering the work. This is not a role where client management and project delivery sit in separate lanes; you will be equally at home in a client meeting shaping the direction as you are building a critical path or reconciling a budget.

You will work across trade advocacy, brand experience and strategic campaigns - bringing commercial thinking, creative input and operational rigour to everything you touch. This is a hands-on role for someone who takes pride in doing the work to the highest standard, not just directing others to do it.

You will primarily report to Leila Ghazai, Associate Director, and work closely with Steve Sandom Client Director and our Creative, Production and Advocacy teams.

The role will be primarily office-based at Sweet&Chilli's HQ (8 Holyrood St, London SE1 2EL) with significant time at client meetings, site visits and live events.

PERSONAL COMPETENCIES & REQUIREMENTS

• You are an agency professional who combines strong client instincts with genuine delivery capability.
• You bring gravitas to a client room and get your hands dirty on the detail - and you see no contradiction between the two.
• Significant experience in a client services role within a creative, experiential events or integrated marketing agency - drinks or hospitality sector experience essential
• Proven track record managing complex, multi-workstream campaigns and live events from brief to close
• Confident and credible client communicator - able to lead meetings, shape strategy and manage expectations at senior level
• Commercially sharp - able to develop and manage budgets, identify growth opportunities and think beyond the project to the relationship
• Highly organised with strong instincts for prioritisation across concurrent projects and stakeholders
• A doer as much as a thinker - comfortable owning the operational detail without needing to delegate it
• Strong IT skills across Office 365; experience with Scoro or similar project
• management tools a plus
• Genuine passion for drinks, hospitality and brand experience

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Client Management

1. Own and lead a portfolio of client accounts as the senior point of contact and
2. trusted strategic partner
3. Build deep knowledge of each client's business - their strategy, competitors, industry trends and commercial priorities
4. Lead all client meetings with confidence; shape agendas, steer conversations and ensure decisions are captured with clear accountability
5. Communicate proactively and accurately - giving clients what they need to make decisions
6. without overloading them
7. Produce standout proposals, creative briefs and end-of-activity reports that demonstrate strategic thinking and sector knowledge
8. Identify and develop opportunities to grow existing client relationships and scopes of work

Project & Event Delivery

1. Manage projects end to end across strategy, advocacy and brand experience - from brief through to reconciliation
2. Own project timelines, critical paths and trackers; anticipate risk and resolve issues before they escalate
3. Produce and maintain all project documentation: briefs, budgets, status reports, running orders, supplier POs
4. Coordinate logistics across internal teams, clients, suppliers, venues and freelancers
5. Provide on-site leadership at live events, ensuring delivery meets the Sweet&Chilli standard
6. Reconcile budgets accurately and report to clients and internally

Financial Management

1. Hold full command of project budgets - profitability, billing schedules, reconciliations and resource allocation
2. Develop budgets across simple and complex project types
3. Track spend and resource to avoid overburn; communicate financial status to clients with confidence
4. Ensure all financial processes are followed accurately: Scoro updates, new and client supplier forms

Internal

1. Work closely with Heads of Department on resourcing and delivery across concurrent workstreams
2. Input into creative brainstorms and contribute strategic thinking to new business opportunities
3. Champion internal processes and ways of working; set the standard expected across the CS team
4. Keep your line manager fully informed of account progress, risks and opportunities

S&C COMPANY BENEFITS & PERKS

• S&C Perks Package - including 50% discount on all drinks and 25% on food for up to 4 guests at our neighbourhood cocktail bar Nine Lives
• Paid Volunteer & Inspiration Days
• Team drinks at Nine Lives
• Office always stocked with lots of fruit and coffee
• Flexible working – 3 days in studio / 2 days at home plus flexible start times at discretion of line manager

HOURS OF WORK / HOLIDAY

Standard hours are 5 days per week Monday to Friday, 09:30 - 18:00

We work in the office Monday, Tuesday & Thursday and from home on Wednesday & Friday, but all internal or client meetings take precedence to WFH.

We are not working with recruitment agencies on this role.