CURRENT VACANCIES
SENIOR ACCOUNT
& ACTIVATION MANAGER
Global Bartending
Location: Essex, UK (Office-based)
Package: Competitive, dependent on experience
Start: Late October / November 2026
If you want to join the Global Bartending family and you feel that you are ready to take on this role please send an email with your CV and cover note to: Lauren@globalbartending.com
About Global Bartending
Global Bartending is a global drinks culture agency working with some of the world's leading drinks and lifestyle brands.
We bring together strategy, creativity, drinks expertise, talent, content and experiential production to help brands connect meaningfully with the drinks industry and consumers.
As we continue to grow, we're looking for an experienced Senior Account & Activation Manager to join our team.
The Role
This is a broad, hands-on senior role for someone who can confidently manage major client relationships while taking projects from brief and strategy through to creative development, production and delivery.
You'll work closely with our internal creative, production, drinks and logistics teams, alongside external partners and suppliers.
We're not looking for a traditional account manager who simply passes briefs between teams. We're looking for someone who can understand what a client is trying to achieve, develop the right approach, build the plan and ultimately deliver brilliant work.
Key Responsibilities
Client & Account Leadership
Manage day-to-day client relationships across key accounts
Receive, interrogate and respond to client briefs
Translate briefs into clear scopes, budgets, timelines and deliverables
Manage client expectations, feedback, approvals and sign-off
Identify opportunities to develop and grow existing accounts
Build trusted, long-term client relationships
Strategy & Creative Development
Develop brand, advocacy and activation plans
Build strategic recommendations in response to client objectives
Contribute ideas for campaigns, experiences, content and advocacy programmes
Work with creative and drinks teams to develop concepts and bring them to life
Turn strategic thinking into clear and actionable plans
You don't need to be a strategist or creative director, but you should be confident contributing ideas and challenging thinking.
Project, Event & Activation Delivery
You'll oversee projects from initial brief through to final delivery, ranging from content shoots and intimate bartender experiences to product launches, international activations and major brand events.
Responsibilities include:
Building and managing project plans and critical paths
Coordinating internal teams, freelancers, Brand Ambassadors and suppliers
Venue and supplier sourcing and management
Managing production schedules, logistics and operational planning
On-site event and activation delivery
Post-event wrap-up and reporting
Ensuring every project is delivered to the standard expected of Global Bartending
Project, Event & Activation Delivery
Content is increasingly integrated into everything we deliver. You'll help identify how activations can live beyond the event through social, photography, video, trade media and digital content.
You'll support:
Content planning around brand activity, events and launches
Photography and video shoot production
Creative concepts, storyboards and shot lists
Briefing photographers, videographers and creative specialists
Social content, calendars and copy
Post-production, client feedback and final asset delivery
Media and communications activity where required
Commercial & Budget Management
You'll have commercial responsibility for the projects you manage, including:
Developing and managing project budgets
Tracking spend and maintaining project profitability
Obtaining and negotiating supplier quotations
Managing external production, talent and Brand Ambassador costs
Identifying budget pressures early and finding solutions
Drinks & Hospitality
You don't need to be a bartender, but you should understand and be excited by the world we operate in.
Working alongside our drinks specialists, you'll help coordinate drink and serve development, manage client feedback and translate brand objectives into relevant hospitality experiences.
Projects may also include bespoke gifting and packaging, bartender advocacy, Brand Ambassador programmes, influencer activity and other special projects.
About You
We're looking for someone who combines great client skills with genuine delivery capability.
You'll ideally have 5+ years' experience within an agency, experiential, hospitality, drinks, FMCG, lifestyle or similarly fast-paced environment.
You'll be:
A confident and personable client manager
Highly organised and comfortable managing multiple projects
Commercially aware and confident managing budgets
Proactive and comfortable taking ownership
Calm under pressure and solutions-focused
Comfortable managing suppliers, freelancers and internal teams
Able to move between strategic conversations and detailed delivery
Creative, curious and culturally aware
Comfortable with live events and occasional work outside normal office hours
Passionate about drinks, hospitality, culture and experience
Experience across drinks, spirits, experiential, hospitality, events, content production, advocacy or premium/luxury brands would be a major advantage.
You don't need to have done every element of the role before. What's more important is having the confidence, curiosity and capability to take ownership and learn quickly.
What Success Looks Like
Within your first year, we'd expect you to:
Build strong relationships with key Global Bartending clients
Independently manage projects from brief through to delivery
Maintain excellent control of budgets and timelines
Consistently deliver work to a high standard
Proactively identify opportunities to grow client accounts
Bring ideas rather than simply execute instructions
Become a trusted and important part of the Global Bartending team