Congress Account Lead

The Congress Account Lead is responsible for the leadership, delivery, and commercial performance of a congress portfolio. Acting as the primary senior contact for the client, the role ensures seamless planning and execution of national, regional, and international congresses while driving innovation, process excellence, and stakeholder satisfaction.

The Congress Account Lead serves as the bridge between client objectives and agency delivery teams, ensuring all congress activities support business goals, regulatory requirements, and attendee engagement objectives.

This role reports directly into the Account Director who has overall responsibility for this client.

Key responsibilities and accountabilities:

Client Leadership & Relationship Management

• Serve as the senior day-to-day contact for congress stakeholders.
• Provide strategic counsel and recommendations to support congress objectives.
• Support regular governance meetings, business reviews, and planning sessions.
• Identify opportunities to improve service delivery and expand scope of support.

Congress Strategy & Planning

• Develop annual congress engagement strategies aligned with client priorities.
• Support congress planning from brief through execution and close-out.
• Ensure consistency across all congress touchpoints including symposia, advisory boards, booths, investigator meetings, hospitality, and internal team meetings.
• Coordinate multi-workstream delivery across internal and external stakeholders.
• Drive innovation, attendee engagement, and experience design.

Account & Programme Management

• Oversee multiple congresses simultaneously across regions and therapeutic areas.
• Ensure project plans, timelines, budgets, and risk management processes are maintained.
• Monitor programme performance against agreed KPIs and SLAs.
• Escalate and resolve issues proactively.
• Ensure compliance with client policies, industry regulations, and agency standards.
• Support development of long-term account growth plans.

Financial Management

• Own congress budget management and forecasting.
• Monitor profitability, resource allocation, and commercial performance.
• Approve estimates, reconciliations, and final financial reporting.
• Identify efficiencies and cost-saving opportunities.

 Team Leadership

• Lead cross-functional delivery teams including event managers, delegate managers/ registration specialists, production, logistics, and suppliers.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and performance management.
• Support resource planning and workload management.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement

Stakeholder Management

• Coordinate with internal client teams, venues, congress organisers, suppliers, and third-party partners (where applicable)
• Manage complex stakeholder environments and competing priorities.
• Ensure clear communication and alignment throughout the congress lifecycle.
• Deliver programme reporting and executive summaries.
• Analyse attendee engagement, budget performance, and operational metrics.
• Use data and insights to optimise future congress strategies.

Key Skills & Experience

• 7+ years experience in congress, meetings and events, healthcare communications, or pharmaceutical event management.
• Experience managing large-scale international congresses.
• Strong client relationship management skills.
• Budget management and financial oversight experience.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Strong understanding of pharmaceutical compliance and congress regulations.