Olivia Ainscough

Senior leader with 11 years' experience building and scaling high‑performing client service, account management and delivery teams across the UK, US, Asia and Europe. Proven track record leading global enterprise accounts, driving operational excellence, and shaping commercial strategy in fast‑paced, high‑growth environments. Known for combining strong people leadership with rigorous commercial and operational discipline to deliver exceptional client outcomes, high retention and sustainable growth.

Head of account management at Flag Communication (2020-05 – 2025-06)

Senior management team member responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of Flag's global Account Management function. Oversaw delivery excellence, client satisfaction, commercial performance and team growth across the UK and US.

• Built and scaled a 15-person team across two management layers, designing the organisational structure and hiring strategy as the business grew: two Associate Heads of Account Management (UK and US), each leading their own teams, alongside Senior Account Managers with supervisory responsibility, with full hiring, development and performance management accountability across all levels, including establishing the US function from the ground up (now 50% of the team)
• Operated as a leader of leaders - identifying talent, building leadership capability and creating a formal management layer that gave indirect leadership of the full team
• Designed team structure, hiring strategy, onboarding frameworks and performance management processes to support rapid growth
• Fostered a high‑performance culture grounded in accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement
• Led or oversaw relationships with major global clients including Amazon, Apple, Nike, McDonald's, Vodafone, GE Aerospace, Nestlé, Peloton, Mattel, Hasbro and others
• Maintained an 85% client retention rate across a complex portfolio of enterprise accounts
• Acted as senior sponsor on strategic programmes, ensuring alignment between client objectives, delivery teams and commercial goals
• Oversaw a portfolio of ~70 global enterprise accounts concurrently (~100 annually), generating ~£12m annually with direct responsibility for renewals, retention and commercial performance
• Co‑led a company‑wide Strategic Productivity Improvement Programme (2024), delivering a 112% EBITDA increase through improved utilisation, resourcing and process optimisation
• Owned commercial governance: approved all client quotes, oversaw annual AM budgets and conducted monthly profitability reviews across all projects
• Managed pipeline discipline across the AM team: oversaw CRM accuracy and data hygiene, ran regular pipeline reviews to identify at-risk accounts and focus resource on high-growth opportunities
• Designed BI dashboards and executive reports to track NPS, adoption, time‑to‑value and renewal forecasts, improving forecast accuracy and enabling data‑driven QBRs
• Produced annual rate cards for UK, US and Australia, ensuring competitive positioning and margin protection
• Spearheaded the organisation‑wide transition from ClickUp to Asana, improving workflow efficiency and delivery consistency
• Led the company's first trial of Microsoft Copilot AI, identifying opportunities for automation and operational scale
• Partnered closely with Creative, Strategy, Digital, and Operations teams to harmonise processes and elevate delivery quality
• Ensured client feedback loops were embedded into operational decision‑making

Senior account manager at Flag Communication (2018-07 – 2019-11)

Progressed rapidly through the organisation, taking on increasing responsibility for client leadership, project delivery, commercial management and team development.

Account manager at Flag Communication (2017-08 – 2018-06)

Progressed rapidly through the organisation, taking on increasing responsibility for client leadership, project delivery, commercial management and team development.

Junior account manager at Flag Communication (2015-09 – 2017-07)

Progressed rapidly through the organisation, taking on increasing responsibility for client leadership, project delivery, commercial management and team development.

Office assistant at Flag Communication (2014-09 – 2015-08)

Progressed rapidly through the organisation, taking on increasing responsibility for client leadership, project delivery, commercial management and team development.

BSc (Hons) in Economics and Econometrics – University of Bristol (2013)

A Levels – Saffron Walden County High School (2009)

GCSEs – The Leys, Cambridge (2007)