Acton Circle is a narrative and design studio for nonprofits. We build annual and impact reports that make donors believe in an organization, not just read about it.

Right now, every client relationship runs through our founder and creative director. The work comes together because she's in the room. That's what this role fixes.

What you'd own

Running the project from kickoff to delivery

You schedule and lead the kickoff call, walk the client through the timeline and what we need from them, and set expectations for how review rounds work. You send design review and delivery emails and handle whatever comes after.

Being the person the client talks to

Today clients email our founder about everything from a missing photo to a question about the SOW. That routes to you. You reply within the business day, you know where every project stands without having to ask, and clients stop wondering whether anyone is watching.

Running review rounds so they don't get out of hand

Nonprofit feedback arrives messy. Six people comment on one PDF, two of them contradict each other, and a board chair weighs in on page 14 three days after the deadline. You work with clients to consolidate all of it into one clear set of directions for the design team. You decide what's an edit we absorb and what's a scope conversation, and then you have that scope conversation yourself instead of escalating it.

Protecting the creative direction in the moment

A client asks to move the impact numbers to the back, add a full-page letter from the board chair, and go back to their old brand colors. Some of that is fine. Some of it breaks the story. You need to know which, say so on the call, explain it in language a comms director can repeat to their ED, and hold the line without turning it into a fight. When you're not sure, you check with the creative director before the call, not after.

Landing on the SOW date

You know what's due, from whom, and by when. Our design QC coordinator supports you on tracking, but the deadline is yours. If a date is going to slip, you know a week out and you tell the client before they notice.

The hard conversations

A client is unhappy with round two. An asset we needed never showed up. A timeline slipped on our side and someone has to say so. You handle these directly and calmly, and you tell us what happened after.

What this role is not

• Task tracking. We're building the systems that do the chasing.
• Design execution. You're never in the file. You review, direct, and give feedback. You don't move type.
• Asking permission. You make the call and tell us afterward. Once you're settled into the role, you feel comfortable making a call on something.

You're the right fit if

• You've defended a design direction to a client who wanted something else for no good reason, and won them over in a respectful way
• You can take a rough brief and a Loom from a creative director and turn it into direction a designer can build from without a second meeting
• You've told a client no and kept the relationship
• Nonprofit clients don't rattle you. Feedback that arrives four days late, a board with strong opinions about fonts (and you get to hear about it), a comms director doing the job of four people, an ED who shows up in round three with notes.
• You're dependable in the boring way. Thursday means Wednesday to you. Nothing sits unanswered overnight.
• You'd rather be told the standard once and then left alone

You'll need

• 5+ years in client services, account management, or creative producing at a design studio, branding shop, or agency
• Real experience owning external client relationships on creative projects, not internal coordination
• Enough design literacy to review a layout and give feedback a designer can act on. You don't need to be a designer. You do need to be able to say, "This isn't aligned to the creative brief," and be right.
• Native-level written and spoken English. You're the studio's voice with clients.
• Comfortable in project management tools, Slack, and Google Workspace
• Bonus: nonprofit, fundraising, or communications experience. Also a bonus: a sales background.

How this works

• $45-55/hour depending on experience. Expect 5-10 hours most weeks.
• The hours won't spread evenly. Kickoff weeks and review rounds are heavy. Build weeks are quiet. Some weeks you'll bill four hours; some you'll hit the cap.
• Client call availability: Monday through Thursday, 9 am to 3 pm PT (as needed). Our business hours are 9 am to 4 pm PT, and clients typically get a same-business-day reply.
• Remote. We're already spread across several time zones.
• Where this goes. There's more ownership in this seat as the studio grows.