Marketing agency org chart example
An agency of twenty-five drawn as it actually works: disciplines own people, client pods own the work, and the dotted lines between account directors and creative directors are where every campaign is really run.
How a marketing agency is usually structured
Agencies are organized twice. The chart is by discipline — client services, creative, strategy, production, and the operations that bill for it — because that's who hires you, reviews you and decides your title. The work is organized by client: a pod of an account director, a creative director, a strategist and a producer who share a roster of accounts. The pod isn't a reporting line, so it's a dotted one.
Client services is the spine: account directors own relationships and revenue, account managers own the day, account executives own the details. Creative sits beside it under an executive creative director, with creative directors leading pairs and trios of art directors, copywriters and designers. Strategy is small and senior. Production — producers and project managers — owns timelines, budgets and the traffic between the other three.
Finance and operations report to the founder rather than the president in many agencies, because the founder still owns the company and the MD runs the work. Freelancers are drawn where they work, as contractors, because on a busy month they're a third of the creative department.
Typical titles by level
The vocabulary these charts use, from the top down. Titles vary by country and by company; the levels don't.
| Level | Titles you'll see |
|---|---|
| Leadership | Founder or CEO, President, Executive Creative Director, Client Services Director, Head of Strategy, Head of Production, Finance & Operations Director, New Business Director |
| Senior | Group Account Director, Account Director, Creative Director, Associate Creative Director, Senior Strategist, Senior Producer |
| Mid-level | Account Manager, Senior Art Director, Senior Copywriter, Senior Designer, Strategist, Producer, Project Manager, Studio Manager |
| Junior and support | Account Executive, Art Director, Copywriter, Designer, Junior Designer, Production Assistant, Finance Manager, People & Office Manager, Freelancers (as contractors) |
Where these charts go wrong
Agency charts fail by drawing pods as departments (so people appear twice), by hiding freelancers (so the chart undercounts the studio by a third), by an executive creative director with fifteen direct reports 'because creatives don't like managers', and by leaving the founder off because they 'don't really run things' — they own it.
Questions people ask
- Are agencies structured by client or by discipline?
- Both, and the chart has to choose which is the solid line. Discipline (this chart) is the honest choice: it's who hires, reviews and promotes. Client pods are then drawn as dotted lines. Agencies that draw the pods as departments end up with the same designer in three places.
- Where do freelancers go on an agency org chart?
- Under the person who briefs them, marked as contractors. Leaving them off is common and wrong: on a busy month freelancers are a third of the creative department, and the chart is the capacity plan.
- Who do designers report to?
- A creative director, who reports to the executive creative director. Designers work for account managers all day, but account people should never be the solid line for creatives — reviews of craft belong to craft.
- What is a pod?
- A standing team drawn from each discipline — typically an account director, a creative director, a strategist and a producer — that shares a group of clients. Pods keep people on the same accounts for years, which clients love. On the chart, a pod is the set of dotted lines that meet at one account director.
Other industries
- ManufacturingTwo shifts, and quality kept out of production's line.
- LogisticsDispatch runs the day; supervisors run the people.
- ConstructionOffice and field, meeting on every project.
- Software startupSquads under a CTO; product managers on a dotted line.
- NonprofitThe board on top, programs beside the money.
- Medical practiceA clinical line and a business line, crossing at nursing.
- SchoolDepartments led by teachers who also manage.
- HotelSix divisions around one general manager.
- Security & facilities servicesSites stacked under supervisors; a 24-hour control room.
- Sales teamRegions for closers, a team for openers, RevOps beside them.
- Accounting firmA partner pyramid, three service lines.
- Law firmPractice groups, and the business side that runs the firm.
- ChurchA board that governs, a pastor who leads, ministries below.
- RestaurantFront of house and back of house, meeting at the pass.
- IT departmentRun, build and secure, under one director.
- HR departmentPartners, specialists and operations: the three legs.
- Local governmentElected above appointed, and two officers who answer to the council.
- Utility companyField crews, a 24-hour control center, and a regulator in the room.
- BankThree lines of defense, drawn as lines.
- Staffing agencySales desks, recruiting desks, and a back office that pays two thousand people.
- HospitalTwo hierarchies that meet at the bedside.
- Retail chainHead office, the field, and a store drawn once.
- Small businessOne owner, two managers, and the jobs the owner still does.
- Finance departmentAccounting closes the books; FP&A says what they mean.
- Marketing departmentDemand, product, brand, and the operations under all three.
- Customer service departmentTeams on the floor; quality, training and scheduling beside them.
- Engineering departmentProduct teams under a VP of engineering; platform, data and security under the CTO.
- Operations departmentSupply chain, fulfillment and the functions that keep both honest.
- Product departmentProduct, design, research and the operations that measure them.
- Consulting firmThree practices, one firm behind them, and no engagement on the chart.
- Real estate brokerageAgents who are not employees, on the chart anyway.
- Insurance agencySales on one side, service on the other, and the lines where they meet.
- Dental practiceA clinical line the law draws, and a business line the office manager runs.
- UniversityAn academic line and an administrative line, and governance kept off the chart.
- E-commerce companyThe site is the store, the warehouse is a contractor, and the lines between them are drawn.
- Veterinary clinicThe doctors own the medicine, the manager owns the day, and the technicians answer to both.
- Auto dealershipThe front end sells the cars; the back end pays the bills; the chart shows where they meet.
- School districtSchools on one line, the money on another, and a board that governs from a second chart.
- Police departmentPatrol takes the calls, investigations takes the cases, and professional standards answers to the chief alone.
- Nursing homeThe administrator holds the license, the director of nursing holds the building, and the survey reads both lines.
- Property management companyThe owners and the boards are clients, the site staff are employees, and the chart is where the two facts meet.
Or start from a structure — functional, divisional, matrix or flat — or from your own spreadsheet. The guides cover a reorg, a merger, an assistant's chart and a consultant's deliverable.
Make it yours
Download the spreadsheet, replace the names, import it — the chart redraws itself. Or start empty and drag people until it's true. Building is free at any size.