Business Director

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention services across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Meta, eBay, and OpenAI. We have been certified B Corp and Climate Neutral since 2021.

JOB PURPOSE 

The Business Director ensures its pod (i.e. the B2B pod within the account) is set up to deliver outstanding work while building commercially and operationally successful client partnerships. The BD will be responsible for developing senior client relationships, overseeing complex programmes of work, and leading cross-functional teams through strong collaboration, communication and operational excellence, focusing on the B2B side of the business.

Within the account, the Business Director reports to the Group Director and is responsible for leading a multiple cross-functional pod across creative, strategy, delivery, production and client services. Working closely with the clients' Group Director, the BD helps shape and deliver account strategy, identify opportunities for growth and operational improvement, and ensure teams are set up to deliver consistently high-quality work. The BD partners with senior discipline lead to drive effective ways of working, maintain strong client relationships and support the continued success and growth of DEPT’s strategic partnership with the account.

We don’t believe in siloed teams – creative, technology, media and data overlap in all roles at DEPT. This person will oversee the strategy for the Client Services discipline and ensure client teams are working collaboratively to deliver against a single vision and our client’s business priorities. They will represent DEPT® to our clients, adding value to relationships beyond organisational skills doing a mixture of account management and strategic planning, not your typical suit. 

Candidates must have experience delivering commercial success on complex clients in an integrated agency. They must have experience managing teams of up to 20 people and have demonstrated ways of managing cross-functional teams both laterally and vertically. 

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

Clients

• Lead long term relationships with C-Level stakeholders for key clients. Understand their personal and professional drivers and thus help position DEPT® as a key partner to help meet those goals.
• Support the Group Director to develop annual strategies for our clientI; specifically on the B2B side of the business.
• Support the Group Director with driving growth, uncovering upsell and cross sell of services within the clients.
• Keep track of overall client health within the client's B2B pod and help shape and implement strategies that ensure relationships are functioning at an optimum level.
• Spot excellent client work and ensure case studies are shared across the agency and added to our creds deck. 

Strategic Initiatives

• Deliver agreed strategic initiatives based on overall business objectives for the year. In some instances, this will be a lead role with the task of driving the initiative forward. In some cases this will be more of a supporting role and will input in some of those initiatives at differing levels.
• Ensure overall business strategy and objectives are continued to be communicated and prioritised across the teams and agency as a whole.
• Proactively identify and communicate other new initiatives, managing those upwards effectively where appropriate. 

Commercial & Finance

• Drive the business health of the account. Empower and support client leads in maximising revenue opportunities, maintaining profitability and ensuring accurate forecasting. 
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of wider commercial context beyond profitability on projects (e.g wider business overheads, investment, 3rd party costs and client commercial issues that may affect DEPT® relationship.) 
• Support the Group Director and Management Team on improving processes and systems with Finance and Operations to maintain client profitability at all times. 
• Business development: working closely with the Group Director to develop a proactive account growth strategy, Play a key role in identifying and initiating conversations, creating appropriate materials, case studies to help sell in DEPT®’s offering. 
• Oversee all revenue forecasting and ensure appropriate trackers are up to date across the teams, reflecting the current status of projects as accurately as possible. 

Team Leadership

• Direct line management of senior members of the account team within the account. 
• Mentor the team and act as an escalation point within the B2B pod.
• Actively initiate programmes to train, upskill, and develop the talent on the team.
• Partner and work closely with other client leads (ie: Group Director, Creative, Tech, Media, Design) to align the best team configurations, strategies and processes in order to achieve the best quality of work, while maintaining revenue targets. 
• Oversee the recruitment process of the Client Servicing team within the account and support the Group Director with broader recruitment needs across the Client Services discipline; work closely with HR to develop clear objectives and development roadmaps for team members. 
• Support Group Director with demand and capacity management, help predict skill-set capacity or shortages and implement strategies to mitigate foreseen risks.
• Foster a strong team culture and environment of excellence, professionalism, and positive energy. 
• Oversee and input on development of annual strategies with account leads, alongside Group Director set up and maintain rigorous processes and evaluation of progress against plans on a quarterly basis, helping Group Director to re-evaluate and develop strategies to stay on track and in line with revenue forecasts where possible. 

WHAT YOU BRING

• Extensive experience in roles servicing clients in an agency environment 
• Experience in performance marketing for B2B audiences
• Experience working in a cross-functional management team 
• Experience forecasting and reconciling revenue across the business 
• Experience working alongside a Management Team
• Experience managing large client and agency teams 
• Experience managing complex campaigns across creative, media and consultancy 
• Experience leading, motivating and coaching teams of 20+ people 
• Inspiring and able to create a proactive and energised team culture 
• Strong client relationship management skills, including experience working directly with director and C-level clients on strategy development 
• A solid understanding of the B2B industry and changing client needs 
• Excellent project management skills, able to find the most efficient ways of working 
• Brilliant written and verbal English communication skills 
• Advanced problem-solving skills 
• Excellent organisational skills and high attention to detail 
• Excellent time management skills 
• Excellent presentation skills 
• Ability to react quickly within a fast-paced environment 
• Ability to remain focused under pressure and work under tight deadlines 
• Proficiency in the use of Google suite 
• Proficient in working with data 

WE OFFER

• A flexible, hybrid working policy
• The choice of medical healthcare providers (Bupa or Medicash) 
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays and your birthday off each year
• Company pension scheme 
• EAP scheme
• Ride to work scheme 
• Enhanced family friendly policies
• Buddy Program: You will be paired with a ‘Buddy’ to help you through your first weeks’ at DEPT®
• A reputation for doing good. DEPT® has been a Certified B Corp® since 2021 and named ‘Agency of the Year’ at both The Lovies and The Webby Awards.
• Awesome clients. Whether big or small, local or global — at DEPT® you’ll get the opportunity to work with clients of all sizes and across all industries. And we celebrate all of our successes together!
• The opportunity for possibility. We want to enable you to do what you do best and help you develop your skills further with training, development and certifications.
• Global annual DEPT® Cares Month in which employees come together and donate their skills to support local charities.

WHY DEPT®?

We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA.

We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter.

At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION 

At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives.

Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine.

We also encourage you to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us.

Want to know more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out our efforts here.