Account Director

The Role

Location: Hybrid working from home/ London office: Sea Containers, SE1                     

Today, Commerce is everywhere and always on - VML delivers engaging new Commerce experiences to unlock commercial growth.​                   

Our Commerce team has a background in activation and Shopper Marketing. We have evolved our capabilities and services to be industry leaders in the new Commerce era, converting shoppers at the right touchpoints through In-store, Retail, Experiential, Design, and Innovation to drive conversion everywhere life intersects with Commerce.​ This can be anywhere from physical stores to e-commerce, branded experiences to out-of-home, content, product packaging, social commerce, live streaming, voice and visual search, gaming, and more. Commerce is the next great canvas for creativity. And that Creative Commerce has the power to move people to action like no other form of marketing. ​              

The Account Director will join our shopper marketing division at VML and lead on various Diageo brands, including Bailey’s. You will need shopper marketing experience, and you will become an integral part of the team working on some of the agency’s most celebrated accounts. We need an experienced, button-down, and diligent client handler who is used to working on large accounts. We need a quick learner, a problem solver, and someone who is driven to build great relationships with our clients.             

The remit spans a wide variety of projects including, shopper marketing, in-store activations, retail environmental design, POS, experiential and digital activations, drinks off-trade/Take Home Trade and on-trade. You will be involved in the wider campaign planning with our agency partners as well as partnering with our creative leads to ensure the delivery of great creative ideas. 

Responsibilities: 

Orchestration

• Demonstrates ability to lead different types of teams to get to the best output.
• Leads the creation of the right casting and process for different projects, always starting with ‘What do we need to do to get to the best possible work?’
• Actively manages conflict and solves problems to resolve issues quickly.
• Understands different specialist skills and how to build teams around them.

Leadership

• Demonstrates clear understanding of client business strategy and marketing model, and the communications necessary to deliver against them.
• Understands the Business Director’s strategic agenda for the account and helps them deliver this across all the projects that they orchestrate and the relationships they own.

Relationships

• Builds client relationships to ensure best outcomes for both agency and client.
• Creates mutual respect and trust so when necessary, they can have the tough conversations about timings, budgets etc.
• Actively manages conflict and solves problems to resolve issues quickly.
• Demonstrates clear understanding of client business strategy and marketing model, and the communications necessary to deliver against them.
• Identifies and creates opportunities for client and agency growth.

Commercial

• Maintains a significant commercial understanding of the brand and category.
• Leads resource planning at the project level – allocating resources, giving the entire team visibility, and leading by example
• Has a tight grip on the resource planning and the numbers on the account.
• Ensures client is actively managed on the billing requirements of the account.

Operational

• Actively looks for different ways to approach a task to get to results quicker.
• Builds mutually beneficial relationships with partners and specialisms.
• Demonstrates good mix of new and established skills.

About You:

• Solid background in advertising agency account handling, with particular experience across Shopper Marketing, retail, and digital.
• Experience working with beverage/alcohol brands is desired but not essential. 
• Work collaboratively – recognizes the value and responsibility of working in a team and seeks to maintain and build effective relationships both internally and externally.
• Think innovatively – Look beyond the obvious to develop highly engaging ideas and campaigns.
• Works effectively through job and organizational changes.
• Strive to achieve excellence in everything that you do.
• Demonstrate ‘passion’ – approaches all tasks wholeheartedly and enthusiastically.
• Show initiative and a ‘can-do’ attitude.
• Highly motivated and a self-starter.
• Recognizes the need for management support when necessary.
• Constantly looks for and learns from new information or experiences.
• Deal constructively with frustration, maintaining a professional and positive manner.
• Can be direct and honest when dealing with others.
• Treat all people with respect and fairness.

What’s in it for you?

Aside from a generous annual leave allowance and pension allowances, you will have access to a whole host of other benefits and activities such as:

• Life Assurance
• Permanent Health Insurance
• BUPA
• Flexible hybrid-working schedule
• Enhanced family friendly policies
• Well-being Programme
• Employee Assistance Support
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Eye Care and Glasses Vouchers
• Season Ticket Loans
• WPP Discounts

You will also have a clear long-term career development plan and access to our learning and development activities and online learning platforms.