Group Account Director ( Maternity cover)

About this role

Established in 2004, OLIVER is the world’s first and only specialist in designing, building, and running bespoke in-house agencies and marketing ecosystems for brands. We partner with over 300 clients in 40+ countries and counting. Our unique model drives creativity and efficiency, allowing us to deliver tailored solutions that resonate deeply with audiences.

As a part of The Brandtech Group, we're at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge AI technology to revolutionise how we create and deliver work. Our AI solutions enhance efficiency, spark creativity, and drive insightful decision-making, empowering our teams to produce innovative and impactful results.

Role: Group Account Director ( Maternity cover)

Location: London, England, United Kingdom

About the role:

As Group Account Director, you'll lead the strategic, creative, and commercial performance of your client portfolio — owning the client relationship from senior stakeholder engagement through to studio delivery. You'll oversee two studio teams, integrate with client-side organisations while maintaining top-tier agency standards, and be accountable for growth, profitability, and the quality of everything that goes out the door. This is a role for a seasoned account leader who can think strategically, act decisively, and bring teams and clients along with them.

What you will be doing:

• Client Leadership & Strategic Partnership

• Act as the senior point of contact for a portfolio of two to three clients, building trusted, high-value relationships with client partners at Head of Marketing and Marketing Director level.

• Collaborate closely with client stakeholders to define and execute marketing strategy and activity — translating their business objectives into effective, ambitious creative solutions.

• Champion brand guardianship across all client projects, ensuring the client experience is consistently exceptional and creative output meets the highest standards.

• Be present at client offices two to three days per week, maintaining active, face-to-face engagement and seamless communication across all workstreams.

• Present creative and strategic work with confidence and clarity to senior client and OLIVER stakeholders, including client SLT.

• Anticipate client needs, proactively identify creative and strategic opportunities, and negotiate win-win outcomes on behalf of the team.

• Studio Leadership & Delivery

• Oversee two studio teams — on and offshore — ensuring seamless integration with clients' businesses and consistent delivery against briefs, timelines, and quality standards.

• Serve as the single escalation point for internal and client SLA breaches or process gaps — capturing issues and working with the Business Director and Managing Partner to resolve them.

• Own the execution of projects, run rates, and client satisfaction through regular WIP management and catch-ups with job owners.

• Work with the OLIVER Hub on ad-hoc project requests, ensuring smooth coordination across the wider network.

• Lead, manage, and develop junior team members — fostering a culture of ambition, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Be willing to work at every level of the operation: one moment presenting to client SLT, the next trafficking campaigns to keep work moving.

• Commercial Accountability & Growth

• Take full financial ownership of your accounts — including profitability, accuracy of forecasting, fee negotiation, and management of late payment.

• Provide regular, timely financial reporting to the Business Director, with clear visibility of account performance against targets.

• Be accountable for the delivery of growth targets across the portfolio.

• Identify and develop new business opportunities through client relationships, introducing Brandtech Group capabilities where relevant and appropriate.

What you need to be great in this role:

• A proven track record of leading senior client relationships in a fast-paced, multi-discipline agency or in-house environment — working independently without the support of a large account structure.

• Exceptional client engagement skills — proactive, influential, and able to build strong, trusted working relationships with senior marketing stakeholders.

• Strong commercial acumen: experience owning account P&L, managing profitability, negotiating fees, and delivering against growth targets.

• Experience leading and developing studio or agency teams, with the confidence to work across every level of the operation.

• A genuine understanding of creative excellence — you can champion the work, provide sound creative direction, and generate ideas that practically contribute to output.

• Deep knowledge of digital and performance marketing, with strong understanding of paid media channels — particularly LinkedIn and PPC.

• Experience managing TUPE-sensitive transitions and leading teams through organisational change with clarity and care.

• First-rate communication and presentation skills — clear, articulate, and naturally able to build rapport with diverse stakeholders.

• Strong understanding of OLIVER and IIG Group capabilities, and how to deploy them to clients' commercial advantage.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and related software.

• Comfortable working in a hybrid environment with regular in-office presence to support team cohesion and client engagement.

• Oversee annual studio or account-level budgets across the portfolio — tracking spend, driving cost efficiencies, and presenting financial performance to client and OLIVER stakeholders.

• Accountable for the financial health, profitability, and commercial growth of the accounts in your portfolio.

• Experience leading fee negotiations and managing commercial frameworks with senior clients.

• Strategic integration of Gen AI tools across studio projects, client workflows, and operational processes.

• Experience setting AI quality standards and governance at studio or account level, and embedding…