Account Director
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Department: Ogilvy One (B2B)
Location: London
Contract type: 6-Month FTC
Full Time/Part time: Full Time
Reporting into: Business Director
About Ogilvy:
Our vision is to inspire brands and people to impact the world. To create big ideas that make a significant contribution to the planet, society, and the bottom line. We believe in today's world this is the best way for our clients to achieve sustainable growth. We achieve this by breaking down the barriers that restrict talent and ideas.
Which is why our teams work fluidly across 5 capabilities: Advertising, Consulting, Experience, PR & Influencer, and Health. This allows us to not only operate but innovate at the intersection of capabilities and talent. We believe impact and magic lies at this intersection. Ogilvy scales this by seamlessly connecting and accessing the deep cultural expertise of 132 offices in 83 countries.
The result is multifaceted ideas for our clients that drive impact and are born from the intersection of platform x culture x technology.
We call this Borderless Creativity.
Ogilvy was ranked the number one UK agency at D&AD and was the only UK agency to win a Glass Lions at Cannes. Ogilvy was also nominated network of the year in Cannes Lions, Campaign, Effie Awards EMEA, London International Awards, The One Show and WARC Rankings.
In 2022, Ogilvy was the most creatively awarded agency globally - including the most awarded agency at the Clio Awards, DMA Awards, Influencer Marketing Awards, London International Awards and The One Show.
Ogilvy UK's PR practice won large agency of the year at the PR Week awards. And our Consulting practice was in the Forbes 2022 list of best management consultancy firms.
The Role:
We have a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Account Director to join one of our Top 10 accounts.
We have been working with EY (formerly Ernst & Young) since 2015 as a creative and strategic partner, helping them to build the fastest growing professional services brand. Brand Finance Global 500 recently ranked EY as one of world's 10 strongest brands.
From global campaigns landing EY's brand purpose to innovative brand comms changing perceptions around their vast capabilities beyond tax and auditing services. EY's business insights and wealth of data, tech, and strategy (consulting) expertise, helps clients to accelerate large scale business transformations. As a result, they can make real societal impact and build a better working world.
Team EY is a high performing team, where everyone plays to their strengths delivering award-winning campaigns. We work with their global brand team, sector, service line (business unit) and specialist (employer brand and AI/tech) teams on projects that spans strategy, creative, advertising, brand experience and activation, internal comms and digital asset design, tech/AI-enabled and traditional production.
There is a need for the person who will take up this role to lead projects from start to finish, including building client relationships, taking responsibility for strategic and creative output as well as all aspects of delivery, including scoping, time management, resourcing, and final outputs.
The role sits as part of our specialist B2B practice within Ogilvy with the opportunity to work with, as necessary, the wider Ogilvy capabilities in Experience, Advertising, PR and Influence, and Consulting.
In this senior position, you will play a pivotal role in nurturing and expanding client relationships grounded in trust and mutual respect. Your leadership will inspire teams, foster innovation, and orchestrate impactful campaigns. With your finger on the pulse of industry trends, you will drive the evolution of our brand's offerings and seize strategic growth opportunities.
Your expanded role entails ensuring a unified strategy, overseeing execution, and ensuring seamless delivery. Effective communication will be instrumental in cultivating a strong partnership that maximises creative potential and achieves shared objectives. Embracing a culture of agility and innovation, you will optimise processes and champion a continuous improvement mindset.
Your contributions will shape the trajectory of our clients' success and reinforce Ogilvy's position as a global creative leader and their strategic and creative partner. Together, we will fuel business growth while fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and innovative organisational culture.
You'll be responsible for:
• Leading all aspects of complex projects, keeping the Business Director informed and seeking support where needed
• Establishing and building relationships internally with Strategy, Creative, Programme Management, Account Management, Design, Multi-media, Experience, Tech, Production and Finance as well as other EY roster agencies
• Building strong collaborative relationships with middle management clients
• Taking briefs and working with the Business Director and capability leads to define a project approach
• Leading project delivery, including client presentations, internal WIPs, managing all deliverables aligned with the agreed timeline, resourcing, and final output of deliverables
• Having commercial client conversations around scope change and knowing when to escalate
• Managing all aspects of project processes, from scoping, estimation, timelines, SOW documentation, status reports, meeting scheduling, identifying scope creep, budget tracking to invoicing (Depending on the project remit, you might have support of a Project Director or an Apprentice PM)
• Working with and learning about the agency Wider Capabilities - Experience, PR, Advertising and Brand, Social and Influence, and Consulting
• Understanding Ogilvy's process and the overall production landscape
• Leading presentation development with support of senior craft leads
• Understanding client challenges and their business landscape
• Working to anticipate upcoming needs and hurdles and providing ideas to mitigate
• Identifying areas where we can add additional value and work with the Business Director and capability leads to develop proposals for additional remit
• Developing case studies at the end of projects
• Assisting with the onboarding of new Ogilvy team members and EY clients
• Populating EY's 'All Agency' status reports and talking through projects where needed
You'll be expected to:
• Be passionate about championing creative excellence in agency work, prioritising meticulous attention to detail and precision in presentation
• Cultivate an environment that encourages the exploration of creative boundaries and visionary thinking
• Adopt an open and adaptable mindset towards industry trends, ensuring our approach remains relevant and fresh
• Foster a creative atmosphere that aligns the client's perspective with the agency's profitability objectives
• Promote diversity and inclusivity to nurture a creative environment that embraces a spectrum of perspectives
• Ideally be interested in tech and developments in AI to inform client campaigns. Stay abreast of examples where technology took a creative idea to the next level
• Stay abreast of the latest developments in creativity, marketing, and industry trends
• Facilitate collaboration and inclusiveness by valuing and integrating diverse viewpoints from team members
• Provide strategic counsel to clients, aligning their goals with effective campaign strategies
• Collaborate in crafting presentations that compellingly showcase the agency's capabilities and expertise
• Keep the team well-informed about relevant project information, current trends and insights to facilitate informed decision-making
• Act as a brand ambassador, embodying and propagating agency values and culture
• Optimise operational efficiency by refining processes, evaluating resourcing against scope and workflows for superior outcomes
We're looking for someone who:
• Is an experienced AD with at least 4 years' experience working within an advertising / marketing agency (agency experience essential for this role)
• Is credible and confident to lead and successfully deliver complex projects across diverse platforms and integrated channels, being the client's 'go-to' on all project aspects
• Can quickly on-board new clients (all work is project-based), grasp key client objectives and challenges and take complex client offerings, simplify them and help develop strategic and creative propositions that cuts through
• Someone who likes to make things happen and can help shape great strategy and creative with the support of senior craft leads
• Demonstrates the ability to manage project execution from strategic inception to flawless implementation, ensuring client expectations are met and exceeded along the way
• Is a self-starter, interested in getting close to the client, enjoys developing relationships and can collaborate on the fly
• Can effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure the everyone works to their strengths to drive the success of integrated campaigns
• Works well under pressure - able to navigate changes in client priorities
• Has great attention to detail but also has a helicopter view
• Is super organised and can manage complexity across a range of projects running in parallel
• Is commercially minded, effectively managing project profitability, margin and who can have challenging commercial conversations with clients
• Understands semantics - EY is very specific about their brand language
• Has exceptional interpersonal skills to get the best out of diverse teams
• Has a keen eye for incremental revenue opportunities
• Is experienced in crafting presentations and presenting/articulating creative ideas and project approaches to clients. Naturally, someone with excellent verbal and written communication skills
Join our team in the role of Account Director, where you will spearhead impactful creativity and cultivate client relationships on a global scale. Shape campaigns and champion innovation.
How we help you Thrive:
• 25 days annual leave + 1 Volunteer Day
• Bupa Healthcare
• Enhanced Maternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave
• We have a Flexible Working Model with core working hours: 10am - 4pm
• A 1.5:1 Matching Pension Structure
• Wellbeing and Health: Up to £25.00 per month towards physical or online exercise class membership, Unmind membership, LifeWorks tool and annual eye tests and development budgets and Wellbeing incentives and activities throughout the year
• Season Ticket Loan and Cycle to Work Scheme
• Life Assurance
At Ogilvy, our people are at the heart of what we do: a creative agency that sparks game-changing ideas across culture and business through collaboration, integrity, and a celebration of self-expression.
We believe in building powerful teams with purpose. This means hiring and nurturing talent across all races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, sexual orientation, and gender identities - and we relentlessly curate transformative initiatives that make our commitment to fairness, and equity a reality.
Our ultimate mission is to leave a positive impact on the world, creating a better future for all, while supporting and uplifting the global communities we serve. This is central to our mantra of Borderless Creativity.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.