Account Director in London, United Kingdom

Company Description

As Leo Burnett himself once said: “At the end of the day, we’re just people talking to people.”

And that sums up how we think. We never forget that on the other side of every screen, watching every ad or reading every tweet are people. Not just pairs of eyes with credit cards. But human beings, who want to be entertained, engaged and listened to.

At Leo Burnett we like to make the good stuff in life accessible to everyone. It’s our agency’s big shiny North Star, guiding everything from our work and how we build our culture, to the values we uphold and the initiatives we implement to improve Diversity Equity & Inclusion.

We believe in the power of a strong culture that puts people and creativity at the heart of everything we do. Our incredible team is made up of some of the most passionate and creative minds in the industry, and you’ll be hard pushed to find a more genuinely friendly bunch. We’ve created an informal atmosphere where everyone is invited to share their ideas and thrive. And that way of working. Well, it’s working. We’re proud to say that our staff survey shows record happiness scores over the last 12 months.

We are an open, down to earth and friendly bunch who are always on the lookout for passionate and curious people to join our gang.

It’s never been more important to us to reflect the wonderful mix of people who consume our advertising, which is why when it comes to improving Diversity Equity & Inclusion we’re not just talking the talk, we’re walking the walk. Our internal group D&I Allies at Leo’s (DIAL) was formed to help us make and track progress against our commitment to DE&I. DIAL spearheads policies, processes and initiatives to actively advance positive change.

Furthermore, in 2022 we created The Everyone Way, a process designed to embed positive DE&I practices into the creative process with our clients, working alongside DE&I consultancies The Unmistakables and The Diversity Standards Collective.

We also support industry-wide initiatives such as Unstereotype Alliance, Free the Work, Just Runners, WACL and Bloom to name a few.

It’s our distinctive approach, combined with our passion for populist creativity and relentless pursuit of excellence that makes Leo Burnett such a uniquely special and enjoyable place to work.

Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are a core part of our DNA at Leo Burnett. We’re committed to building an inclusive culture that encourages, celebrates, and supports our wonderfully diverse employee group irrelevant of their age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability or ethnicity. Diversity and inclusion fuel our creativity and innovation, it enables us to be closer to our people and audiences. We will continue to strive to create a culture and environment where everyone feels empowered and more importantly comfortable enough to bring their full, authentic selves to work.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities and for candidates in our application process. If you need assistance or adjustment due to a disability, please contact us.

Overview

We’re looking for an Account Director to join our team at Leo Burnett.

Specifically, we’ll need your help with:

• Leading the delivery of big TTL campaigns.

• Owning the day-to-day client relationship.

• Expanding and pushing our work through all channels and formats.

• Overseeing production costs and managing client fee across your projects.

• Oversee all large scale production i.e. TV and integrated campaigns with the support of your SAM/AM and AE.

Responsibilities

Creative

• Drive the creative ambition of your campaigns. You should obsess about the creative: Is it the best it can be? Is it on brief? Is it going to deliver the business results for the client that they want/need?

• Help shape the articulation of ideas using client and brand knowledge in order to sell the best work possible.

• Have proven ability to lead agency work across the full range of comms. That may mean challenging things internally and pushing back on the client, but always with the end goal in sight.

• Confidently presents to senior stakeholders to successfully sell and defend the work.

• Leads by example and shares their passion for good work.

Culture

• You should always be up to speed on the latest news and developments in the industry.

• Take an active role in nurturing and developing talent within the agency. You should act as a mentor to more junior members of the department.

• Develop relationships internally with key point people in all departments and within your team. Have an infectious can-do attitude, which makes people want to come to you as they know you approach all tasks with a positive attitude.

• Ensure all your communications/interactions are clear, concise and action orientated

• Be curious and constantly seeking to learn.

Commercial

• Be confident in preparing fee proposals for review with your BD and to discuss with your clients.

• Demonstrate a strong sense of commercial responsibility – understanding the importance of POs and billing

• Monitor how the processes on your account are functioning and continually review ways of working.

• Ensure resource is used efficiently and plan ahead.

• Look for out of scope opportunities and work with your Business Director to develop proposals for these.

Qualifications

What Qualities and Behaviours We’re Looking For

• You must have excellent people skills and be able to work closely with your team, the creative department, other agencies and clients. A can-do attitude is a must!

• You need a passion for creative work and an ambition to always deliver the best creative product.

• You must be articulate and persuasive.

• You should set the highest of standards, be well-organised and take pride in your attention to detail.

Additional Information

Leo Burnett has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees. In addition to the classics, Pension, Life Assurance, Private Medical and Income Protection Plans we also offer;

• WORK YOUR WORLD opportunity to work anywhere in the world, where there is a Publicis office, for up to 6 weeks a year.

• REFLECTION DAYS – Two additional days of paid leave to step away from your usual day-to-day work and create time to focus on your well-being and self-care.

• HELP@HAND BENEFITS 24/7 helpline to support you on a personal and professional level. Access to remote GPs, mental health support and CBT. Wellbeing content and lifestyle coaching.

• FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES We provide 26 weeks of full pay for the following family milestones: Maternity. Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental Leave.

• HYBRID WORKING, BANK HOLIDAY SWAP & BIRTHDAY DAY OFF You are entitled to an additional day off for your birthday.

• AGENCY DISCOUNTS , onsite gym, and discount in our Publicis-Owned Pub – “The Pregnant Man”

Full details of our benefits will be shared when you join us!

Publicis Groupe operates a hybrid working pattern with full time employees being office-based three days during the working week.

We are supportive of all candidates and are committed to providing a fair assessment process. If you have any circumstances (such as neurodiversity, physical or mental impairments or a medical condition) that may affect your assessment, please inform your Talent Acquisition Partner. We will discuss possible adjustments to ensure fairness. Rest assured, disclosing this information will not impact your treatment in our process.

Please make sure you check out the Publicis Career Page (https://www.publicisgroupeuk.com/careers/) which showcases our Inclusive Benefits and our EAG’s (Employee Action Groups).