Account Director

Location: King’s Cross 

Basic Hours of Work: Offer: 40 hours per week (part-time applications will be considered) 

BACKGROUND

89up is an award winning agency founded with a clear mission: to create a powerful integrated communications agency for the world's most important causes. We help the good guys achieve great things, whether they are charities, political campaigns or commercial businesses with purpose. Right now, we’re working with amazing people to tackle climate change, defend our free internet, get proper support for new parents and change the way our pensions are invested. 

THE ROLE 

We are looking for a strong integrated Account Director who can work across both PR and Social campaigns from creative brief and strategic development to implementation and delivery. 

You will be a self starter who has a proven track record of being able to handle and juggle a number of projects and their clients. You will also be adept at overseeing and managing junior members of the team. You will be used to keeping an eye on the bigger picture whilst also being across a multitude of different projects and the granular detail. You will be a lover of ‘To do’ lists, timelines and KPI’s but equally comfortable with brainstorming and writing on point press releases and pitches. An essential part of your role will be ensuring that all campaigns and KPIs are met, within timeframe and budget. 

We are looking for someone who has great PR contacts. They’re masters in the art of media relations. They have exceptional written, verbal and presentation skills and outstanding interpersonal skills. They analyse PR outcomes and interpret data - presenting findings to the board, clients and key stakeholders. 

As an integrated agency, experience with working on social and digital campaigns would also be advantageous. You will understand how and where social media (and other digital channels) can play a strategic role in campaigns, adding depth and tactical advantage in reaching audiences. An understanding of content creation and paid social processes would also be useful. 

As a senior member of the business you would be adept at nurturing talent - you will be responsible for mentoring and training members of your team (and other 89up staff), identifying

training needs where required, providing career counsel, professional development support, monitoring and performance reviews. 

KEY SKILLS REQUIRED 

Leadership 

• Ability to juggle accounts, new business pitches and internal management priorities.
• Team player mindset and willingness to work collaboratively alongside peers. A can do attitude with the motivation to go above and beyond to strive for great results for yourself, your team and your clients 
• Ability to lead by example - setting the standard for how work should be executed both internally amongst peers but also for all work that is to be shared externally - whether that’s with clients, media, third parties etc. 
• Strong presentation skills: From communicating ideas to your team to pitching for new business or presenting stories to journalists, you need to organise information in a succinct and interesting way to capture attention. 
• Excellent at keeping internal team and directors informed of project status.
• Identifies opportunities to shorten project timelines or meet KPIs more rapidly while providing value to our client. 
• A passionate and compassionate networker. 
• English language fluency: You need to have excellent written and spoken English.

Client work 

• Creates a trusted relationship with clients through high quality deliverables - delivering expected KPIs on time and within budget. 
• Stays abreast of current news, trends and insights, and their relevance to our clients, sharing insights and considerations. 
• Develops the ability to challenge the Client’s brief and thinking in an appropriate manner.
• Able to unearth key insights that help unlock the most effective strategy and approach.
• Pro at budget planning, reconciliation and negotiation. 
• Possess great time management skills on multiple accounts. 

Problem solving 

• Excellent at prioritising and able to reassess actions and deadlines throughout the day as needed in order for the team to meet all deadlines across accounts 
• Leads teams in leveraging innovative problem-solving methodologies, approaches and structured thinking to solve client problems. 
• Exhibit resourcefulness knowing when to ask questions, and where to look for answers 

What we are offering

• A competitive base salary with excellent performance-linked bonuses 
• Gold-plated sickness benefits and life insurance 
• Company wide bonuses 
• Enhanced maternity/paternity pay 
• Plenty of scope to develop your career in a fast-growth business
• An opportunity to be seen, heard and counted in your contributions, and not get lost in the noise and tangle of a large corporate business 

89up is an equal opportunity employer and positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity. 

More about us

Our team is made up of big agency players, journalists, data and digital innovators and production geniuses, giving non-profits and commercial cause clients a big agency experience with boutique agency dedication. 

Our stand out creative and campaigns are designed to affect change - whether that be behaviour, attitudes or policy. We work with a variety of clients from start ups to tech firms, to NGOs, global health campaigns, finance, politics and many more. We’ve won awards including the PRMoments Boutique Agency of the Year award and are nominated for more this year. We’ve delivered global coverage for the Toyota Mobility Foundation’s $4,000,000 global challenge, won the UK consumer account for GoFundMe and have worked on campaigns for Greenpeace, Body Shop, Make My Money Matters, Four Paws, 38 Degrees, Reporters Without Borders, global agritech startup Mootral and Independent SAGE. 

As well as securing client coverage, we make the news ourselves. 89up Think’s report into Russian disinformation during the EU referendum was reported widely in the media including The Economist, Daily Mail, The Guardian, In October 2018, 89up’s digital team spotted a new ‘fake news’ website spreading disinformation via targeted social media advertising on Facebook. The exposure of Mainstream Network saw coverage of the agency across the globe from the New York Times to The Guardian, TechCrunch, BBC, Time Magazine, FT, Wired… and it continues! 

As a boutique agency, 89up punches above its weight in both winning big client accounts and also its impact in the world. So if you fancy joining a small, smart team with big ambitions - you will unquestionably get a number of benefits in return, which you would be far less likely to see in a big agency environment.

Interview Process

1st Stage - Informal chat with Head of People

2nd Stage - Interview with Account Director and PR Director

3rd Stage - To complete a brief and be presented to PR Director/CEO/Creative Director with Q&A