Account Director

Direct Recruitment; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Direct Recruitment is seeking an experienced Account Director to lead high-profile, family-focused retail marketing campaigns for a major global brand. You will own campaigns from brief to delivery, guiding internal teams and building senior client relationships in a fast-paced integrated agency environment.

The role involves multi-channel work across packaging, in-store activations, digital retail formats and partnerships with children's brands.

Qualifications

• Proven experience already operating at Account Director level within an agency environment.
• Previous line-management experience, with a genuine interest in developing others.
• Strong integrated marketing experience, ideally across shopper, retail, packaging, print, promotional or activation work.
• Comfortable managing complex, high-volume campaign programmes with multiple stakeholders.
• A confident and articulate presenter, able to lead and steer meetings with varied audiences.
• Excellent client-management skills and commercial awareness.
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach and strong attention to detail.
• An interest in children's, family or youth-focused brands and experiences would be highly advantageous.
• Adaptable, organised and comfortable navigating detailed production and delivery processes.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of major campaigns from briefing through to delivery.
• Lead internal specialists and build senior client relationships.
• Oversee family and children’s retail campaigns.
• Coordinate packaging and print production.
• Manage in-store point-of-purchase communications.
• Drive digital screens, interactive formats and gamification.
• Oversee toy, premium and promotional-product development.
• Foster partnerships with children's entertainment and licensing brands.
• Drive sustainability-led innovation across materials and products.

Skills

Account Director

Line management

Integrated marketing

Client management

Presentation skills

Commercial awareness

Problem solving

Attention to detail

Family/children brands

Organised/Adaptable

Job description

We're looking for an experienced Account Director to lead high-profile, family-focused retail marketing campaigns for a major global brand.

This is an opportunity to join a collaborative integrated marketing agency and work on campaigns that reach millions of families. You'll lead a busy annual programme of activations, working approximately two years ahead across point-of-purchase communications, packaging, in-store experiences and digital retail formats.

The role

You'll take ownership of major campaigns from briefing through to delivery, leading internal specialists and building trusted senior client relationships. The work spans:

• Family and children's retail campaigns
• Packaging and print production
• In-store point-of-purchase communications
• Digital screens, interactive retail formats and gamification
• Toy, premium and promotional-product development
• Partnerships with leading children's entertainment and licensing brands
• Sustainability-led innovation across materials, packaging and products

You'll bring a confident point of view, identify the underlying business challenge behind each brief, and ensure work is strategically strong, creatively effective and flawlessly delivered.

What we're looking for

• Proven experience already operating at Account Director level within an agency environment.
• Previous line-management experience, with a genuine interest in developing others.
• Strong integrated marketing experience, ideally across shopper, retail, packaging, print, promotional or activation work.
• Comfortable managing complex, high-volume campaign programmes with multiple stakeholders.
• A confident and articulate presenter, able to lead and steer meetings with varied audiences.
• Excellent client-management skills and commercial awareness.
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach and strong attention to detail.
• An interest in children's, family or youth-focused brands and experiences would be highly advantageous.
• Adaptable, organised and comfortable navigating detailed production and delivery processes.

This is a hybrid role requiring 2-3 days a week in the London based office. A genuinely supportive, open, and collaborative culture with real scope to contribute ideas and make an impact, alongside the chance to work on large-scale internationally recognised campaigns.

We are ideally looking for someone who can start in October 2026 however this may be flexible.