Business Director

DNA Recruit; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading full-service agency in London seeks a Business Director to lead the Retail Unit. This senior role involves defining a bold vision, driving growth, and overseeing multi-disciplinary teams. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in retail strategy and shopper marketing, with a proven record of leading substantial programmes. The role offers a salary of £90K-£100K plus bonuses and benefits, and is hybrid in nature.

Benefits

Bonus

Benefits

Referral vouchers

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Retail Strategy, Shopper Marketing, or agency leadership.
• At least 5 years in a senior client-facing role.
• Success in led multi-million-pound retail programmes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Retail Unit in the UK, with scope to scale across Europe.
• Define and deliver a bold vision for the Retail Unit.
• Drive new business growth through compelling pitches.

Skills

Retail Strategy

Shopper Marketing

Agency Leadership

Client Management

Team Building

Commercial Acumen

Job description

Overview

DNA Recruit are working with a Global Full-Service Agency, blending creativity, technology, and commerce to deliver transformative brand experiences. This award-winning agency helps leading global brands connect with consumers through cutting-edge Retail, Shopper Marketing, Experiential, and omnichannel solutions. With a collaborative culture and a focus on future-facing innovation, they empower their teams to push boundaries and deliver market-leading results.

About the Role

As Business Director, you will lead the Retail Unit in the UK, with scope to scale across Europe. This senior leadership role is central to driving growth, ensuring operational excellence, and setting new benchmarks in retail innovation.

• Define and deliver a clear, bold vision for the Retail Unit aligned with wider business objectives.
• Champion creative innovation across in-store experiences, shopper marketing, and omnichannel retail activations.
• Build and inspire a high-performing, multi-disciplinary team covering strategy, design, client leadership, and production.
• Lead high-profile accounts, ensuring integrated delivery across retail design, digital, and experiential touchpoints.
• Drive new business growth through compelling pitches, proposals, and senior client engagement.
• Oversee financial performance of the unit including budgeting, forecasting, and commercial KPIs.
• Represent the agency at industry events, positioning the business as a thought leader in retail transformation.

Skills and Experience Required

• Extensive experience in Retail Strategy, Shopper Marketing, or agency leadership, with at least 5 years in a senior client-facing role.
• Proven success leading multi-million-pound retail programmes from strategy to execution, ideally across global or European markets.
• Deep expertise in Retail Design, Customer Experience, and Omnichannel Retail campaigns.
• Strong commercial acumen with hands-on experience in budget ownership, forecasting, and operational oversight.
• Inspirational leadership and team-building skills, with a focus on talent development.
• Strong senior client management and influencing skills, comfortable engaging at C-suite level.
• A network within Retail, FMCG, or Tech sectors and a proven track record of winning and growing accounts.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver innovative, immersive Retail and Experiential activations.

Salary, Location & Reference

• Salary: £90K-£100K + Bonus + Benefits
• Location: London, Hybrid
• Job Reference: DNA1378

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DNA Recruit deliver dynamic recruitment, search and talent solutions and provide insight, knowledge, and credible introductions necessary for client-side and agency roles. Areas we specialise in New Business, Account and Project Management, Strategy and Planning, Events, Experiential, Creative and User Experience Design, Technology, Product, Marketing and Data roles in permanent, contract and freelance recruitment, search and selection, talent advisory and consulting across the UK and globally.