Senior Account Director - Healthcare Advertising

Real Chemistry; Manchester, London; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare communications agency is seeking a driven professional in Manchester to manage client relationships and lead strategic campaigns. The ideal candidate will possess strong organizational skills and a thorough understanding of brand promotion. This role offers a dynamic environment focused on enhancing healthcare through innovative solutions and teamwork. Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits are included.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits program

Free snacks and beverages

Generous holiday and paid time off

Mental wellness coaching

Access to online classes with LinkedIn Learning

Qualifications

• Good understanding of brand promotion and campaign production.
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail.
• Able to devise solutions to problems proactively.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional teams to deliver client work.
• Maintain senior client relationships on complex projects.
• Develop strategic plans to solve business challenges.
• Manage operations and financial accountability for engagements.

Skills

Brand promotion understanding

Organizational skills

Problem-solving capability

Professional presence

Confident communication

Client service orientation

Public speaking

Education

BA or equivalent work experience

Tools

Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel)

Job description

Overview

London - UK; Manchester - UK

At Real Chemistry, making the world a healthier place isn’t just an aspiration—it’s our everyday reality. Our drive to transform healthcare is informed by our blend of deep scientific expertise, human-centred creativity, and AI-driven insights, fostering a unique environment where innovation thrives and our people are impact-obsessed. As a global agency, we provide a full suite of services across healthcare communications and marketing to our clients, including top players in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

Our #LifeatRealChem culture is rooted in our people—we believe we are best together and are committed to excellence for both our clients and colleagues. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting your career, if you share our passion for healthcare and connection, we invite you to explore our opportunities.

Discover your purpose. Embrace innovation. Experience #LifeatRealChem.

Responsibilities

• Ability to work within, and lead cross-functional teams internally to deliver outstanding client work
• Viewed by client as the owner of the client/agency relationship, and be responsible for the development and protection of this relationship
• Viewed by the account team and wider agency as a leader, establishing strong working relationships across departments, demonstrating both strategic and tactical ownership of allocated accounts
• Strong strategic acumen, with experience guiding and executing global, regional and local campaigns
• Willingness and ability to seamlessly flex between big picture strategic development and ad hoc guidance, all the while ensuring flawless execution of associated tactics
• Able to plan and lead strategic planning sessions both internally and with clients
• Play an active role in the development, training and motivation of team. This extends to recruitment and line management
• Ability to identify, support and drive new business operations alone and as part of a wider team
• Ability to identify, support and drive organic growth
• Knowledge of agency annual planning, forecasting and client service team resourcing
• Lead operations around the management of client budgets, tracking of project budgets, staffing and team utilisation
• In-depth understanding of industry regulations in the UK and across Europe
• Client Relationship: Successfully develops and maintains senior client relationships on large and/or complex businesses
• Sought out by clients as a leader on their businesses due to exceptional strategic counsel, industry knowledge and innovative marketing experience
• Provides proactive counsel on research findings, the external marketplace, competitive pressures and brand influences to sell agency expertise, gain consensus on creative ideas, and develop strategic initiatives
• Manages multiple client engagements of varying sizes in a fast-paced environment
• Leadership: Viewed by the client and internal teams as a thought leader; seen as a team leader whom others want to follow
• Shows strong IQ and EQ when managing and leading teams; operates as a talent ambassador for Real Chemistry, participating in recruiting events and ensuring every candidate experience is high-touch and outstanding
• Motivates teams through engaging and active management and career development practices
• Participates in leadership activities throughout the firm to attract and retain the best and the brightest
• Embodies and incorporates Real Chemistry’s Core Values; sets direction for the business, and provides overall strategic direction to ensure assigned teams are always delivering their best work
• Develops high-level and persuasive plans that solve business challenges; seamlessly flexes between big picture strategic development and details to ensure operational excellence
• Maintains and cultivates relationships with key media channels to ensure our services are executed strategically and appropriately
• Collaborates with client peers to drive strategic solutions that respond to business and communications challenges; sells ideas internally and to clients
• Thoroughly understands Real Chemistry’s capabilities and demonstrates a passion for healthcare, digital and communications to spot opportunities for clients
• Operations: Inspires and leads internal teams to ensure technical and operational excellence in all executions
• Leads operations and maintains financial accountability for the performance of engagements through close oversight of budgets
• Functions as the escalation point for execution and project challenges, utilizing technical and influence skills to problem solve and keep projects on-time and on-budget
• Makes decisions based on sound understanding of the business
• Partners with practice and shared service leads to identify opportunities to streamline, elevate and innovate tactical processes, incorporating feedback from direct reports
• New Business: Demonstrated ability to grow existing business and participate strategically in new business pitches; partners with shared service leads to identify, develop and grow integrated business

Required Skills & Experience

• Good understanding of brand promotion, and experience in production of campaigns and tactics to support this
• Highly organised with a mindfulness of deadlines, the ability to manage multiple tasks based on priorities and a strong attention to detail
• Can make informed decisions to support the needs of team members
• Independent thinker confident in taking ownership of account development, but a team player who enjoys collaboration
• Able to devise and articulate solutions to problems on an ongoing basis: don’t come with problems, come with solutions
• Professional presence, performs with a sense of urgency and with a client service orientation
• Able to manage confrontational situations constructively, ensuring positive outcome
• Confidence to manage upward when required; able to communicate with senior managers when deadlines will not be met or when issues are foreseeable
• High energy, able to effectively operate in fast-paced, growing and evolving environment
• Demonstrated strong work ethic, with a track record of following through on client requests and with high-quality deliverables on schedule and on budget
• Strong written and oral communication and presentations skills
• Good management of Microsoft Office tools (PowerPoint, Word, Excel) – particularly PowerPoint
• Excellent business communication ability including informal/formal presentation and writing skills; confident public speaking with clients, vendors, and affiliates
• Able to identify own development needs and discuss these with line manager and senior leadership
• BA or equivalent work experience required

Benefits & Inclusion

Real Chemistry is proud to be Great Place to Work certified; check out what our people shared about our culture and workplace on our Great Places to Work Profile here.

We believe we can do our best when feeling our best, which is why we’ve put together a benefits program designed to give you the support you and your family need at every stage of life. Real Chemistry offers a comprehensive benefit program and perks, tailored to your region. Globally, this includes offices in our key markets with free snacks to keep you running all day long, generous holiday and paid time off, options for private medical, dental, and vision plans, and support in saving for the future. Other perks include mental wellness coaching and access to more than 13,000 online classes with LinkedIn Learning. Learn more about our benefits at www.realchemistrybenefits.com.

Real Chemistry is an Equal Opportunity employer. We continually strive to build and sustain an inclusive and equitable work environment where our employees feel empowered to leverage all they bring from their personal lived experience and professional expertise, to make our team the best in the industry. We encourage motivated and qualified applicants to apply without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, ethnic or national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, marital information, or any other characteristic protected by employment discrimination laws. Should you require accommodations please let your recruiter know.