Business Director (Retail)

The Up&Up Group (affiliated to the global M&C Saatchi Group); Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

The Up&Up Group, affiliated with the global M&C Saatchi Group, seeks a Business Director to lead a high‑level retail account from our Cape Town office. You will oversee delivery, manage critical client relationships, and drive opportunities for expansion across multiple projects and teams.

We are looking for a seasoned professional with strong strategic thinking, exceptional project management, and a track record of delivering value in a fast-paced agency environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years as a Business Director in a large agency or equivalent.
• Proven track record managing complex, fast-paced accounts with tight deadlines.
• Strong project management capability from brief to delivery and rollout.
• Retail sector knowledge and retail marketing experience.
• Ability to grow client relationships and identify new revenue opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Oversee delivery to client satisfaction within agreed scope and timelines.
• Manage high‑level client relationships and multiple projects concurrently.
• Lead and expand relationships with senior clients (e.g., Marketing Director/CEO).
• Drive profitability and revenue opportunities while maintaining timely delivery.
• Be based in the Cape Town office and lead a fast-paced retail account.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Retail expertise

Project management

Client relationships

Financial management

Opportunity identification

Team coordination

Workflow tools

Tools

Workflow tools

Job description

As a Business Director, you are responsible for overseeing the successful delivery of a project to the client’s satisfaction and within agreed scope and timelines. You will manage several high-level client relationships, oversee multiple projects simultaneously, and look for opportunities to expand existing relationships. Based in our Cape Town office, this role will lead a fast-paced retail account and requires a seasoned professional with a strong understanding of the retail environment, strategic thinking and exceptional project management capability.

Skills Required:

An M&C Business Director must possess the following skills in order to succeed.

• As the senior consultant on the business, embed innovative thinking and strategic direction for the client.
• Bring a strong understanding of retail and the pace, responsiveness and commercial thinking required to deliver effectively in this environment.
• Lead and coordinate multiple workstreams simultaneously, bringing structure to complex projects and ensuring clear timelines, ownership and delivery.
• Apply strong strategic thinking while maintaining hands‑on oversight of project delivery from brief through to completion.
• Be able to ‘connect the dots’ and actively seek to improve the agency's role within the client's business.
• Provide flawless service delivery to client.
• Foster the relationship with the most senior clients (Marketing Director/CEO) and engage meaningfully to drive a partnership model.
• Maintain a partner relationship with the ECD and embed innovative thinking into the core of the business.
• Have a clear understanding of the broader business objectives of the client and be able to act as a strategic consultant on all marketing and communication requirements.
• Manage the financial fitness of the account, including profitability, staff- and income ratios, while driving and identifying additional revenue and business opportunities to increase forecasts. These duties include submitting budget summaries every month as well as new revenue proposals to clients.
• Optimise process and production to drive long‑term efficiencies.
• Ensure proper usage of workflow tools by all teams.
• Proactively identifying growth opportunities.

Experience Required:

• 5+ years of experience as a Business Director – big agency experience is preferable.
• Proven experience managing complex, fast‑paced accounts with multiple concurrent projects and tight deadlines.
• Strong project management capability is a critical requirement, with the ability to manage projects from brief and strategy through to final delivery and roll‑out.
• The ability to own a project from start to finish – strategy to roll‑out.
• Strong understanding of the retail sector and retail marketing environment.

Please note:

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we may not be able to respond to every applicant individually. If you don’t hear back from us, it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the road — we’re building a strong talent pipeline and may reach out should a suitable opportunity come up in the future.