Social Director in London

Our team of 4,000+ digital specialists across 30+ locations on five continents deliver pioneering work on a global scale with a boutique culture. We live and breathe our ‘big enough to cope, small enough to care’ ethos, providing an inclusive, supportive and an exciting place to accelerate your career.

This position sits in our Creative & Media service based in London. We combine data, technology, creative content, and paid media to crack brands’ business problems & drive revenue through a variety of digital marketing solutions. Our clients include eBay, Pepsi Co., Visa and easyJet.

JOB PURPOSE

The Director of Social will lead an integrated capability spanning social strategy, creative, paid social, creators and influencers, community, client leadership and delivery. This is a functional leadership role rather than a single-craft or hands-on creative position. Success will come from turning DEPT's distributed expertise into one clear, compelling and commercially viable offer for clients. They will set the vision and roadmap collaboratively, partnering with creative leaders, strategists, media leaders, creator specialists, client leads and delivery teams. They will define how disciplines work together, where ownership sits and what great looks like, while respecting the expertise and accountability of each craft.

The role requires strong strategic and creative judgement. They must be able to take an ambiguous brief, shape a clear point of view and build a persuasive client-ready narrative or deck independently, then bring in specialists to deepen and finalise the detail. They will recognise, champion and improve strong social ideas without becoming the day-to-day idea generator or stepping into the creative team's ownership. They will understand how paid social contributes to effective social programmes, without needing to operate in day-to-day media planning or activation. They will also bring credible knowledge of creators and influence, making strong recommendations on creator strategy, partnerships, talent models and cultural relevance while relying on delivery specialists for execution. They will combine client empathy with commercial and operational judgement. They will understand what clients ask for, what they are likely to buy and what they genuinely need, and translate that into the right proposition, team, scope and delivery model. A key part of the remit will be defining the right balance between internal creator capability and external creator or talent partnerships. Above all, this person will be a connector, orchestrator and builder: someone who can navigate DEPT, mobilise people from teams that may not naturally sit together, and earn the trust of Creative Directors, craft leaders, client leads and senior stakeholders across the business.

From time to time, you may be asked to work on additional projects or new business opportunities, as well as individual objectives that align with the goals and strategies of the business.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Set and evolve the vision, proposition, roadmap and operating model for Social & Influence at DEPT in UKI.
• Build alignment across creative, strategy, paid social, influence, community management, client leadership, delivery and commercial teams.
• Define clear roles, governance, processes, handoffs and quality standards so integrated teams can work effectively.
• Lead the strategic response to complex client briefs and new business opportunities, turning ambiguity into a strong narrative, recommendation and client-ready deck.
• Work alongside the new business team to answer social RFI and RFPs.
• Create the core strategic story and first draft independently, then mobilise the right specialists to validate, deepen and finalise the detail.
• Translate client asks into solutions that address what clients need, will value and can realistically buy and sustain.
• Bring informed paid-social judgement to integrated programmes, partnering with media experts rather than operating in the activation detail.
• Set the direction for creator and influence strategy, including creator roles, partnership models, talent recommendations and the balance of internal and external capability.
• Provide senior social and creative judgement, championing culturally relevant and platform-native work while protecting the ownership of Creative Directors and creative teams.
• Build trusted, low-ego relationships craft directors, media leads, client leads and delivery leaders across the business.
• Navigate DEPT's structure to assemble the right people and skills from different teams for pitches, projects and longer-term client programmes.
• Shape scopes, team models, timelines and estimates, ensuring the work is operationally realistic and commercially sound.
• Identify capability gaps and determine whether to build, hire, partner or access specialist expertise externally.
• Create the conditions for specialists and craft leaders to do their best work, giving clear direction without duplicating or competing with their roles.
• Represent Social & Influence with senior clients, internally across DEPT and in relevant external industry forums as well as industry thought leadership.
• Track the health and performance of the function, including pipeline, commercial performance, delivery quality, client satisfaction and effectiveness.
• Keep the capability current by monitoring platform change, creator-economy developments, culture, AI and new models of social production and distribution.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• Solid experience as a lead at a social agency or inhouse social team.
• Expert knowledge of social media and digital marketing.
• Experience of building and leading a team as well as influencing others.
• A pedigree of pitch (and award) winning work.
• Ability to meet deadlines and collaborate well with the team and clients.
• High attention to details.
• Ability to remain focused under pressure within a fast-paced environment.
• A love for learning new things and exploring new mediums.

WE OFFER

• A flexible, hybrid working policy.
• The choice of medical healthcare providers (Bupa or Medicash).
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays and your birthday off each year.
• Company pension scheme.
• EAP scheme.
• Ride to work scheme.
• Enhanced family friendly policies.
• Buddy Program: You will be paired with a ‘Buddy’ to help you through your first weeks’ at DEPT®.
• A reputation for doing good. DEPT® has been a Certified B Corp® since 2021 and named ‘Agency of the Year’ at both The Lovies and The Webby Awards.
• Awesome clients. Whether big or small, local or global — at DEPT® you’ll get the opportunity to work with clients of all sizes and across all industries. And we celebrate all of our successes together!
• The opportunity for possibility. We want to enable you to do what you do best and help you develop your skills further with training, development and certifications.
• Global annual DEPT® Cares Month in which employees come together and donate their skills to support local charities.

WHO ARE WE?

We are pioneers at heart. What does that mean? We are always looking forward, thinking of what we can create tomorrow that does not exist today. We were born digital and we are a new model of agency, with a deep skillset in tech and marketing. That’s why we hire curious, self-driven, talented people who never stop innovating.

Our culture is big enough to cope and small enough to care. Meaning, that with people across 30+ countries, we’re big enough to provide you with the best tools, global opportunities, and benefits that help you thrive. While acting small by investing in you, your growth, your team, and giving you the autonomy to solve our clients problems, no matter where you are in the world. DEPT® is committed to making a positive impact on the planet and since 2021 has been Climate Neutral and B Corporation certified.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine. We also encourage you to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us.