Senior Director (PR)

Purpose of the role

The Director – Strategic Communications is responsible for a portfolio of strategically important clients with a revenue value of USD $1,000,000–2,000,000. You will lead from the front in developing senior client relationships, act as a trusted strategic advisor on complex communications challenges, and take ownership of the quality and commercial performance of your portfolio. Beyond client work, you will play an active role in building Hotwire’s profile in the market, winning new business, and raising the standard of strategic communications across the UK team.

Core responsibilities

Account and team leadership

• Serve as the senior strategic lead for Hotwire UK’s strategic communications offer, setting the bar for quality, creativity, and commercial rigour across the practice
• Act as day‑to‑day senior client lead for a portfolio of 5–7 key accounts, building deep relationships with client‑side senior stakeholders and ensuring consistently excellent service delivery
• Own the commercial performance of your portfolio: manage scoping, pricing, resource utilisation, and profitability, ensuring accounts are structured for sustainable growth
• Provide senior counsel and quality oversight across all client workstreams, reviewing output and maintaining high standards of strategic thinking and execution
• Work collaboratively with UK, European, and US leadership to identify emerging client needs, market trends, and growth opportunities for Hotwire, contributing actively to the agency’s strategic direction
• Mentor and develop team members at all levels, coaching on strategic communications practice, client management, and commercial awareness

Pitch leadership

• Lead the end‑to‑end development of pitch‑winning responses, from initial brief through to final presentation, ensuring proposals are sharp, compelling, and commercially grounded
• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams across strategy, content, digital, and creative to deliver high‑quality pitch meetings, written proposals, and chemistry sessions that inspire confidence
• Present with authority and credibility to C‑suite and senior client stakeholders, building trust and demonstrating Hotwire’s unique value from the very first interaction
• Continuously refine Hotwire’s pitch approach, drawing on wins and losses to improve the quality and conversion rate of our new business process

Opportunity management and conversion

• Take ownership of qualified opportunities from first meaningful conversation through to close, maintaining momentum and clarity throughout the sales process
• Lead thorough prospect discovery: surface business challenges, understand decision‑making structures, identify budgets, and define success measures that will anchor your proposal
• Shape scopes, commercials, and proposals that are compelling to clients and profitable for Hotwire, striking the right balance between ambition and deliverability
• Lead negotiations and manage the closing process with procurement functions and senior client stakeholders, navigating complex buying environments with confidence and professionalism
• Own the pitch‑to‑delivery transition, ensuring a seamless handover from new business win to live account with clear onboarding, team alignment, and client expectation‑setting

Prospecting and new business generation

• Actively build and nurture a high‑quality prospect universe through your personal network, industry events, associations, thought leadership, and targeted outreach
• Represent Hotwire UK at industry events, conferences, roundtables, and networking forums raising the agency’s profile and generating warm leads through genuine relationship‑building
• Bring frontline market insight back into the business to inform Hotwire’s proposition development, content strategy, and marketing activity
• Promote a culture of proactive business development and industry networking across the UK team, encouraging all levels to think commercially about the relationships they build

Organic growth and cross‑sell

• Identify and convert upsell and cross‑sell opportunities within your own portfolio and the wider UK client base, growing revenue without relying solely on new logo acquisition
• Collaborate with senior leadership and specialist teams to introduce relevant services including digital, content, research, and executive communications – at the right moments in client relationships
• Work with client teams to design and pitch programme expansions and new workstreams, framing proposals in terms of client business outcomes rather than agency deliverables

Qualifications

• Significant experience in a senior communications role, agency‑side or in‑house, with a demonstrable track record of leading complex accounts and winning new business
• Deep expertise in strategic communications, ideally spanning media relations, executive positioning, stakeholder engagement, and/or issues and reputation management
• Strong commercial acumen and experience managing large, multi‑workstream client portfolios against revenue and margin targets
• Proven ability to build trusted advisor relationships with C‑suite and senior client stakeholders, including in high‑pressure or ambiguous situations
• Experience leading and developing teams, with a collaborative leadership style that brings out the best in people at all levels
• A strong personal network and appetite for business development, with a track record of converting opportunities through credibility, insight, and persistence
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to create high‑quality strategic documents and present with authority to senior audiences
• An interest in technology, B2B, or purpose‑driven brands is advantageous, though not essential

Success measures

• Client portfolio performance: revenue growth, retention, and client satisfaction scores across your account base
• New business revenue: new client revenue generated annually against agreed targets
• Pitch conversion: win rate on qualified pitches and the quality of proposals delivered
• Portfolio profitability: margin performance across your accounts, including utilisation and scoping discipline
• Team development: measurable improvement in the quality of strategic communications output across the UK team, and growth of the individuals you manage and mentor

Benefits

• Flexibility – We understand that life doesn’t always fit around the 9‑5; and that work/life integration is crucial. We currently require people in our London office 2-3 days a week, but fully support a ‘thoughtful working’ policy
• Global Reach & Opportunity – You will have the opportunity to work within global teams, connecting with clients and colleagues locally and globally.
• Great Benefits – Strong benefits package includes 25 days holiday, enhanced family leave, up to 10% pension contributions, private health insurance, life insurance, income protection scheme for long‑term sickness, a paid 6‑week sabbatical after every 4 years of continuous service, and paid time off for community involvement. Hotwire offers a variety of bonus opportunities to include business development, annual company bonuses and referral bonuses.
• Development Opportunities – A strong learning and development program with training opportunities at all levels.
• Autonomy – The freedom and support to be limitless, and the opportunity to own your career and create the future you want.
• Variety – No day is the same as the last. Both within our own walls, and with our clients, we navigate change daily and there’s always an opportunity to stretch your skills, learn something new, seek out a new challenge, and gain expertise.
• Our Amazing Team – We are connected, ambitious, and friendly. We don’t step on toes to get ahead, we build each other up, develop and teach each other and understand that each person’s individual success is a win for all.

Hotwire is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and respectful workplace where everyone can be limitless. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, or any other protected characteristic. In line with UK employment law and our global DEIB values, we actively promote fair treatment and equal access to opportunities for all.