Managing Director in London

How&How are seeking a Managing Director to lead our London team and drive the new business that fuels everything we do. You will have a rainmaker's instinct, a genuine love of building relationships, and a track record of turning conversations into signed clients. You will be commercially sharp, credible in front of senior stakeholders, and energised by the chase of a great pitch. You will be the driving force behind our growth, working alongside our Leadership Team to run the studio day-to-day. The majority of the new business heavy lifting takes place with you. Sourcing, nurturing, pitching and closing, while our creative and client teams own the work itself. You will need to be comfortable operating across sectors and client types, translating our creative reputation into commercial opportunity, and help build a pipeline alongside our founders and sales team that keep our studios thriving.

Your Responsibilities:

• Own new business generation for the London office (you will also have some crossover with the Los Angeles team).
• Prospecting, pitching, negotiating and closing new client relationships from first contact to signed contract.
• Build and manage a healthy, well-qualified pipeline, reporting regularly on progress and forecast.
• Represent the agency at weekly industry events, pitches and in the market, building our reputation and generating inbound opportunity.
• Run the studio day-to-day alongside our Leadership Team, covering operations, budgets and business performance without taking on creative or client delivery responsibilities.
• Set commercial strategy and targets for the London office, and report performance and pipeline to the CEO.
• Support department heads (Creative Directors, Client Services Director, Head of Copy, Strategy Director) in running their teams, while juniors remain their direct reports.
• Keep a finger on the pulse of the market, competitor movement, sector trends and where our next great client is coming from.
• Know when to lead from the front, and when to let the work speak for itself.

Your Skills:

• 8-12 years' hands-on experience in a new business or sales leadership role, ideally within a branding, creative or marketing agency.
• A proven, personal track record of generating and closing new client business.
• Experience running or co-leading a team of a similar size (20+ people) in an agency environment.
• Comfortable driving revenue without owning creative or account delivery—happy to hand off to strong creative and client leads.
• Confident reporting into and partnering with senior/executive leadership.
• A strong network and reputation within the branding/creative industry.
• Excellent relationship-building, pitching and negotiation skills.
• Efficient, organised, and able to manage a pipeline under tight deadlines.
• Articulate, confident and assertive in the room.

Your Vibe:

• Genuinely energised by new business and the thrill of the close.
• Curious about brands and the impact great work can have.
• Can-do positivity and optimistic attitude.
• Comfortable being the face of the agency, and equally comfortable stepping back and letting the team shine.

Our Responsibilities:

• Salary £115,000 - £130,000 with equity potential and Bonus Opportunities.
• We operate a profit share scheme with everyone in the agency, because we believe everyone should share in the success of the entire team.
• We publish all our salary tiers internally and the same job roles are paid exactly the same. Because we think that's fair.
• We contribute up to 3% of qualifying earnings to anyone who wants to engage in our pension scheme.
• 39 Day Holiday allocation—28 days holiday + 8 bank holidays + Christmas shutdown.
• We work from our bright and airy Shoreditch studio, with 2 days WFH per week.
• Early finish Fridays.
• Impact Days—as part of our B-Corp initiative, we give you an extra 2 days a year to make an impact and volunteer in a way that means something to you.
• 2-week work-from-anywhere opportunities (time zone dependent).
• Sabbatical policy of up to 3 months after you've been with us for 3 years.
• Monthly 1-2-1s, 3-month check-ins and 6-month reviews with your line manager to give honest feedback, celebrate wins, and make sure your efforts are recognised.
• £1,000/year skills & training allowance, giving you the ability to improve on overall performance.
• We operate a Cycle to Work scheme, so you can spread the cost of a new bike, tax-free, through salary sacrifice.
• We offer free breakfast, snacks and drinks in our beautiful kitchen.
• We host regular studio learning lunches, head out to talks together, and hold studio courses with pizza & drinks.
• We cover tickets to events like It's Nice That's 'Nicer Tuesdays', or industry talks and design conferences.
• Twice a year, we get our whole global team together in one place for epic Summer and Winter parties.
• Visa Sponsorship: we can help sponsor your Visa in the UK.
• We're B-Corp Certified, which means our agency meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability.
• Zero ego: we believe the best work happens in collaboration. So we purposely only hire open-minded, brilliant team players.
• Competitive Maternity and Paternity packages.

About How&How:

How&How are a talent-driven, branding agency with offices in London and LA. Since 2020, we've been growing a team of the world's best thinkers, sharpest creatives and most curious minds in a collaborative, ego-free culture that nurtures creative ambition and promotes growth. Proudly B-Corp, we're an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We don't discriminate on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected status. As such, we're looking for the right person—not the job description. If that's you, we'd love to hear from you.

What you can expect:

At How&How, we take pride in a hiring process that ensures we bring in the best talent, while creating an experience that's clear, fair and transparent. Here's what you can expect after applying:

• Submit your application. We begin by reviewing your application. If your experience aligns with what we're looking for, we'll get in touch to arrange an interview.
• Interview with our team. If selected, you'll have an initial chat with one of our team members to discuss your background, network, track record and how you could contribute to our team.
• Online assessment via TestGorilla. Next, you'll be asked to complete an online assessment through TestGorilla. This helps us understand your problem-solving abilities and how you approach challenges—no pressure, just a chance for us to see how you think.
• Final Interview with our founders. If you do well in the assessment, we'll invite you to a final interview with our founders, Cat and Rog. This is a relaxed, insightful conversation where we get to know you better and discuss how you'd fit into our growing team.

We're excited to meet new, passionate individuals who are ready to collaborate and make a real impact. If that's you, don't hesitate.