Group Account Director in London

IRIS is a global integrated agency driven by one simple philosophy; Participate or Perish. We create ideas that earn attention and inspire people to interact with brands in meaningful ways. Working with some of the world’s most ambitious brands, we combine strategy, creativity, technology, and media to deliver impactful campaigns.

We’re looking for a Business Lead to join our Client Leadership team; someone that can combine strategic thinking and commercial leadership with a genuine passion for brilliant work, ambitious clients and building lasting partnerships.

The role:

• Build strategic client partnerships: become the person in the room who changes how clients think, challenging assumptions, bringing fresh perspectives and influencing decisions beyond the brief.
• Own the commercial performance of your portfolio: take full responsibility for P&L, forecasting, resourcing, pricing and contract governance with the rigour of a business owner.
• Drive ambitious account growth: systematically identify and convert opportunities to deepen and expand the agency’s remit, cross-selling specialisms and introducing new thinking that creates value for both client and agency.
• Champion creative and strategic ambition: set the bar for what brilliant looks like at IRIS and push work harder, further and more courageously at every stage.
• Develop outstanding leaders: invest in the growth of your ADs and SAMs, building their commercial confidence, creative ambition, strategic capability and industry presence.
• Lead with cultural and technological vision: bring an informed perspective on culture, emerging technology and market trends into client conversations and internal thinking.
• Shape the agency: contribute to how IRIS evolves its offer, culture, reputation and commercial model, thinking beyond the day-to-day requirements of your accounts.
• Drive external profile and new business: leverage your network, expertise and industry standing to generate leads, win new clients and position IRIS as the agency worth choosing.
• Pioneer new opportunities: identify market needs and client ambitions that could translate into new products, services and commercial models that grow our capability and profitability.
• Be a transformation partner: help senior clients navigate organisational change, market disruption and technology innovation.
• Accelerate new business: use your personal and professional network to generate new leads and bring impact and value to RFIs and RFPs.
• Raise the IRIS profile: represent the agency through thought leadership, industry conversations and panel participation.

What we’re looking for:

We’re looking for an experienced agency leader who is comfortable operating at the most senior levels of client leadership and who combines commercial ambition with strategic, creative and cultural authority.

You’ll be someone who:

• Builds exceptional senior client partnerships and can influence how clients think, not just respond to what they ask for.
• Has strong commercial acumen and understands how to drive profitable growth across a portfolio.
• Has a proven track record of identifying and converting opportunities to grow and diversify client relationships.
• Is passionate about the quality and impact of creative work and is confident setting and maintaining a high creative standard.
• Can lead and develop senior account leaders, creating a high-performance culture and investing genuinely in their development.
• Brings a strong understanding of culture, technology and market trends and knows how to turn that knowledge into value for clients.
• Is entrepreneurial and sees opportunities to evolve the agency’s capabilities, services and commercial models.
• Has the network, credibility and confidence to contribute to new business and raise the agency’s profile externally.
• Can operate as a transformation partner to senior clients, helping them navigate change and identify new opportunities.
• Thinks beyond their own accounts and is motivated by helping shape the wider agency.

Why IRIS?

IRIS is built around the belief that integrated thinking creates better work and better business outcomes. We bring together different disciplines, perspectives and capabilities to solve problems in ways that go beyond traditional agency boundaries. We’re looking for people who bring the same mindset. Our culture is built around three things: Passion, Proactivity and Performance. We want people who care deeply about what they do, take the initiative to make things happen and hold themselves and others to a high standard.

Equal Opportunities:

IRIS is an advocate for equal opportunity in the workplace. We are committed to ensuring equal opportunities regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability and gender identity. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.