At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead strategic relationships and drive innovative campaigns for top automotive brands.
- Company: Join Haymarket, a leader in automotive media with a commitment to excellence.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible working, generous holiday, and health cash plans.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse team dedicated to positive change and professional growth.
- Why this job: Make an impact in the automotive industry while growing your career.
- Qualifications: Experience in account management and a passion for media and marketing.
The predicted salary is between 50000 - 65000 £ per year.
Working within Automotive Brands, this role sits within Haymarket’s specialist Automotive division, championing the dual-brand powerhouse of What Car? and Autocar. What Car? serves as the ultimate, data-driven consumer champion and purchase-funnel tool, while Autocar stands as the definitive authority on automotive passion, deep-dive reviews, and industry insight. Together, they deliver market-leading branded experiences, cross-platform media solutions, and lead-generation tools that shape consumer decisions and drive commercial growth for automotive and media agency partners.
The primary purpose of the Account Director is to act as the commercial and strategic lead for key media agencies, serving as the senior point of contact for independent and network partners. In this role, you will nurture strategic agency relationships and translate client marketing objectives into high-impact cross-platform campaigns. By driving multi-channel content partnerships, native advertising, and programmatic data solutions, you add direct value to agency clients while consistently accelerating revenue growth across both iconic automotive titles.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategic Relationship Management: Serve as the primary, senior point of contact for key independent and network media agencies, establishing best-in-class relationships.
- Consultative Selling: Interrogate client briefs to develop innovative, multi-channel content partnerships, native advertising, and programmatic data solutions.
- Commercial Growth: Identify opportunities to upsell and cross-sell integrated campaigns across both digital, print, data, lead generation, and podcast sponsorships.
- Pitch Leadership: Lead high-level commercial pitches, working closely with ad operations, creative studio, and data teams to build winning, unified proposals.
- Cross-Department Collaboration: Oversee the delivery of complex content partnerships by liaising with Project Managers, Editorial Leads, Video Production, and Ad Operations.
- Performance Optimisation: Monitor account performance and track campaigns against client KPIs using first-party data and analytics, providing clients with actionable, valuable commercial insights.
- Market Position Advancement: Increase the speed of going to market for new products, approaches, and brand opportunities across agency teams.
Key Relationships
Works closely with Media Agencies, Ad Operations, Creative Studio, Data Teams, Project Managers, and Editorial Leads to build effective working relationships, share knowledge, provide support, and contribute to the successful delivery of business objectives.
Knowledge, Skills & Experience
- Knowledge: Comprehensive knowledge of the media, publishing, or agency ecosystem. Strong understanding of commercial sales principles, consultative selling, and customer relationship management. Advanced knowledge of digital media channels, including digital display, programmatic advertising, and content partnerships. Understanding of dual-brand synergy and positioning distinct audience demographics (e.g., consumer purchase-funnel vs. enthusiast insight).
- Skills: Exceptional communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills, with the gravitas to influence C-suite marketing directors. Ability to interpret complex data, Google Analytics, and lead-generation statistics to produce meaningful insights and compelling commercial narratives. Strong presentation and pitch-leading capabilities. Effective stakeholder management and collaboration across multiple internal operational and creative teams.
- Experience: Relevant experience as an Account Director (or Senior Account Manager ready to step up) within a media agency, creative agency, or media publisher. Extensive experience in managing, growing, and nurturing senior strategic customer or client relationships. Confident in delivering complex multi-channel commercial, media, or marketing projects. Proven experience working within a fast-paced, target-driven environment. Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams to build integrated, winning business proposals.
About You
- Results driven: Focused on hitting and exceeding milestones and driving brand portfolio growth.
- Collaborative: Thrives when working alongside ad ops, creative studio, and production teams to achieve success.
- Customer focused: Dedicated to deeply understanding client briefs and maximizing return on investment for agency partners.
- Accountable: Takes ownership of revenue targets, strategic communication, and high-level project oversight.
- Leads by example: Displays the industry authority and gravitas necessary to build trust with agency networks.
What Success Looks Like
- Financial performance against portfolio revenue growth expectations.
- Customer and media agency satisfaction evidenced by strong, best-in-class strategic relationships.
- Operational efficiency in coordinating complex multi-platform campaigns with internal teams.
- Achievement of strategic objectives, including accelerated time-to-market for new advertising products.
Additional Information
Haymarket Media Group values its people and strives to shape a better future with remarkable content. From paid content and subscription services; to integrated advertising and content marketing packages. We deliver market-leading branded experiences that inspire great decisions. Our Company benefits include 25 days holiday per year excluding bank holidays (increasing 1 day per year of service up to 30 days), work from anywhere in the world for up to 3 weeks of the year with our ‘Work from Anywhere’ days, flexible working hours (core hours from 10-3), and a generous contributory pension scheme.
We are a Disability Confident employer and offer guaranteed interviews to all disabled applicants who meet the above minimum criteria. To be considered as part of this initiative, please ensure you indicate if you have a disability when applying for the post. If you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to fully participate in the recruitment process, please contact us at recruitment@haymarket.com.
As an equal opportunities employer, we are committed to ensuring all candidates have the same opportunity to succeed, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, age, or disability.
Account Director - Automotive employer: UNAVAILABLE
As a leading innovator in the FMCG sector, we pride ourselves on fostering a dynamic work culture that encourages creativity and collaboration. Our Lowestoft location offers a vibrant community with access to professional development opportunities, ensuring that our employees can grow their skills while contributing to meaningful product advancements that resonate with consumers. Join us to be part of a team that values innovation and supports your career journey.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Account Director - Automotive
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We think you need these skills to ace Account Director - Automotive
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Craft an Impactful Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Focus on your passion for marketing communications and how your previous experiences can benefit UNAVAILABLE. Make sure to mention specific campaigns or projects you’ve worked on that showcase your creativity and strategic thinking.
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