Head of Sales in Manchester

Unite: The Agency Alternative is six years old. We operate without offices, without permanent creative headcount and without the overhead structure that traditional agencies pass on to clients. Instead, we build bespoke teams from a vetted network of 500-plus specialists, matched brief by brief through Drafted, our proprietary talent system. It is a different way of working and it delivers better value. The client roster reflects that. We are looking for someone to lead our commercial growth. This is a role for a person who is as comfortable building a strategy as they are sitting across from a client.

This is a dual-focus commercial role, split equally between growing what we have and winning what we don’t.

What You Will Own

• A growth strategy for existing clients: where the headroom is, how we get there and how we measure it.
• A new business strategy: target sectors, target names, a pipeline and a plan to convert it.
• The sales proposal process for new business. Working with operations on the detail and shaping the narrative, you are accountable for what goes out under our name.
• The quality of client relationships. Not just the commercial ones. You will be the kind of person clients want to hear from and want to meet.
• A close working relationship with our client partners and operations team. This role sits inside the business, not above it.

Who You Are

• You walk into a room and people want to talk to you. In this industry, relationships open doors and the ability to build them quickly and genuinely is not something you can train into someone.
• You have come from a traditional agency and you know what doesn’t work about it. You understand why clients get tired of the same approach, and you can talk about the alternative with confidence because you believe in it.
• You sell by solving. No hard sell, no pushing product. You take the time to understand what a client actually needs and bring your experience to bear on it: offering solutions they may not have considered, identifying problems before they become ones, and always acting in their interest.
• You have a track record of growing accounts, not just managing them.
• You have won new business. You know what it takes to get in the room and what it takes to win once you are there.
• You can build a strategy and you can execute one. Both matter equally here.
• You are comfortable working without traditional agency infrastructure. No large support team, no layers of approval. That suits you.
• You understand how creative businesses work. Briefs, proposals, production. You do not need to be a creative, but you need to respect the craft and know how to sell it.
• You communicate well in writing, in a meeting and on your feet.

What This Is Not

• An account management position. The role is about growth, not servicing.
• A role where the strategy is handed to you. You will build it and you will own it.
• A slow start. We are a lean business and we move at pace. The expectation is that you do the same.

The Detail

• Full-time role, remote-first with regular travel for client and prospect meetings.
• Reports directly to Chris Hobson and Dan Laurence, co-founders of Unite: The Agency Alternative.
• Covers the full Unite offering: creative communications, marketing, campaigns and events.

How to Apply

Tell us about a client you grew and how you did it. Tell us about a piece of new business you won and what made the difference. Keep it honest and keep it direct. That is how we work and it is what we are looking for.

Strictly no recruitment agencies thank you.