SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Grey, part of WPP's creative network, is seeking a Business Director to lead a customer portfolio and business unit with strategic, operational, and financial responsibility. You will be a trusted strategic partner to C-level and VP-level clients, driving both organic growth and new business development.
Key Responsibilities:
- Build and maintain deep, long-term relationships with C-level and senior leadership at client companies, understanding their business models, market opportunities, and challenges in detail. Act as a proactive strategic advisor generating brand and business growth.
- Identify and develop organic growth opportunities within your portfolio. Lead new business pitches from initial qualification through strategy development to final presentation.
- Own full P&L responsibility for your portfolio, including revenue, margins, and resource allocation. Negotiate complex annual contracts, statements of work (SOWs), and fees in coordination with management and finance.
- Lead and inspire an interdisciplinary team of Account Directors and Account Managers. Foster a culture of trust, excellence, and continuous learning. Mentor team members and develop future leaders through structured performance conversations.
- Ensure optimal conditions for outstanding creative work and strategic innovation. Demand and support groundbreaking ideas, ensuring campaigns meet the highest quality and effectiveness standards across all touchpoints (TV, digital, AI-enabled formats).
- Work closely with leadership to shape Grey's strategic direction, optimize processes, and strengthen the agency's market positioning.
The role requires exceptional entrepreneurial thinking, deep brand and industry understanding, and empathetic yet assertive leadership. You will report to senior management and work at eye level with leads from creative, strategy, and production.
Requirements:
- Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience in a leading creative, digital, or strategy agency, with several years in a senior leadership role (e.g., Senior Account Director or Group Account Director).
- Entrepreneurial and strategic mindset: think like an entrepreneur for both clients and Grey. Deep understanding of brand management in the digital age, market and consumer trends, and agency economics.
- Proven track record in leadership and team development: demonstrated experience managing and developing large, diverse teams and successfully steering complex matrix structures.
- Excellent communication and negotiation skills: confident presence at board level (C-suite), strong contract and budget negotiation skills, ability to present complex matters clearly, inspiringly, and persuasively in German and English.
- Experience leading large, integrated new business pitches.
- Mindset: passionate about the best creative solution while never losing sight of business success. Must be creative (strategic upstream thinking, bridging business and creativity), entrepreneurial (hands-on, decisive, accountable for numbers and people), collaborative (ego-free team leadership), and future-oriented (actively driving innovation including AI in marketing).
