Account Director

Role: Account Director - Part-Time (FTC 18-months) – f/m/d

Location: Hamburg, Germany (Office presence expected 1 day per week)

Please be aware this is a part-time position, fixed-term for 18 months.

 

THE OPPORTUNITY 

Looking to do the best work of your career? 

Do it with Dove, one of the most respected global brands on social. We're building a team across 15 markets to own Dove's social presence end to end: insight and ideation, platform-native creative, publishing, live ops, and community. From the first idea to the final reply, you'll shape how Dove shows up every day and create work that influences culture. 

You'll move at newsroom speed with rigorous craft—launching ideas that travel, partnering with standout creators, and turning comments into conversations that become cultural moments. The brief is straightforward: make Dove the most culturally relevant brand on social. You'll have the scale, purpose, and creative freedom to make it real. 

If you're motivated by ideas that matter, sharpened by data, and committed to making the internet more positive, this is the place to do it. Bring your craft and your courage. Together we'll build culture—not just content—and do the best work of our careers.  

You'll be the senior client lead for the Dove studio, responsible for the health of the client relationship, the quality of the work, the growth of the offering, and the performance of the team. You'll work as a long-term strategic partner to senior Dove stakeholders, steering the development of the studio's scope and capabilities while ensuring the team consistently delivers outstanding social-first creative, content, and strategy. Your ability to build trust at senior levels, develop high-performing teams, and identify opportunities for growth will define the studio's trajectory. 

 

THE ROLE 

You'll be the person ultimately accountable for the Dove studio's success, measured by client satisfaction, team performance, creative quality, and commercial health. This is a role that sits at the intersection of client services, leadership, strategy, and commercial management. You won't be in the day-to-day detail of every project, but you'll have clear oversight of what's moving through the studio, and you'll set the standard for how the team operates, collaborates, and delivers. 

We're looking for someone with a strong agency background who understands the complexities of working embedded within a major global brand. Someone who can partner with Brand Directors and senior marketing leaders as a trusted adviser, not just a service provider. Someone who can develop, coach, and inspire a multi-disciplinary team while keeping a sharp eye on commercial performance and growth opportunities. 

Success means a client team that sees the studio as an indispensable partner, a studio team that is motivated, developing, and delivering its best work, and a commercial position that is healthy, growing, and clearly demonstrating value. 

 

WHAT YOU'LL DO 

Client Partnership 

• Act as the senior client lead for the Dove studio, building strong, trusted relationships with Brand Directors, senior marketing leaders, and key stakeholders across the Dove brand team 
• Partner with the client as a long-term strategic adviser, contributing to the development of Dove's brand and marketing strategy, not just executing briefs 
• Be the escalation point for any client issues, approaching problems with a solutions-focused attitude and resolving them quickly while protecting both the relationship and the team 
• Challenge the client constructively when needed, negotiating to create outcomes that work for both the brand and the studio, while maintaining a positive, productive partnership 
• Ensure the studio consistently delivers to the expected levels of client service, quality, and responsiveness 

Leadership and Team Development 

• Lead the Dove studio team by example, line managing senior team leads across social, creative, strategy, production, and content 
• Develop, coach, and guide team leads and their teams to consistently add value, challenge briefs, and deliver outstanding social-first creative work 
• Maintain oversight of the studio's work-in-progress and project pipeline, directing teams to deliver without being pulled into the day-to-day management of individual projects 
• Spot potential in your team members, support their growth, and create an environment where people are motivated, accountable, and producing their best work 
• Foster a studio culture that is collaborative, inclusive, and grounded in creative ambition and operational excellence 

Growth 

• Be responsible for growing the Dove studio's offering, proactively identifying opportunities to expand the scope of work, push capabilities, and increase the studio's value to the client 
• Build relationships with senior Dove stakeholders beyond the immediate brand team, keeping the studio front of mind for new briefs, projects, and strategic needs across social, content, creative, and data 
• Advocate for the studio's capabilities in social-first creative, content production, creator partnerships, strategy, and data and insight, pushing to extend the studio's role from production into more strategic and upstream work 
• Identify emerging client needs and market trends, positioning the studio to respond with relevant, compelling proposals 

Operations and Commercial Management 

• Manage the studio's P&L, forecasting operational income and tracking commercial performance against targets on a regular basis 
• Ensure the team works to established processes, while challenging and refining ways of working to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and output quality 
• Oversee resource planning and allocation across the studio's workstreams, ensuring the right people are on the right work and capacity is managed sustainably 
• Report on studio performance, commercial health, and growth to OLIVER senior management with clarity and accountability 

WHAT YOU BRING 

• 10+ years of relevant agency experience, with a significant portion in client services, account leadership, or business management roles 
• Proven experience leading teams of 15+ people across multi-disciplinary functions, including creative, social, content, strategy, and production 
• Proficiency in English and German (C2), knowledge of French or Dutch would be a plus
• A track record of building and maintaining trusted partnerships with senior clients at Brand Director or VP level within major consumer brands 
• Experience working with large FMCG or beauty and personal care clients, with a strong understanding of how global brand organisations operate 
• A strong grounding in the commercial management of accounts, including P&L responsibility, forecasting, scope management, and growth planning 
• Demonstrated ability to grow accounts and expand studio scope, identifying and converting opportunities that extend the offering beyond production into strategy, creative, and data 
• Experience developing, coaching, and leading senior team members, with a track record of building high-performing, motivated teams 
• Strong strategic thinking, with the ability to contribute meaningfully to brand and marketing strategy conversations, not just operational delivery 
• The ability to balance oversight and delegation effectively, maintaining visibility of the studio's output without getting caught in day-to-day project detail 
• A solutions-focused approach to problem-solving, with the composure and judgement to handle escalations, shifting priorities, and complex stakeholder dynamics 
• Experience working in an in-house agency, embedded studio, or on-site model is a strong advantage, with an appreciation for the nuances of working within a client's organisation daily 
• Please be aware this is a part-time position, fixed-term for 18 months.

Gen AI and Agentic Thinking: 

• A strong understanding of how Gen AI tools and capabilities are changing social content creation, creative production, and marketing strategy, with the ability to articulate this to clients and guide teams accordingly 
• Agentic leadership mindset: a systematic approach to complex business challenges, identifying the most effective path forward and enabling the team to execute with clarity and accountability 
• Experience guiding or sponsoring the adoption of AI tools and workflows within a creative or content studio, with a focus on practical value, responsible use, and client confidence 
• The ability to position AI capability as a growth lever for the studio, incorporating it into proposals, scope discussions, and strategic conversations with the client 
• Understanding of AI limitations and the importance of balancing technology with human creativity, judgement, and oversight 
• Qualifications: Formal degrees are welcome but not required. Equivalent experience counts. Experience can be gained through work, study, volunteering, or self-directed learning. 

NICE TO HAVE 

• Experience working on Dove or Unilever brands 
• Experience specifically leading social-first or content-led studio operations 
• Multi-market or global account leadership experience 
• A background that includes creative, strategy, or production roles before moving into client services and leadership 
• Experience with transformation programmes, studio stand-ups, or capability building within embedded agency models 
• Familiarity with social analytics, performance measurement, and data-led decision-making at a strategic level

Req ID: 16790

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