Client Director - Branding and Design

Senior Branding / Design Agency Experience Essential

Location: London - office-based

We're looking for an experienced Client Director with a strong background in branding, design or creative agencies to join a dynamic London Client Services team.

This is a senior agency leadership role, not a generalist Client Director position. You'll need a strong understanding of strategic design and brand development, with experience leading complex creative programmes and building senior relationships with Brand and Marketing Directors.

You'll own a portfolio of important client relationships, acting as a trusted strategic advisor while taking responsibility for the quality, commercial performance and growth of your accounts.

The role includes:

• Leading client relationships end to end across strategy, delivery and commercial performance.
• Building long-term client development plans and identifying opportunities for organic growth.
• Owning account profitability, budgets and revenue forecasting, with confidence negotiating and scoping commercial proposals.
• Identifying and converting opportunities within existing accounts and leading small-to-medium new business initiatives.
• Presenting creative work with confidence, articulating the strategic rationale and guiding clients through key decisions.
• Partnering closely with Strategy, Creative, Resourcing and Production teams to shape briefs and challenge thinking.
• Leading complex, multi-market projects, with global brand redesign experience highly desirable.
• Line-managing and developing junior Client Services team members, providing guidance, feedback and support for their career development.

We're looking for someone with gravitas and calm in a fast-paced agency environment. You'll be commercially astute, highly organised and confident navigating complex client relationships and large-scale projects.

You'll bring strong emotional intelligence, excellent communication skills and the ability to influence senior stakeholders. You'll be passionate about strategic design and able to bring sound judgement to complex brand and business challenges.

You'll ideally have:

• A proven track record of organic client growth, developing projects into long-term, multi-workstream partnerships.
• Strong experience managing account P&L, including budget negotiation, profitability and revenue forecasting.
• Experience leading complex, multi-market creative projects.
• Credibility and experience building trusted relationships at Brand / Marketing Director level.
• A genuine interest in strategic design and the judgement to guide clients through it.
• Strong commercial instincts and exceptional attention to detail.
• Experience mentoring junior team members and building positive, high-performing teams.

This is an opportunity to take ownership of significant client relationships and work on ambitious brand projects alongside a talented, collaborative team.

The business is employee-owned, so everyone has a genuine stake in its success. It's a creative environment that values ambitious thinking, strong relationships and high-quality work.

Please note: Significant experience within a branding, design or creative agency is essential. Generalist Client Director experience outside the creative sector is unlikely to be suitable for this role.

Handle actively welcomes applicants from under-represented backgrounds - we pride ourselves on attracting the best talent for every opportunity through a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.