Sustainability Public Relations Senior Account Manager/Account Director

Sustainability PR

Senior Account Manager/Account Director

Who are we?

We are PHA, a leading integrated comms agency with offices in London, Manchester, Leeds and Boston. Founded in 2005 by our Chairman and former newspaper editor Phil Hall, we have evolved to offer public relations, creative activations, social media, and digital marketing services to our enviable client roster.

We are looking for a passionate, ambitious, and entrepreneurial Senior Account Manager or Account Director to join our growing Sustainability team, which sits within the Corporate & Enterprise practice. Our clients are innovators driving the net zero transition and also established businesses transforming alongside it. You can expect to support clients working across the following sectors; renewable energy, FMCG, clean transport, disruptive tech, and agriculture – with opportunities to work on integrated digital, reputation, and creative briefs across the wider agency too. This is an opportunity to shape the future of the sustainability offering at PHA and to contribute your specialist expertise to help grow our client base and service offering.

We know that PHA is only as fantastic as its people, but don’t just take our word for it… check out the video testimonials here.

What you will be doing?

Client relationships

• Nurture relationships with decision makers within your clients’ organisation, and work to develop and maintain positive relationships with client teams as the senior account lead, resulting in commercial growth opportunities.
• Develop and implement ESG and sustainability communication strategies, providing specialist advisory and messaging support to our clients.
• Exceptional client management with detailed, clear communication, counsel, and regular strategic recommendations.
• Successfully lead and manage a portfolio of client accounts, including:
• Strong delivery on activity and exceeding KPIs.
• Oversee the creation of sustainability positioning and messaging, taking into account key reputational risks.
• Owning ongoing strategy and campaign development.
• Ideation to keep client activity fresh and engaging.
• Budget management and costing for agency delivery, invoicing, etc.
• Management of servicing and resource planning on accounts
• Ownership of contract renewals to achieve a high client retention rate.
• Take the lead on evaluating and demonstrating impact, reporting on meaningful metrics for the client and showcasing value.
• Find ways to ‘surprise and delight’ clients to provide added value outside of the day to day activity, and maintain long-term client partnerships

Growth

• Work to agreed fee income targets for your client portfolio as set by Divisional Head/Director, with an agreed percentage responsibility of the divisions fee income under your management, and agreed percentage growth expected on this amount year on year.
• Support and drive new business growth on client accounts, planning for renewal periods, and demonstrating maintenance of allocated income.
• Specific focus on spotting opportunities across the agency portfolio of clients to provide sustainability or ESG consultancy.
• Take an always on approach to working with the Sales & Marketing department on various campaigns to grow client revenue in the division.
• Demonstrate a strong knowledge of our integrated service offering, and be a champion for this within your division and the wider business.
• Start to identify potential sector(s) for you to own within the division, working towards long term goal of Head of Sector and ownership of specific sector, working closely with Divisional Head/Director on this research and insight phase.
• Constantly refine our approach to evolving new business and client work
• Source and attend networking opportunities to develop industry, partner, talent, and new business contacts.
• Support the growth of sector accounts across the agency to ensure quality control and continuity.

People management

• Line management responsibilities for a set number of junior colleagues, working with your Department Head to lead appraisals, helping to set objectives, and providing regular guidance and mentoring for your report(s).
• Lead account teams to ensure successful delivery across clients within your areas of ownership in the department/agency.
• Demonstrate consistent upward management at a senior level, providing feedback, recommendations, flagging and escalating performance issues, and providing solutions.
• Work with Department Head to identify junior talent, and take responsibility for nurturing and guiding to support their career development.
• Involvement in the recruitment and hiring process.

Industry knowledge

• Stay informed on the evolving ESG landscape, policy changes (e.g., CSRD, ISSB, EUDR), and current status of sustainability reporting and how this influences comms.
• Taking an interest in the evolution of the sustainability comms landscape, educating internal and external stakeholders about greenwashing risks and keeping abreast of ASA rulings.
• Use of existing contact book of senior journalists, influencers, and other key figures relevant to your sector to leverage on behalf of clients, the team, and the wider company, encouraging junior colleagues to build their own contacts, and lead by example.
• Become known in the industry as a strategic thinker and expert in relevant sectors, sharing knowledge within the agency and representing it at external events.
• Maintain a good knowledge of industry trends and best practice, including devising campaign strategies for clients you oversee.

Agency responsibilities

• Training and educating senior and junior staff on the sustainability communications landscape to foster integration between the teams and ensure we offer the best standard of service across our entire portfolio.
• Regularly attend role-specific training organised through the PHA Academy.
• Play a senior role in a companywide initiative (culture teams, PHA PR, working groups).
• Proactively share ideas on new training focuses, PHA PR opportunities, and Culture initiatives with relevant members of the SLT.
• Work with Department Head to come up with ideas around relevant training sessions for team and help to plan and deliver these, with support from your Department Head and the PHA Academy team.
• Represent the department at industry networking events, identifying opportunities to build the PHA brand and support our internal PR strategy.

The ideal candidate will:

• Be passionate about the sustainability and ESG landscape, ideally possessing a good understanding of the energy sector.
• Have demonstrated experience supporting new business briefs that relate to sustainability.
• Possess an understanding of ESG and the legislative environment, alongside experience delivering content for sustainability campaigns and reporting.
• Have a keen desire to network and expand their knowledge through attending key industry events and consuming key media relevant to the ESG landscape.
• Possess an entrepreneurial and creative flair to help grow the sustainability roster of clients.

What will you get?

Our extensive benefits offering rewards employees for the fantastic work they do every day. You can check out our full brochure here, but to give you a snap shot…

• Make memories last with our long-service awards, wedding and new baby gifts, and a holiday allowance that increases year-on-year from your second anniversary
• Spend time with family through enhanced parental leave, paid time off for antenatal care and fertility treatment, and flexible return to work options
• Get recognised for outstanding work with our £500 wow bonus scheme, new business bonus, talent referral scheme, and monthly companywide awards
• Prioritise wellbeing with our £1,000 healthcare cash scheme, 4pm finish on Fridays, wellness hours, days, and vouchers, flexible working charter, and flexible hours
• Get involved with our culture initiatives, from regular socials, team sports, and company breakfasts, to development days, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion forums, and our PHA Academy training programme

If you’re passionate about helping our clients achieve their goals, not settling for the easy and forgettable, but challenging them to do better and be different in an environment that fosters openness, honesty, and diversity – we want to hear from you!

In return, we’ll provide you with the opportunity to develop your unique talents so that they shine through your work, a role in which your voice is heard, and an extensive range of benefits, incentives, and rewards.

Please enquire or send your CV to Helen Salvin at [email protected], or apply via LinkedIn or our website.

As an equal opportunities employer, we actively encourage applications from candidates belonging to groups that are underrepresented in the communications, marketing, and creative industries, including those from ethnically diverse backgrounds, belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, living with a physical/hidden disability or neurodivergent condition, and/or were not privately/university educated. We are committed to ensuring that all candidates can participate fully and comfortably in the application and recruitment process while showcasing their suitability for a role to the best of their ability. Please let the Talent team know via the email address above if you require adjustments to the application or recruitment process.