Account Director

We’re really excited that NOT Wieden + Kennedy

might be your next move as an Account Director

We hope this document covers everything you need to know, but if not, we’ll be

happy to answer any more questions as we move through the interview process.

WHAT EXACTLY IS NOT?

NOT Wieden + Kennedy is not part of Wieden + Kennedy.

But it’s also not not part of Wieden + Kennedy.

And that’s what makes working here great, and why we can make great work for our clients.

We can explain.

You’ll sit in a building surrounded by strategists, writers, designers, art directors, creative directors,

creative technologists, social media creators, editors – and you’ll get to collaborate with all of them.

One week you could be working on a brand refresh.

The next, launching a new sporting league.

The next designing packaging for an independent coffee brand.

The next something we haven’t even thought of or done yet.

We think this variety makes working here exciting. And It means you get to go

beyond guidelines – you can actually make stuff. And stuff that gets a lot of eyeballs on it – all over the

world.

And through that work, you get to understand how some of the biggest brands in the world think,

what challenges they face, and how they show up in lots of different media.

All of which helps us create more relevant approaches to branding and design for our clients.

And then there’s us.

The NOT team is a group of designers from a multitude of backgrounds – from

the best design studios and in-house departments in the world, to designers that learnt their craft

in editorial, or taught themselves design while putting on club nights in an abandoned Blockbuster

video store in South Wales.

Headed up by two people who both come from branding and design agencies, one leads on all things

design and the other leads on all things client services and process.

Together they oversee all of the brand frameworks and design work and anything that leaves the building as NOT, build and develop

client relationships and run pitches.

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU

Everyone at NOT brings their own unique experience which shapes the team, and if you arrive with an open mind, we hope that you’ll be shaped by your experience here too.

In this role, we want you to bring experience and expertise in branding.

You’ll probably have more than 5 years experience in a top studio – but we’re open-minded, and we know not everyone’s career

journey is the same.

So, if you’ve run projects for brand refreshes, launching new brands, and briefs to deliver design across channels – we want to hear from you.

We’re here to make work that moves people, and we need you to be a partner to our clients and a bridge between our teams.

You’ll guide our clients and hold their hands throughout the process, anticipating their questions, making sure they know what’s coming next and voicing their audience and challenges in briefings and creative sessions. And you’ll collaborate with the design team, and planning team to set a process to deliver the work on time and to brief.

We don’t have a house style, and neither will you.

You’ll think in ideas and audiences before aesthetics.

You’ll think for and as a team over an individual.

You’ll care as much about how the work feels as how it looks.

You’ll get out of bed everyday to set trends, not follow them.

You’ll challenge convention as much as you (politely) challenge clients to make the best possible work for them.

You’ll probably like making things that could be described as a little bit weird.

Most importantly of all, you won’t have an ounce of ego.

We work openly and collaboratively as a team – and egos just won’t work here.

An Account Director is the missing piece in our next step as we continue to grow and develop as a studio.

You will be an experienced member of our team, so you need to be a client-facing self-starter that needs minimal direction to push projects forward.

You’ll be comfortable working at pace, and you’ll be an optimist that sees every obstacle thrown your way as an opportunity to make the work better.

We don’t bitch about clients (at least not very loudly, or for very long), we invest in our relationships with them so we can get to better work.

Additionally:

— You know what it takes to run a project like a well oiled machine, you can write clear and concise statements of work, chart out project plans and timelines, keep on top of status sheets and plan ahead to make sure everyone internally knows what’s coming next.

— You put your hand up to do anything to help make the work better.

— You do the groundwork on your clients business so you know the ins and outs of their business, products and services and stores. You’re the first port of call for designers to ask about this (and your clients competitors)

— Your attention to detail and passion for the projects gives clients (and the internal team) total reassurance when you’re working on something.

— You bring the leadership, detail and emotional intelligence needed to get the very best out of everyone - clients, designers, planners, production. You’re a rallying point for the team, and the first port of call when the going gets tough.

— You never assume a task is someone else's responsibility in a meeting and you obsess over all the details.

— You own all elements of project finance. You take it seriously and understand that it's an important part of making an account successful at NOT W+K.

— You contribute to the culture of NOT W+K, the business, how we do things and our ways of working

— You have one eye on the design industry, but live and breathe wider culture. You are curious and enthusiastic about the changes in the industry and take responsibility for educating yourself on key trends, and new formats, from keeping up with what other studios are doing, trends, and things like that pesky topic of AI that everyone can’t seem to stop talking about.

— Your input makes the work better - you help ideas develop, you know how to sell them into clients, and you’re always on the lookout for creative opps within your projects.

— You’ll have your own presentation style to captivate clients, from deck to verbal presentation.

— You collaborate and work closely with the design team from the CD, and DD to the designers. You don’t hold back when you have a thought or idea and have a point of view and contribute to the work.

There’s no us and them, we’re all one NOT W+K team

Finally, but most importantly – we’re all about inclusive teams, and inviting people in, no matter their background – and we need you to be too. You’ll be respectful and understanding of different points of view.

You’ll question your assumptions and check your biases. And you’ll be an active participant in making W+K London a place where everyone can thrive.

WHAT WE OFFER IN RETURN

A structure that’s only as hierarchical as it needs to be for things to get done – everybody here has a voice, and you’ll be joining at a stage of our growth where you can have a real impact.

We offer a competitive salary depending on experience along with some amazing benefits which are listed below.

Part of being part of a small studio that is part of a forty-five year old creative giant means big agency perks – and ours are some of the best in the industry.

Again, we can give you more detail on all of these as we go through the interview process:

— 25+ flexible annual leave policy (and you don’t need to use any days over the festive break)

— Hybrid working with 3+ days in the office

— 5 week sabbatical every 5 years

— £250 annual creative bursary

— Free Breakfast and lunch provided on Tues, Weds, Thurs

— Enhanced maternity / paternity leave

— Free financial advice and mortgage broker

— Private healthcare

— Nursery scheme

— Plenty of social activities including our fabled annual Founders’ day celebration