Business Director

OLIVER Agency • Chicago, IL

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Business Director is the senior strategic and commercial lead for the OLIVER studio working in partnership with our client. You are accountable for the overall health of the client relationship, the financial performance of the account, and ensuring studio delivery is aligned with the client’s marketing priorities across all four business units. You partner with the Program Director on operational delivery, with the Associate Creative Director on creative quality, and with the CRM Strategy Lead on campaign planning. You act as the key escalation point for senior client stakeholders and serve as the bridge between the client’s ambitions and the studio’s capabilities.

Requirements

• A track record of leading large, complex client accounts — ideally spanning multiple brands or business units — in an in-house, embedded, or agency environment
• Strong commercial acumen: experience managing account-level budgets, forecasting, and financial reporting
• Demonstrated ability to hold senior client relationships and facilitate strategic conversations with VP-level and above stakeholders
• Excellent people leadership skills, with experience developing account management teams
• A proactive, insider mindset: you understand the opportunity from the inside and bring the right workflows, the right talent, and the right technology
• Strong understanding of creative production operations — briefing, resourcing, delivery, and reporting — in a high-volume content environment
• Strategic integration of AI across studio projects and operations
• Experience setting AI governance and quality standards at studio level
• Agentic leadership for complex business and creative challenges
• Drives AI innovation and shares best practice across OLIVER network

Nice To Haves

• Experience in or adjacent to higher education, healthcare, or mission-driven marketing is a strong differentiator

Responsibilities

• Own the senior client relationship with stakeholders across all business units (Walden, Chamberlain, AUC, Enterprise), building trusted, strategic partnerships that go beyond brief management
• Lead weekly and monthly account rhythms — status meetings, QBRs, and performance reviews — ensuring consistent reporting against agreed SLAs and KPIs
• Manage the overall commercial health of the account, including budget tracking, forecasting, scope management, and financial reporting to OLIVER leadership
• Identify and develop organic growth opportunities across the client’s portfolio, acting as a proactive strategic partner rather than a reactive service provider
• Partner with the Program Director to ensure studio operations, resource allocation, and workflow management via OMG — where the work is organised and orchestrated — support on-time, on-brief delivery at scale
• Lead and develop a team of Account Managers, creating a high-performance, client-first culture within the studio
• Represent OLIVER at a senior client leadership level, presenting performance data, creative work, and strategic recommendations with confidence and clarity
• Work with the AI Transformation Lead to identify opportunities to integrate AI-driven efficiencies via Pencil and Share of Model into studio operations and client deliverables
• Serve as the cultural anchor of the studio: insider-minded, proactive, and deeply embedded in the client’s mission, brands, and audiences

Benefits

• Equal opportunity employer
• Commitment to creating an inclusive working environment
• Encouragement for employees to reach their full potential
• Valuing and respecting individual differences
• Ambitious environmental goals around sustainability
• Science-based emissions reduction targets
• Embedding sustainability into every department and through every stage of the project lifecycle

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed