Sr. Business Director

UnitedMasters•Brooklyn, NY

About The Position

We are an award-winning independent creative solutions company that aspires to be the most culturally-influential company in the world. We help ambitious brands harness the power of culture to solve their biggest challenges. As a unique mix of experts in culture, technology, and storytelling, we are united by a passion to grow brands in ways that advertising alone can never do. We are an entrepreneurial business – not a traditional “ad agency.” That means we value resourcefulness and tenacity just as much as we value creativity and intelligence. We’re unapologetically ambitious! We are looking for a Sr. Business Director to join Translation and lead one of our most visible and consequential client partnerships. The Sr. Business Director is a senior client and business leader responsible for the success, growth, and health of a significant, complex account. This person has already demonstrated success at the Business Director level and brings greater executive influence, commercial judgment, and organizational leadership. They will serve as a strategic advisor to senior clients, lead integrated teams, and remain close to the work while actively shaping and pushing clients forward in culture. As a Business Director, you will serve as a strategic leader and trusted client partner, deeply invested in understanding your clients’ business challenges and uncovering opportunities to solve them through innovative, culturally attuned creative solutions. You’ll cultivate strong, proactive client relationships, guide cross-functional teams, and drive initiatives that deliver measurable business impact. With Program Management leading operational excellence, you will focus on shaping strategic agendas, fostering growth, and ensuring our work drives tangible results for both the client and agency.

Requirements

Exceptional business judgment and the ability to connect marketing decisions to broader client goals, organizational dynamics, and commercial outcomes.
Executive presence and communication skills, including the ability to read complex rooms, tailor counsel to different stakeholders, and navigate sensitive issues with discretion.
Strong strategic fluency and the ability to turn ambiguity into clear, actionable direction without prescribing the creative solution.
Commercial acumen across scopes, staffing models, forecasting, profitability, and investment decisions.
Ability to lead and inspire multidisciplinary teams, resolve tension constructively, and create accountability without relying solely on hierarchy.
A growth mindset, with the curiosity and proactivity to identify unmet client needs and translate them into meaningful opportunities.
Cultural fluency and a strong understanding of how contemporary culture, audiences, and communities influence brands and business.
Sound prioritization and decision-making skills in a high-volume, fast-moving, and highly visible client environment.
A coaching orientation and the ability to raise the performance, confidence, and judgment of other leaders.
Ability to balance client needs, creative ambition, executional feasibility, team sustainability, and financial health
10+ years of experience leading integrated client relationships within a creative, marketing, or communications agency, including demonstrated success operating at the Business Director or equivalent level.
Proven experience owning senior client relationships, complex integrated campaigns, organic growth, account economics, and cross-functional team leadership for a major consumer brand.
Demonstrated experience coaching and developing account leadership talent while independently navigating high-stakes client and business decisions.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading a large, complex, or matrixed national account across multiple stakeholders and workstreams.
Experience in QSR, retail, CPG, telecom, financial services, sports, entertainment, or another high-velocity consumer category.
Experience working within/leading an integrated agency team or multi-agency ecosystem.
Experience leading culturally specific or multicultural marketing while connecting the work to a broader brand and business strategy.
Track record of identifying and converting organic growth opportunities.
Experience leading scope development, staffing recommendations, forecasting, and profitability management.
Experience supporting new business pitches, agency initiatives, recruiting, or talent development.

Responsibilities

Own the overall health, performance, growth, and senior client relationships for a flagship national account.
Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to Director-level stakeholders, shaping agendas, influencing decisions, and constructively challenging clients with a clear point of view.
Translate complex business, consumer, category, and cultural dynamics into clear strategic direction and stronger creative work.
Lead integrated teams across Business Leadership, Strategy, Context, Creative, Program Management, Production, Analytics, and Partner Agencies, creating clarity around objectives, priorities, roles, and decisions.
Ensure work meets Translation’s standards for strategic rigor, creative ambition, cultural excellence, and client readiness before presentation.
Develop and drive the organic growth strategy, identifying and converting opportunities across stakeholders, business units, audiences, and workstreams.
Co-own account financial health with Program Management, including revenue, profitability, staffing, forecasting, scope performance, and investment recommendations.
Anticipate relationship, delivery, and commercial risks, intervening before they affect the client partnership, the quality of the work, team health, or profitability.
Lead, coach, and develop Business Supervisors through clear expectations, ongoing feedback, performance reviews, and meaningful development opportunities.
Contribute to agency leadership through new business, recruiting, shaping departmental standards, cross-functional improvements, and the development of future Business Leadership talent.