Account director

Closing date for applications: Monday 13th July 2026 6pm

Salary: Guardian News and Media is proud to be a London Living wage employer. The minimum salary for any full-time role within the organisation is £30,000 per annum. Salary ranges depend on skills and experience

Location: London

Drive advertising growth for The Guardian by leading agency relationships, overseeing major pitches and managing a team of account managers.

Guardian Media Group is a global news organisation that delivers fearless, investigative journalism - giving a voice to the powerless and holding power to account. Our independent ownership structure means we are entirely free from political and commercial influence. Only our values determine the stories we choose to cover – relentlessly and courageously.

Join our team at the Guardian and be a part of a diverse and inclusive global organisation that delivers fearless, investigative journalism, and holds power to account. Our team of award-winning journalists, cutting-edge commercial professionals, and industry-leading digital experts are committed to making a difference and represent a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. We offer a challenging and exciting environment for career development, with a focus on training, growth and fostering an inclusive culture.

We’re now looking for an Account Director to represent the Guardian across a dedicated agency patch, driving revenue growth and cultivating strong, strategic relationships.This role offers the opportunity to work with big clients on complex campaigns across all Guardian products.

About the Role

• Manage and develop a team of Senior Account Managers and Account Managers, motivating them to achieve objectives and sales targets
• Oversee large pitches to secure valuable advertising revenue for the Guardian.
• Be the first point of escalation for agency issues
• Work with internal delivery teams to ensure seamless campaign execution.

About You

• Articulate communicator and confident and engaging presenter
• Ability to relay complex information in an easy to understand way
• Quick thinker who can adapt a sell based on a reading of the room and understanding of the way our products work together

We value and respect all differences (seen and unseen) in all people. We aspire to have inclusive working experiences and an environment that reflects the audience we serve, where our people have equal access to career development opportunities, their voices are heard and can contribute to our future. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Many of our staff work flexibly and we will consider all requests for flexible working arrangements.

How to Apply

Please upload a copy of your latest CV. You don’t need to provide a covering letter but we would like you to share your responses to the following two questions:

1) You're working on a campaign response and need to host an internal briefing session. What processes would you follow to ensure the session is productive and aligns with the brief's goals?

2) How would you establish yourself with your direct reports in the first 3 months?

Don’t worry we’re not looking for an essay response, we’d like you to share roughly a paragraph (the suggested word count is 100-200 words per paragraph) for each question as part of the application process. Please provide your responses to our questions on one document and upload it along with your CV as part of your application.

We appreciate the time taken to prepare each application we receive. We do not use AI-assisted technology to review applications; every application is reviewed by a member of our recruitment team.

All roles at the Guardian are open for everybody to apply. It is important to us that you feel supported and comfortable throughout your recruitment process, in order to perform your best. Please let us know if there are any changes we could make to help your application, this includes providing documents in accessible formats or personalising the process to better support your needs.

Benefits at the Guardian

You’ll have 30 days of annual leave per year (plus bank holidays) with the option to purchase an additional 5 days. Our pension scheme is generous; if you contribute 5% then we will contribute 8-12% (depending on your age). We believe in giving back, which is why employees are given 2 volunteering days annually and the option of payroll giving. Season ticket loans are also available.

You are entitled to private healthcare, life cover, income protection, and eye tests. You can also opt in to dental insurance.

We have enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave policies in place. We also support our employees by offering an IVF, menopause, baby loss, and trans equality policy.

Culture and Wellbeing

We want everyone to feel like they belong at the Guardian and we champion diversity of thought. Our various employee forums provide a platform to use their voice to foster an inclusive workplace. We became the first major media organisation to achieve B Corp status.

We offer tools to help you prioritise your wellbeing including access to our employee benefits platform which provides tailored support for health and wellbeing. In addition, we also offer free yoga and Pilates classes, corporate gym membership and a cycle to work scheme. Our canteen has views overlooking the Regents Canal and caters for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Learning and Development

We encourage personal and professional growth. Employees have access to a broad range of tools and solutions, and we are happy to support the pursuit of professional qualifications through vocational courses and apprenticeships.

We value honesty in your application.

AI generated content must not be presented as your own work.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.