Account Director

Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Marketing
Closing date: 06 November 2025
Requisition ID:

We'd all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That's waiting for you at Sainsbury's. We're one of the biggest supermarkets in the UK with one of the largest websites. So marketing here really happens at scale. We move a lot faster than you'd think too, across Brand Planning, Brand Comms and Creative, Digital Marketing, CRM and Loyalty, Nectar 360, Insights, and Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. More people shopping with us each week means more interactions. And thanks to data insight, we understand customers in a way that almost nobody else does. We work alongside incredible brand partners and the best agencies around. So if you have a passion to learn, grow and experience new teams, come and explore it all with us.

Joining Sainsbury's as an Account Director means leading our zest team to deliver strategic and creative excellence. You'll play a pivotal role in leading client relationships, collaborating with internal stakeholders, and championing creativity as a catalyst for market change. With a deep understanding of our clients' challenges and objectives, you'll have the opportunity to propose innovative solutions, nurture enduring partnerships, and shape brand strategies. As part of a dynamic and collaborative team, you'll be immersed in a diverse range of projects, leading discussions, and inspiring creative work that exceeds expectations. With a focus on growth and development, you'll be part of an agency that values curiosity, resilience, and passion for delivering outstanding results. Join us and contribute to our success while fostering enduring client relationships in a fast-paced, ever-evolving industry.

What you'll do

• Lead client relationships, drive strategic and creative excellence, and ensure client satisfaction.
• Focus on key brands within the Sainsbury's business and understand clients' market challenges, objectives, and how strategy and creative work contribute to success.
• Collaborate with Strategic Planners to develop and implement strategic responses; provide feedback to planning on creative and comms strategy.
• Champion creative excellence and ensure work aligns with the strategic direction; drive cross-channel integration and best practice for all channels.
• Develop strong partnerships with external agencies and facilitate collaboration.
• Mentor and coach direct reports; demonstrate behavioural flexibility, emotional intelligence, influence, and creative problem-solving in partnerships with the wider zest agency.
• Make strong decisions on client leadership, strategy, project scope, and external agency partnerships to drive success.

Who you are

• Account Director within the Marketing & Loyalty division with experience overseeing strategic/creative accounts and gravitas with senior marketing and external agency leaders.
• Strong strategic thinking, creative acumen, and leadership to collaborate with internal teams, external agencies, and stakeholders to develop innovative campaigns.
• Focus on client satisfaction, commercial acumen, and creative excellence; contribute to the success of Zest as the go-to agency for key brands within the Sainsbury's business.
• Agency Experience: Experience working in an integrated creative agency.
• Channel Experience: Demonstrated ability to manage the full channel ecosystem, driving growth across multi-channel outputs.
• Strategic Insight: Expertise in leading and managing account strategy.
• Client Experience: Proficiency in managing multiple clients and projects simultaneously within an integrated creative agency.

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you'll be welcomed wherever you are and wherever you work. There's always a chance to try something new, whether as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business, and we support development. We recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we'll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

• Starting off with colleague discount: 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury's every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day.
• Pensions scheme and life cover; potential for a performance-related bonus of up to 20% of salary, dependent on performance.
• Annual holiday allowance with the option to buy additional holiday.
• Other benefits to help finances: season ticket loans, interest-free car loan up to £10k, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance, and access to discounts from hundreds of retailers.
• Employee Assistance Programme and private healthcare eligibility.

Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you, which is why we provide maternity or adoption leave up to 26 weeks, and paternity leave up to 4 weeks.

Please see for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).