Back to jobs
tags.new

Account Director (Medical Communications)

London, United Kingdom

About Ogilvy

Ogilvy was founded in 1948 by David Ogilvy. David created a culture that deeply respects and cares about its people and clients. Our mission is to inspire people and brands to make an impact and we are committed to attracting, growing, and retaining the best talent in the industry. 

Ogilvy Health UK is made up of healthcare communication specialists across the disciplines of medical education and communications; brain sciences; brand promotion; digital and social; strategic planning; public relations; and creative/design. We believe we are like no other: we blaze new trails; we encourage a culture of creativity and innovation; we challenge, and we change; and we recognise and reward our team. 

In medical education, our approach is founded on expertise that combines biomedical science, learning theory and behaviour change to create impactful medical and professional education. 

We’re ‘Scientifically Grounded, Creatively Driven’. 

 

About the Role  

Due to significant growth and a rapid resurgence of activity on a high-priority, strategic account, we are seeking an experienced and dynamic Account Director to join our team. This is a pivotal role within a fast paced environment, offering the chance to lead and shape key workstreams on an account with substantial future potential. If you're ready to make a significant impact and drive continued success, this is the perfect opportunity for you.


What You’ll Do 

 

As an Account Director, you will be instrumental in guiding and growing this crucial account. You will lead the delivery of diverse medical communications projects, provide expert strategic direction to our clients, and inspire your internal teams. This role demands a proactive leader who can manage multiple workstreams, contribute to business development, and ensure financial oversight and long-term client success.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Lead the strategic planning and delivery of a broad range of medical communications projects.
  • Serve as a key client contact, providing expert counsel and direction.
  • Oversee and direct internal project teams, fostering collaboration and excellence.
  • Drive forward planning and ensure seamless execution across workstreams.
  • Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams to achieve account objectives.
  • Contribute to ongoing business development initiatives, identifying opportunities for growth and partnership.
  • Maintain full financial oversight of projects, including budgeting, forecasting, reconciliations, and client invoicing.
  • Ensure the continued long-term success and growth of this busy, priority account.

 


What You’ll Need  

 

  • Demonstrable experience within medical communications.
  • An in-depth understanding of the pharmaceutical industry and the drug development process across pre- and post-launch environments.
  • Proven experience in account direction, programme management, and providing client counsel within highly regulated pharmaceutical settings.
  • A track record of delivering strategically effective projects that consistently meet pharmaceutical company clients' objectives, budgets, and timelines.
  • Experience across a broad range of medical communications project types.
  • In-depth experience liaising with top-tier global clinicians and other healthcare professionals, always within permitted guidelines.
  • Expertise in collaborating with various specialties within pharmaceutical clients (e.g., Medical Affairs, Marketing, Research and Development, Legal/Regulatory, Procurement).
  • Working knowledge of and strict compliance with key industry guidelines (e.g., ABPI, Sunshine Act).
  • In-depth knowledge of the content development process and pharmaceutical company approval systems (Medical, Legal, Regulatory).
  • Demonstrated ability to oversee the financial management of projects, including budgeting, forecasting, reconciliations, and client management.

 


How We’ll Support You 

Ogilvy celebrates its people. Fully. Enthusiastically. Unhesitatingly. We’ll empower you with the tools you’ll need to succeed. We’ll give you the autonomy to seek out new paths and better ways of doing things. We’ll support you with colleagues who are experts in their disciplines, drawn from across the Ogilvy network. And we’ll provide opportunities for you to do work of which you’ll be proud, with people you’ll be proud to call your teammates.  


Our Culture & Benefits

Join a friendly, non-hierarchical, and eclectic team united by a shared commitment to doing the best work of our lives (it's one of our values!). Beyond client work, you'll have opportunities to engage with our vibrant culture and social teams, and contribute to our fantastic DEI initiatives, championing diversity across our agency and industry.

We offer a flexible working hybrid model: 2 days in the office (all-agency anchor days for collaboration and socialising) and 3 days working remotely from wherever you work best.

  • 25 days holiday + your birthday off and a paid volunteering day - after 2 years service you can purchase up to an additional 5 days per year
  • Enhanced parental leave 
  • A generous pension scheme - you pay in 4% we pay 6%, following probation contributions are matched up to 10.5% (17.5% in total)
  • Choose from either Private Medical Cover (Bupa from day one) OR Dental cover OR a monthly leisure allowance of £45 to spend on your health & wellbeing 
  • A fantastic Employee Assistance Programme provided by Telus which offers brilliant support, expert advice and specialist counselling
  • Help at Hand - quick free access to a remote GP, mental health support, physio or a medical 2nd opinion
  • Free 1-2-1 Coaching - online coaching for your professional or personal growth provided by Thrive Partners
  • A comprehensive Learning & Development programme 

 

 

Our ambition is to attract the very best diverse talent to Ogilvy, and to be the employer of choice in the UK. We want everyone to feel welcome when they join us, and once they’re here, for them to want to stay with us, grow their career, and to feel they belong with us.

We are an equal opportunity employer and we’re committed to creating an inclusive, welcoming environment for everyone who wants to work at Ogilvy. For us, diversity, equity and inclusion is integrated into everything that we do. We believe that for creativity to flourish, everything about how we work must have diversity at its core. Your race, colour, ethnic, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, have no bearing on our hiring decisions, but we encourage everyone to feel free to express their true selves in an environment we are consistently striving to make as inclusive as possible.

We aim to facilitate an accessible and positive application experience for all candidates. If you require any adjustments from us to support you through the process or expect to require any adjustments to working conditions to be able to best perform in the role, please let us know. We are happy to consider all reasonable adjustments.

If you live with a disability and you would like to take advantage of our offer of a guaranteed interview under the Disability Confident Scheme, please ensure you fill out our voluntary Equal Opportunities Questionnaire when applying.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Your privacy is important to us, you can find out more information on how we handle your data for recruiting purposes in our Privacy Notice

Select...

Voluntary Equal Opportunities Questions (UK)

At Ogilvy we pride ourselves on being an inclusive and equal opportunities employer. We believe in creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity, equity and inclusion.  We strive to recruit from a diverse range of candidates and create an environment which provides the right conditions for belonging. We welcome all applications regardless of race, colour, religion or belief, gender, gender identity, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation and physical or mental disability etc. (please note this is not an exhaustive list). We are also actively focussed on encouraging greater representation by bringing more under-represented talent into our organisation. This is hugely important to us and Ogilvy has a thriving network of employee communities that exist to help everyone, no matter their background, succeed here.

In order to help us achieve this and hold ourselves accountable for progress and monitor our efforts, we invite you to answer the following questions. You are not required to answer any of them, as they are entirely voluntary. They will also not be viewable to those interviewing you as part of your application or candidate profile. If you choose to answer, please know that all data is stored separately, used in aggregate for reporting purposes and handled as per GDPR regulations. 

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Ogilvy Health UK’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.