Careers

Who are we?

We are PHA, a leading integrated comms agency with offices in London, Manchester, and Leeds. We have also recently opened our first international office in Boston under the brand Dig & Dig. Founded in a small office off of Carnaby Street in 2005 by our Chairman and former newspaper editor Phil Hall, we have evolved to offer public relations, creative activations, social media, and digital marketing services to our enviable client roster. From renowned consumer brands to household corporate names, our teams deliver top-tier work to start-ups, global companies, and everything in between.

We are now looking for a passionate, ambitious, and entrepreneurial Paid Search Account Director to join our growing Digital team. You can expect to support clients including HiPP Organic, 1:1 Diet, Jon Richard, Citizen Watches, and ILX Group, to name a few.

We know that PHA is only as fantastic as its people, but don’t just take our word for it… check out the video testimonials here.

What will you do?

All of our roles, from Junior Account Executive to Divisional Managing Director, work to the same five core responsibilities, with specific competencies appropriate to the level detailed under each. This gives clarity to all employees regarding what is expected of them, and a clear vision for career progression.

Client responsibilities

• Identify the decision makers within your clients’ organisation and work to develop and maintain positive relationships with client teams as the senior account lead.
• Exceptional client management with detailed, clear communication, counsel, and regular strategic recommendations.
• Successfully lead a portfolio of client accounts, including:
  • Strong delivery on activity and exceeding KPIs.
  • Owning ongoing strategy and campaign development.
  • Ideation to keep client activity fresh and engaging.
  • Budget management and costing for agency delivery, invoicing, etc.
  • Ownership of contract renewals to achieve a high client retention rate.
• Take the lead on evaluating and demonstrating impact, reporting on meaningful metrics for the client and showcasing value.
• Find ways to ‘surprise and delight’ clients to provide added value outside of the day to day activity, and maintain long-term client partnerships.
• Extensive experience in building and maintaining Looker Studio dashboards.

Growth

• Work to agreed fee income targets for your client portfolio as set by Divisional Head/Director, with an agreed percentage responsibility of the divisions fee income under your management, and agreed percentage growth expected on this amount year on year.
• Support and drive new business growth on client accounts, planning for renewal periods, and demonstrating maintenance of allocated income.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the benefits of integrated working and use this knowledge to manage inbound new business leads, bringing together the most relevant skills in the agency.
• Manage and own new business development campaigns, identifying areas for expansion to increase commercial results month to month.
• Work on a plan that details sectors that can be targeted for growth, including research, insight, and target suggestions and once signed off, regularly run joint new business campaigns with the Sales & Marketing department (see separate brief on what your plan should include).
• Start to identify potential sector(s) for you to own within the division, working towards long term goal of Head of Sector and ownership of specific sector, working closely with Divisional Head/Director on this research and insight phase.
• Source and attend networking opportunities to develop industry, partner, talent, and new business contacts.
• Support the growth of sector accounts across the agency to ensure quality control and continuity.

People management

• Line management responsibilities for a set number of junior colleagues, working with your Department Head to lead the quarterly appraisals process, helping to set objectives, and providing regular guidance and mentoring for your report(s).
• Lead account teams to ensure successful delivery across clients within your areas of ownership in the department/agency.
• Demonstrate consistent upward management at a senior level, providing feedback, recommendations, flagging and escalating performance issues, and providing solutions.
• Work with Department Head to identify junior talent and take responsibility for nurturing and guiding to support their career development.
• Be involved in the PHA Accelerate programme as a mentor.

Industry knowledge

• Complete proactive analysis, using relevant tools to spot trends, challenges, and opportunities to benefit clients, the team, and the wider company.
• A sophisticated in-depth knowledge of relevant industries which can be shared for the benefit of the team.
• Become known both internally and in the industry as a strategic thinker and expert in relevant sectors, sharing knowledge within the agency and representing it at external events.
• Maintain a good knowledge of industry trends and best practice, including devising campaign strategies for clients you oversee.

Agency responsibilities

• Participate in agencywide activities and initiatives to build relationships with colleagues to include All Staff training, social events, and internal seminars relevant to level, and encouragement of junior colleagues to participate and see the value in these activities.
• Regularly attend role-specific training organised through the PHA Academy.
• Contribution to hosting one training session for junior colleagues.
• Play a senior role in a companywide initiative (culture teams, PHA PR, working groups).
• Proactively share ideas on new training focuses, PHA PR opportunities, and Culture initiatives with relevant members of the SLT and Group MDs.
• Work with Department Head to come up with ideas around relevant training sessions for team and help to plan and deliver these, with support from your Department Head and the PHA Academy team.

What will you get?

Our extensive benefits offering rewards employees for the fantastic work they do every day. You can check out our full brochure here, but to give you a snap shot…

• Make memories last with our long-service awards, wedding and new baby gifts, and a holiday allowance that increases year-on-year from your second anniversary.
• Spend time with family through 26 weeks’ full maternity leave pay, 26 weeks’ full adoption leave pay, six weeks’ full paternity leave pay, paid time off for antenatal care and fertility treatment, and flexible return to work options.
• Get recognised for outstanding work with our £500 wow bonus, new business bonus, talent referral scheme, and monthly companywide awards.
• Prioritise wellbeing with our healthcare cash scheme worth up to £2,000, early finish on Fridays, wellness hours, days, and vouchers, flexible working charter, and flexible hours.
• Get involved with our culture initiatives, from regular socials, team sports, and company breakfasts, to development days, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion forums, and our PHAcademy training programme.

If you’re passionate about helping our clients achieve their goals, not settling for the easy and forgettable, but challenging them to do better and be different in an environment that fosters openness, honesty, and diversity – we want to hear from you!

In return, we’ll provide you with the opportunity to develop your unique talents so that they shine through your work, a role in which your voice is heard, and an extensive range of benefits, incentives, and rewards.

What we offer

View benefits

Please enquire or send your CV to rubyK@thephagroup.com, or apply via LinkedIn or our website.

 As an equal opportunities employer, we actively encourage applications from candidates belonging to groups that are underrepresented in the communications, marketing, and creative industries, including those from ethnically diverse backgrounds, belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, living with a physical/hidden disability or neurodivergent condition, and/or were not privately/university educated. We are committed to ensuring that all candidates can participate fully and comfortably in the application and recruitment process while showcasing their suitability for a role to the best of their ability. Please let the Talent team know via the email address above if you require adjustments to the application or recruitment process. Examples of adjustments can be found here, and all requests will be considered. To find out more about our commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive working environment that enables everyone to reach their full potential while feeling valued and respected, please visit our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion page for further information.