About R/GA
In our 40-year history, we’ve changed a lot—from a culture-defining film title studio (Superman, Alien, Ghostbusters); to an interactive advertising agency; to an award-winning product and marketing agency with design, technology, communications, ventures and IP practices. We like change, and like to navigate our clients through it too.
Our approach to work is always human first. This unwavering focus helps us create meaningful and memorable experiences that live across digital platforms and often blur the line between the digital and real worlds. We believe disruptive thinking happens when you collide experts in design, technology and culture.
About The Role
Our Business Leadership team serves as the first line of contact with our clients. They identify client needs and work strategically to provide thoughtful solutions with measurable results. We set the bar high at R/GA. We don’t just strive to solve our clients’ problems; we challenge ourselves to transform their entire category.
The Group Director, Business Leadership leads a portfolio of complex, high-volume client engagements, often spanning multiple brands and workstreams. This role requires recent experience in regulated industries—specifically pharmaceutical marketing—with a deep understanding of legal, regulatory, and medical review (MLR) processes and systems such as Veeva. You will partner directly with senior clients across brand teams and guide cross-functional R/GA teams to deliver exceptional, compliant, and strategically sound work.
You bring strong operational discipline, marketing fluency across channels (especially digital and social), and a passion for helping teams do their best work in complex, fast-paced environments.
Here’s what you should know if you want to be a Group Director, Business Leadership at R/GA:
On Any Given Day, You Might
- Lead a portfolio of brands, overseeing a high volume of project-based work with varying scopes, stakeholders, and timelines.
- Guide integrated teams to deliver compliant, insight-driven campaigns across digital, social, and 360 channels—grounded in industry regulations and best practices.
- Navigate complex MLR processes and advise internal teams on timing, stakeholder alignment, and submission standards.
- Oversee delivery excellence and financial health across your business—ensuring client satisfaction, team performance, and account growth.
- Shape implementation plans and connect workstreams across brands, ensuring clarity, cohesion, and strategic alignment.
- Advise senior clients on brand strategy, campaign planning, and engagement opportunities across regulated and unregulated spaces.
- Collaborate with discipline leads to elevate the quality of strategic and creative work while ensuring regulatory compliance.
- Build long-term client partnerships by delivering with consistency, identifying growth opportunities, and understanding the nuances of their internal processes.
- Lead and mentor integrated teams—creating an environment of clarity, support, and high performance across disciplines and regions.
The Ideal Person
- Has recent experience leading pharmaceutical or healthcare-related accounts, with a clear understanding of regulatory review processes (MLR) and systems like Veeva.
- Possesses deep knowledge of full-funnel, omnichannel marketing in the pharma space—including social-first campaigns, digital innovation, and CRM.
- Is comfortable managing multiple brands and workstreams simultaneously, often with shifting priorities and stakeholder dynamics.
- Thinks three steps ahead—able to anticipate risks, shape the path forward, and support creative/strategic sell-in.
- Brings strong business acumen and can reframe challenges to unlock new opportunities for growth.
- Facilitates productive conversations around client relationship health and campaign performance, backed by data and insight.
- Maintains a strong pulse on industry trends—particularly in digital health, data, and emerging technology—and brings that perspective into client conversations.
- Builds resilient, high-performing teams and ensures team structure aligns with delivery and talent strategy.
- Engages in the industry through thought leadership, events, or professional networks.
You Bring
- 12–15+ years of experience in an integrated agency or consultancy, with proven leadership of large-scale, project-based client engagements in pharmaceutical or regulated industries.
- Experience managing portfolios of $5M–$15M+ across multiple brands, with accountability for revenue, profitability, and delivery quality.
- Fluency in MLR processes and tools like Veeva, with the ability to guide teams through submission cycles and regulatory milestones.
- Proven ability to lead omnichannel work across social, digital, CRM, and 360 campaign ecosystems—particularly in pharma.
- Track record of driving organic and new business growth, including RFPs, proposals, and proactive recommendations.
- Experience designing and managing integrated teams across time zones, with a focus on collaboration, cohesion, and resilience.
- Strong leadership in managing client satisfaction and relationship KPIs, including improvement through feedback and CRC processes.
- Exceptional communicator and presenter, with the ability to lead IAT meetings, influence senior stakeholders, and drive alignment across brands.
- Proficient in core business tools (e.g., MS Office, Google Workspace, Zoom, Slack) and experienced working across interdisciplinary teams from strategy to execution.
- This role is based in NYC. Candidates must be located in NYC or willing to relocate before their start date. This position offers a hybrid work model, but regular in-person collaboration is expected.
The hiring range for this position is $ 178,000 to $ 225,000. Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee’s/applicant’s applicable skills, pertinent experience, and qualifications.
