About Run

Run Communications is a purpose-driven sports communications agency, delivering campaigns that create real impact.

We partner with brands, rights holders and organisations to deliver creative, culturally relevant work that inspires action and delivers measurable results.

We believe in the power of sport to drive positive change - improving physical and mental health, strengthening communities and creating opportunities. We work with people and organisations who share that belief.

We take a different approach - combining insight, creativity and a diverse network of collaborators to deliver work that stands out and resonates.

You’ll be working on some of the biggest events in sport including the Olympic & Paralympic Games as well as across a great rosta of high profile clients. Our client partners include The National Lottery, Red Roses, Invictus Games Birmingham 2027, parkrun, MCC & Lord’s Cricket Ground, PlayHQ, UK Coaching and Swim England.

The Role

This is a pivotal leadership role within Run, with responsibility for shaping and growing a core part of the business — driving both commercial performance and the standard of work across the agency.

You will operate as part of the senior leadership layer, helping to define how we work, how we grow, and the standards we set as an agency.

You will lead from the front - driving new business, elevating client work, and ensuring exceptional delivery across a portfolio of high-profile campaigns.

This role requires a commercially minded operator with strong agency instincts - someone who can identify opportunity, convert it into revenue, and build long-term client partnerships.

You’ll bring a blend of big brand and /or government and sport experience, with a passion for purpose-led work and the role sport can play in driving societal impact.

You will play a key role in positioning Run as a leader in sport, impact and culture — delivering work that increases visibility, drives participation and creates meaningful change.

Key Responsibilities

New Business & Growth

• Own and drive a defined area of revenue growth, with clear accountability for new business generation and contribution to agency targets
• Proactively identify, develop and convert new business opportunities across brands, rights holders and organisations
• Lead pitch processes end-to-end — from proposition development through to delivery
• Drive organic growth across existing clients, identifying and converting new opportunities
• Contribute to wider agency business planning, identifying opportunities for growth, partnerships and positioning

Campaign Excellence & Creative Impact

• Set the creative and strategic standard for campaigns across your portfolio
• Lead the development of bold, culturally relevant ideas that drive earned media and audience impact
• Oversee the delivery of integrated campaigns across PR, content, digital and social
• Ensure strong media strategy and senior press relationships are maintained and leveraged effectively
• Push teams to deliver work that stands out creatively and commercially

Leadership & Client Delivery

• Own the strategic direction and performance of a portfolio of clients, ensuring both quality of work and commercial success
• Act as a senior client lead, providing strategic counsel and building trusted, long-term relationships
• Serve as a senior escalation point for both clients and internal teams
• Ensure all work is insight-led, clearly planned and delivers against defined objectives and KPIs
• Drive high standards across planning, execution, reporting and evaluation

Team Leadership

• Build and lead a high-performing team, setting clear expectations and driving accountability
• Mentor and develop team members, ensuring strong progression and performance
• Actively identify and address performance gaps, raising standards across the team
• Foster a culture of collaboration, ownership and creative ambition
• Contribute to the wider agency culture as a visible and influential leader

Operational & Commercial Excellence

• Ensure all work is delivered efficiently, profitably and to a consistently high standard
• Oversee resourcing, ensuring teams are structured effectively to deliver against client needs
• Manage budgets and financial performance across accounts
• Balance quality of output with commercial performance
• Support the MD and senior leadership team in driving overall agency performance

Experience:

• 10+ years’ experience in PR / communications / sport or brand, with significant time operating at a senior level within an agency
• Proven track record of driving new business and delivering sustained client growth
• Experience working with government organisations, major brands and/or within the sports industry
• Strong experience leading integrated campaigns across PR, digital and social
• Demonstrable success delivering high-impact, culturally relevant campaigns
• Experience advising senior stakeholders and acting as a trusted strategic partner
• Strong commercial acumen, including ownership of budgets and contribution to profitability
• Proven experience leading, developing and managing teams

Skills & Attributes

• Commercially driven with a strong growth mindset
• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate insight into action
• Strong relationship builder, able to influence at senior levels
• Confident and compelling communicator
• Highly organised with strong attention to detail
• Calm, decisive and solutions-focused under pressure
• Collaborative but accountable — leads by example
• Proactive, entrepreneurial and comfortable with ambiguity

What Sets You Apart:

• A genuine passion for sport and its power to drive positive change
• A proven ability to spot and convert commercial opportunities
• A desire to build and shape something, not just deliver campaigns
• A strong belief in building, leading and developing high-performing teams

Please apply by submitting your CV (two pages maximum), along with a 250–300 word pitch as to why you’re the ideal candidate for this role to [email protected].