Managing Director (New York)

Location: New York

Compensation: $120,000 / Year + Commission.

Start Date: 09/01/26

Company Description VMGROUPE is a full-service agency that operates as an extension of clients’ internal teams, focused on creating desire and driving transformative growth for leading and high-profile brands. The agency specializes in luxury sectors including beauty, fashion, jewelry, horology, fragrances, fine foods, wine & spirits, real estate, automotive, aviation, tourism, and hospitality. In a highly digital landscape, VMGROUPE delivers exceptional branding, memorable content, compelling storytelling, and high-conversion campaigns. Since 2006, the team has been elevating brands through strategic insight, creative excellence, and a deep understanding of premium and luxury markets.

Role Description

The Managing Director is the operating force behind VMGROUPE, turning vision into momentum, standards into systems, and ambition into sustainable growth. We are seeking an experienced agency leader to direct the day-to-day performance of the business and ensure every department, client relationship, and workstream operates with clarity, accountability, and excellence. Reporting to the Founder and Chief Creative Officer, you will lead the agency across account management, creative, strategy, production, social, communications, performance marketing, finance, people operations, and new business. You will translate the agency’s vision into operating priorities, ensuring teams understand what matters, who owns it, and how success will be measured. You will own the health of the agency across revenue, profitability, client satisfaction, team performance, resource planning, operational efficiency, and quality of delivery. You will create the structure that allows VMGROUPE to scale without losing its standards, culture, creative edge, or humanity. This role requires a decisive operator, trusted client partner, commercial thinker, and emotionally intelligent leader who can hold the full picture while remaining close to the work.

You will serve as the agency’s central point of alignment, balancing commercial performance, creative ambition, client trust, and team wellbeing. By strengthening leadership accountability, anticipating risks, and improving how decisions are made, you will create the conditions for VMGROUPE to grow with discipline, consistency, and confidence. This role requires a decisive operator, trusted client partner, commercial thinker, and emotionally intelligent leader who remains close to the work while maintaining command of the whole.

You are:

You are a seasoned agency leader who knows how to lead people, protect relationships, strengthen operations, and drive commercial performance.

You bring order to complexity without slowing momentum. You see risks early, address issues directly, and create clear paths forward. You understand when a team needs direction, when a leader needs support, and when a decision needs to be made.

You are commercially astute and creatively fluent. You understand the financial mechanics of an agency and the conditions required for exceptional work. You know how scopes, staffing, timelines, margins, client expectations, and team morale influence one another.

You lead with authority without creating fear. You set high standards, communicate with precision, and hold people accountable with fairness and consistency.

You are comfortable advising a founder, leading senior executives, presenting to clients, resolving conflict, reviewing financial performance, shaping a proposal, and stepping into a complex project when leadership is required.

You do not wait for problems to become visible. You build the systems that prevent them.

Qualifications

• 10+ years demonstrated leadership experience in agency, consultancy, or brand-side environments, with a focus on luxury, premium, or high-profile brands.
• Proven track record in strategic planning, brand development, and integrated marketing across digital and traditional channels.
• Strong client relationship management skills, including experience managing executive-level stakeholders and complex, multi-market accounts.
• Operational management capabilities, including budgeting, resource planning, performance measurement, and process optimization.
• Experience driving new business opportunities, pitching concepts, and closing strategic partnerships.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and persuasively.
• Collaborative leadership style, with a commitment to developing talent, promoting inclusion, and maintaining a positive team culture.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field; advanced degree or equivalent experience is beneficial.
• Comfort working in a hybrid environment in New York, NY, with the ability to manage in-person and remote teams effectively.
• Experience working with brands in sectors such as beauty, fashion, jewelry, fragrances, fine foods, wine & spirits, real estate, automotive, aviation, tourism, or hospitality is a strong plus.