Partner Director

JD – Partner/Director, London

Job Reference:
PD25

Location:
London

Eligibility:
Candidates must have the right to work in the UK

We're looking for an entrepreneurial Partner/Director with "co-founder energy", who will bring and grow a book of business and guide delivery.

If you want to work for yourself and be autonomous — augmented, enabled and empowered by a brand like Studio Zao, with its experience, methodologies, capabilities, and capacities — in order to grow a business and be able to have a good share of its commercial success — then read on.

About Studio Zao

Studio Zao is a small but mighty consultancy, with the mission to revolutionise the world through making complex, strategic and impactful business ideas happen — designing, testing and building propositions with data and AI — and building the capability inside teams and organisations to be more innovative and entrepreneurial.

We work with a diverse and expanding range of clients, including Sport England, Pearson, EY, the NHS, Target, Aptar, Pfizer, Institute of Cancer Research, Tamworth and Torbay Councils, Transport for London, Crisis, UCL and Imperial College London, amongst others.

We pride ourselves on delivering excellent client outcomes, whilst learning from every engagement, and having fun whilst doing it. We have an entrepreneurial mindset with room to experiment, balanced with mature commercial judgement. We're small, nimble, and "sleeves‑rolled‑up". We have a supportive and low‑politics environment where people are valued for what they bring and who they are. We get to work on some of our clients most strategically important challenges, as well as help build entrepreneurial skills in their teams and ours.

Importantly, we're a diverse, fun-loving bunch of no-nonsense individuals with an eclectic mix of interests. We are people who care about what we do, how we do it and most importantly, why it matters. If you do too, then Studio Zao might just be the place for you.

Who We're Looking For

We're looking for an experienced individual. Someone who will pair proven commercial acumen and experience of growing client-focused consultative work, with intellectual curiosity and execution pragmatism.

You can open doors, shape opportunities with clients, and guide delivery so the work lands well. You're motivated by building enduring client value as well as short‑term wins, and growing the value of Studio Zao as a business, with the backing of a supportive team.

You're someone who wants the autonomy to manage your own time, priorities and focuses, to deliver value, and you want to bring your best to "level up" Studio Zao.

Who This Role Might Suit

Independent builder:
You've been running your own independent consultancy or portfolio of work, but want greater scale, support and upside, without losing autonomy, flexibility and entrepreneurialism.

Frustrated inside a firm:
You've proven you can sell and deliver, but want less politics and more freedom to build your book of business, your way, with a team that has your back.

If you recognise yourself in any of these – we would love to talk to you.

What You'll Do

• Originate and close:
  Build a personal pipeline and close £0.9m–£2m in years 1-2.
• Establish and expand accounts:
  Add key client accounts in years 1-2 and grow them into multi‑stream relationships.
• Create offerings:
  Package work, approaches and tools into sharp, scalable and proprietary offers.
• Build capability:
  Coach team members to upskill knowledge and skills.
• Guide delivery:
  Lead steering meetings and key decisions; scope, approve and guide execution.

Requirements

• Circa £750k of personal billings in the last 24 months (new or expanded work you owned)
• Evidence of leading multi‑stakeholder delivery and cultivating ongoing client account relationships positioned as advisor/peer
• A warm and live senior network you can activate quickly
• Existing sectoral experience, network and focus across any of the following:
• Healthcare and life sciences
• Consumer, brands, commerce
• Infrastructure, energy, assets, property
• Financial services
• Education

What We Offer

You will join Studio Zao's journey just as much as Studio Zao will join yours — because it'll be a partnership between us, with risk and reward.

Therefore, we offer:

• Significant share of gross profit that you bring
• Company bonuses based on the overall performance of the business
• Base salary that de-risks this for you, and renegotiated at the end of year 1
• Share options roadmap with clear vesting time periods — contingent on commercial performance

How To Apply

• If you're interested, email
  
  with your CV and covering note, with the subject line
  "Re: Partner/Director Role PD25"
  .