The posting
Company description Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game—they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a “me-too” product into “yes-please.” The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring clients’ market positions are uniquely owned. Heartbeat designs their organization around a 100% integration model, housing media, strategy, med comms, creative, technology, and even point of care/population health under the same roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. They price work based on outcomes, not outputs. Their innovative model delivers not only alignment, but powerful orchestration, greater efficiency, and maximum impact for every dollar spent—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph. That’s the philosophy, here’s the creds: 250+ employees between NYC & LA; 6 agency leaders with decades of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the Mannys, MM&M Awards, OMMAs, and Clios; an industry-leading commitment to diversity and inclusion (with a Med Ad News D&I Champion nod to match); and a President who dared to be quoted as saying, “We celebrate people who stand up and say, ‘You know what? This is dumb.' Damn straight. Overview We’re looking for a VP, Account Director to lead a medical education-focused business and help turn complex science into meaningful, engaging experiences for healthcare professionals. This is a senior client leadership role for someone who can operate comfortably at the intersection of science, strategy, content and agency leadership. Responsibilities Own and grow senior client relationships, serving as a trusted day-to-day and strategic partner across the business. Lead medical education engagements from strategic planning through execution, ensuring programs are scientifically credible, audience-relevant and aligned to client objectives. Partner closely with medical, strategy, creative, experience, project management and other agency disciplines to translate complex clinical and scientific information into clear, compelling HCP education. Provide senior oversight across educational initiatives such as scientific content, HCP engagement programs, congress-related work, peer-to-peer education and other medical education experiences, as appropriate to the account. Bring a strong understanding of the healthcare landscape and the needs of HCP audiences to client recommendations and agency planning. Set the vision for the account, connect the work back to broader client priorities and ensure teams understand both the strategy and the “why” behind it. Lead senior-level presentations, strategic conversations and challenging client situations with confidence, clarity and sound judgment. Oversee scopes, budgets, revenue forecasts and resourcing, with accountability for the financial health of the business. Identify organic growth opportunities, contribute to new business efforts and help strengthen how medical education expertise is integrated across HCP work and client relationships. Lead through influence across the integrated team, creating clarity, strong cross-functional partnership and accountability without direct people-management responsibility. Qualifications 10+ years of healthcare agency experience, with significant experience leading client relationships and complex accounts. Deep medical education experience and a strong understanding of scientific storytelling, HCP engagement and the rigor required when working with clinical content. Experience partnering with medical and scientific teams and working across functions to deliver integrated programs. A strong command of account leadership, including strategic planning, scope development, financial management, forecasting and resource planning. The ability to understand a client’s business holistically and connect scientific, strategic and executional considerations into a clear recommendation. Excellent presentation and communication skills, with the executive presence to guide senior clients and internal leaders through complex decisions. A growth mindset and the ability to spot opportunities, shape solutions and build trusted relationships that expand the business. Hell yes, I want to do all of that. But tell me more about Heartbeat… Heartbeat is a healthcare marketing & creative agency, headquartered in NYC and powered by ~300 smart people all over the US. In the past four years, we’ve been named a 4-time “Best Place to Work” by AdAge and MM+M and a “Diversity & Inclusion Champion” by MedAdNews. We care about three big things: 1. Empowering Challenger Brands We work with marketers who have big mountains to climb and the ambition to make it happen. As their sherpa and sidekicks, we must relentlessly deliver on our core values: insightful, inventive, and courageous. 2. Being the Best Place You’ll Ever Work This isn’t all pool tables and Bagel Fridays — it’s about giving you the support to do and be your best. Examples include the ability to work wherever (forever), unlimited PTO, and self-care stipends. We also love to let loose, whether through selfie scavenger hunts or bouts of companywide bingo that would shock even the rowdiest retirement communities. 3. Fostering a Diverse & Caring Community We’re the most diverse agency in healthcare, by design. No matter your story, you’ll find representation and amplification — through our affinity groups, cultural celebrations, and unwavering support no matter what society throws at us. We’re proud to say that you can be anything you want at Heartbeat (as long as it’s not an a**hole). There’s a reason 1/3 of Heartbeaters have been here for 4+ years and we have a 90% retention rate. We hope you’ll experience it for yourself. Additional information Our Publicis Groupe motto “Viva La Différence” means we’re better together, and we believe that our differences make us stronger. It means we honor and celebrate all identities, across all facets of intersectionality, and it underpins all that we do as an organization. We are focused on fostering belonging and creating equitable & inclusive experiences for all talent. Publicis Groupe provides robust and inclusive benefit programs and policies to support the evolving and diverse needs of our talent and enable every person to grow and thrive. Our benefits package includes medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401K, as well as parental and family care leave, family forming assistance, tuition reimbursement, and flexible time off. If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact [email protected]. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines. #LI-LD3 Compensation Range: USD $149,340.00 - USD $239,148.00/Annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. This role may also be eligible for bonus or incentive compensation. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 11/2/2026.
