Business Director - Channels Strategy

Business Director, Channels Strategy

Group: Mindshare Worldwide

Reports to: Digital Lead

Mindshare is a media services company that accelerates Good Growth for its clients. Our company values of energy, empathy and impact bind together our diverse global family of 10,000 people from every culture and with every specialist skill you can imagine. People at Mindshare create ideas and solutions that help not only our clients, but also the industry and the world.

What We Can Offer You

At Mindshare Worldwide, we offer a competitive salary package, with 25 days holiday increasing with service to a maximum of 30 days, with the option to buy an extra 5 days per year. We also have an enhanced pension scheme, Bupa healthcare, a monthly wellbeing fund and early finishes on a Friday during summer. These are just some of the great benefits we offer.

Based ten minutes from London Bridge tube station, our office has a rooftop with 360 views of London – a great space to hang out with colleagues and friends!

We also offer an extensive training programme to help guide your career development, there’s a wide range of options to suit everyone at all levels of your career.

Our Values & Behaviours

Our new values, of Energy, Empathy and Impact not only align with our Good Growth ambition but represent our commitment and dedication to our people, helping them grow their careers, fostering creativity, embracing humanity, and changing the world. At Mindshare we are open to difference. We believe in being open and supportive of our people and all their differences to help them succeed. Be different at Mindshare and use your difference to shape the world through media.

Channel & Solutions

Channel & Solutions exists to evolve how we engage with clients across all things digital – where it be strategy, activation, or consultancy. For us it’s about how we leverage and integrate our capabilities, tools and people to drive growth for clients. We understand that setting up and optimising media isn’t enough, we need to understand the eco-system that influences true business performance, and the role media plays in influencing that and be able to adapt it to drive stronger business outcomes. As part of Channel & Solutions, there is a collective of Channel management (media activation), Channels Strategy (solutions building) and Channel Development (capability enrichment).

The Role

The Business Director will hold a key role in the development and ongoing management of the channel strategy function within Channel & Solutions. As a Channel Strategist, you will be expected to identify, introduce, and lead how we bring together the full digital landscape (i.e PESO from a Paid perspective, offline and online synergy, maturity auditing and solution deployment). Where possible a single digital brief will enable the channels strategy role the flexibility to promote the most robust plan possible to drive client growth, whilst maximizing the abilities within the agency network and industry.

Whilst operating in a department and team-based structure, you will be expected to guide and develop digital knowledge across the team so to fully leverage their channel skills whilst also outlining the foundation of decisioning and strategy for your choices in digital. As a senior lead of digital in the agency the role will contribute to the creation and sharing of opinion pieces, being part of and chairing EMEA wide leaderships groups and councils, development of training material etc.

The Ideal Candidate

As a leader, you will have a proven track record in managing, leading, and inspiring and integrating teams from across the business and within the client. Each proposal may be different and require different stakeholder engagement, therefore a wide understanding for the digital eco-system is paramount.

You will be expected to demonstrate digital expertise that covers Search, Social and Programmatic practice whilst also engaging further to incorporate organic influence, content and creative impact and the role of deep insight and analytics to inform decisioning.

Internally you will be responsible for all elements of a soft P&L, identifying and growing opportunities for the client and the agency. The ideal candidate will also have the ability to comfortably discuss the impact of digital activity and possess the skill to cross-sell and up-sell other digital channels to help grow our clients’ business.

Role Responsibilities

• Be responsible for integrated strategy across all digital channels, paid and organic, and the integration of offline synergy planning with digital
• Senior point of contact for Channels Strategy across your client portfolio
• As part of an evolving team structure, the channel strategy role will be directly responsible for a grouping of your client's markets and the corresponding business units in those markets.
• Integration of capabilities and supporting requirements within the team such as informing data or analytical models, DCO and content
• Supporting performance and client growth from the Mindshare framework of thinking
• Implement ways of working that enhance our digital practice, including forecasting, integrating audience strategy into digital, building for profit or LTV.
• Pushing for consistency and governance
• Setting client KPIs across all channels in line with analytics capabilities or our agreed measurement framework
• Works with the Connections team to ensure strong integration into overall strategy and market context

Agency Responsibilities

Developing our product

• Responsible for the Digital capability for group of clients and proactive development of our capabilities.
• Full Digital channel integration and development.
• Responsible for the Integration of key disciplines/markets into the strategic development as well as the planning process ensuring that all key recommendations integrate insights to deliver against client’s business outcomes.
• Responsible for multichannel New Business, including but not restricted to supporting pitches, building creds, launching new products and services, upselling/cross-selling, prospecting etc.
• In partnership with Client Teams, Partners, Business and Account Director(s), lead the Digital conversation for clients.
• Ensure the team is creating and updating account roadmaps for every client, covering testing, innovation, growth and other elements associated with Outcomes.
• Deliver a consistent, best-in-class approach to Digital, rooted in Best Practice Framework and raise any barriers to this to channel Partners and Managing Partner.

Raising our profile

• Surface and share great work from the team and ensuring that case studies are regularly created.
• Proactive contribution to relevant industry awards, creation of an awards roadmap and report on awards performance (submitted, shortlisted, won/lost, etc.)
• Regular development of opinion pieces related to multi-channel to be shared across EMEA, build external and internal profile and act as a thought leader in the Digital space.
• Contribute to key industry events and represent Mindshare
• Build and maintain relationships with Clients, Client Leads, as well as offering strategic guidance to help grow the business and strengthen the relationship
• Support Senior leadership and line manager with regular updates on up-and-coming innovation, changes to industry landscape

Inspiring our people

• Maintain a positive attitude towards all areas of our work and constantly looking for opportunities and new solutions.
• Regular maintenance of talent development plans and work with our HR team to develop training plans to plug any skill gaps around the team
• Play an active role in defining the profile of candidates entering the Channels team and ensuring there is a consistent and welcoming onboarding experience for all new starters
• Establish a relationship with key senior clients, through QBRs/proactive initiatives.
• Regularly update the team on live initiatives, business performance, new business opportunities and any other relevant topics

Driving our process

• Identify and drive the implementation of the right technology to remove silos and streamline communication.
• Constantly review all our processes, test & learn, optimization, and other processes to identify opportunities for improvement in effectiveness or efficiency
• Key contributor to Defining, Designing and Delivery of all processes, way of working etc. Including improving and scaling what’s already in existence, creating new ways of working and eradication of old ineffective and inefficient ways of working

Ensuring our profitability

• Contribution to the soft P&L for the group of client(s) assigned. Build, own and operate the Digital P&L and provide regular Monthly updates to line manager. This will also include creating an annual Business Plan and updating the New Business sales Pipeline.
• In collaboration with relevant stakeholders, identify opportunities for negotiation with clients/client leads where additional funding is required for resource, or SLA/SOWs need to be reviewed/amended.
• Support and deliver new business pitches and drive the new revenue streams agenda.
• Commercially driven and forward thinking in the expansion of business opportunities, entrepreneurial in mind-set and always looking to develop incremental or new services both centrally and locally

Key requirements

• Substantial demonstrable success in managing and leading the digital agenda.
• Proven success in stakeholder management and ability to build relationships with clients and partners.
• Experience in leading new business pitches and driving organic growth.
• Proven commercial success of driving business growth and creating new revenue streams.
• Proven track record in understanding performance and good understanding of the wider media mix.
• Strong technology understanding (AdTech and MarTech) as well as attribution models, cross-channel planning and buying, etc.

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