PR Account Director

ABOUT HALPERN

If you want to future proof your career in PR, Comms and Influencer Marketing then Halpern is the agency for you. We are an entrepreneurial, mid-size agency with a tenacious start-up approach, which is coupled with having the stability of being minority owned by WPP, the worlds largest network of global advertisers. We are also partners in T&Pm – a global group of ambitious agencies designed to help comms move at the speed of life. From creative, to strategy, experiential, production, social and paid media, joining the Halpern team will give you unrivalled access to our partner agencies and unlimited learning opportunities across the full marketing mix.

But that’s not all. Our enviable client portfolio spans global innovators, culturally relevant trendsetters and purpose-led brands which demand change and action. We are proud to be partners with Google, Co-op and Five Guys to name just a few.

And it doesn’t end there. We know now more than ever the importance of looking after our people and building an agency which the team are proud of and enjoy. Our ever-expanding employee benefits package includes multiple work/life balance perks, private medical care and a generous family policy care package too. We also have an in-house Learning & Development Coach on permanent staff who oversees our extensive bespoke staff training plan. Covering all levels from entry level practitioner skills to advanced senior team members, our curriculum covers resilience, building high performance teams, writing skills, presentation workshops, time management, creativity, line management and more.

We are committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion through our recruitment process and welcome applicants of all backgrounds. We have set up a number of DE&I initiatives across the network over the last decade which include:

• Unite! – aiming to improve the representation and experience of LGBTQ+ people across our business and WPP’s global network, build better futures for our people and our clients and take responsibility for our industry and its influence
• #AdlandCommits – we have committed to promoting true racial equality across our business, signing up to the #AdlandCommits pledge and building these commitments into our diversity, equality and inclusion strategy; as well as into our business planning and performance metrics
• The Collective – promoting smart ways of working that enable everyone to be successful whoever they are and wherever they’re from. The Collective currently represents the following pillars: ethnic diversity, gender, LGBTQ+ and neurodiversity
• Girls On Tour – a team of our creatives who tour universities and schools across the UK to inspire young creatives to start a career in advertising - and promote access to the industry to young female creative talent
• Ambitious About Autism – we’ve partnered with Ambitious About Autism for their intern programme, diversifying our intake of employees and creating an inclusive environment for neurodiverse people. Alongside this, we also have a number of Neurodiversity champions, who have completed neurodiversity training and work with our recruitment and management teams to improve hiring and development processes

ABOUT THE ROLE

Self-Management

• Manage personal time effectively: complete all assigned tasks in a timely, high quality fashion
• Manage priorities effectively: respond immediately and effectively to short and long-term requests/changes
• Ensure completion of Adserve timely and accurately

Client Campaign Development and Results Management

• Take a leading role in creative campaign development. Ensuring that strategies and content are channel appropriate and aligned to client’s communications and business objectives. Where appropriate working with wider &Partnership agencies to bring in wider expert thinking and capabilities
• Lead on the establishment of campaign KPI’s and be responsible for generating and delivering results that deliver success
• Oversee the monitoring and reporting of client campaign activity.
• Develop direction of team media approaches – sharing contacts, media knowledge and expertise
• Keep abreast of communications, media and marketing industry trends to build your skills and knowledge base so that your work is powered by the latest thinking

Team Management

• Monitor and manage team time to reduce over-servicing
• Ensure your team meet client campaign plan and budget objectives through good planning, project management, problem anticipation and solution development, and resourcefulness in reallocation of tasks, staff and budget
• Work with your senior team to manage account workflows effectively through performance management – providing clear communication of individual performance goals for each team member
• Manage upwards effectively, ensuring you are providing support and counsel to your manager as required
• Escalate appropriate decisions and problems to your manager and if necessary senior agency management quickly with suggestions on resolutions.
• Ensure each team member is a full performer, providing on the ground coaching and direction
• Lead/hold motivational weekly team meeting, ensuring that your team have a positive and can do attitude, and are constantly looking for proactive opportunities to present to the client
• Work collaboratively with other teams and divisions within the agency to ensure that best-in-class ideas are developed and share and that output and content maximises all channel and influencer opportunities
• Create a strong support system amongst your team, ensuring all team’s members feel motivated, valued and involved
• Identify strong talent within your team and work closely with them to manage their development
• Work closely with your senior team to create and implement your divisional development strategy
• Support with recruitment for your team, conducting interviews and helping to source the best possible candidate for the role.

Leadership Development

• Maintain a high level of effective team and senior management communication through meetings and one-on-one contact
• Motivate team members to achieve high productivity levels through constructive feedback, appropriate praise and recognition and leading by example
• Demonstrate good judgement and decision-making, and a common sense, solution-focussed approach to challenges
• Make high quality recommendations regarding hiring, promotions, and account assignments as a result of your observations
• Ensure your team are fully aware of client account strategy, tactics and performance standards
• Come up with proactive opportunities for both clients and the agency to showcase work, skills, etc.

Client Management

• Achieve account plan and budget through disciplined follow-up, using early problem detection and resolution, and appropriate resource reallocation
• Draft strategies for forthcoming year - producing optimal plans by analysis and solid understanding of client’s business and marketplace
• Provide regular concise, clear communication of programme / project progress to client
• Be a focal point for assurance of team and client satisfaction: ‘deliver’ on client’s needs, request proactively and reactively, and working interdependently with teams to deliver results when needed. Be the day to day go-to person for your client
• Ensure written materials from your team are of a consistently high quality as a result of good quality control practice and high quality editing
• Realistically manage client expectations of results within budget constraints.
• Increasingly base the success of your client relationship upon quality and frequency of counselling-oriented observations, suggestions on business communications issues, balanced with ongoing programme communication, (no “surprises) and consistently high levels of responsiveness
• Deliver consistently high levels of client satisfaction by great responsiveness to client requests and timely, valued advice on programme concept and execution
• Provide client with total accessibility, both to you personally and to appropriate resources
• Maintain hands on implementation of all approved activity across the account.

Financial Results

• Expand Halpern budget by identifying and seizing opportunities to address additional client business issues in a profitable fashion, and by active participation in successful new business pitches
• Oversee all client billing schedule and budgets
• Exceed your new business goal through effectively seeking out and converting new business leads. Identifying new business opportunities through cultivating relationships within your sector whether that’s with prospect contacts, journalists or other non-competitive agencies
• Accurately forecast future client revenue stream for assigned programmes / projects

T&Pm Collaboration and Integration

• Educate and involve yourself in the wider agency network. Ensuring you understand and are able to communicate its benefits to clients and new business prospects
• Develop effective working relationships with colleagues within T&Pm. Actively seeking opportunities for collaborations that build success for The Group and its clients
• Ensure expertise and client success is actively communicated to agencies and colleagues within T&Pm, to maintain and continue to build Halpern’s profile with The Group