Group Director

OUR COMPANY 

Initiative celebrates diversity in an inclusive environment where all of our 6,000+ strong talent across 90+ markets feel seen, heard, and valued. Our vision is to create not only a better media company, but also a better media industry, and maybe even a better world.

We believe in the power of media to reshape our industry and orchestrate a brand’s entire consumer experience, by balancing both what unites people and what makes them different. When brands unite people in culture, they build Fame, and when brands connect individuals to their unique journeys, they build customer Flow. Media responsibility is at the forefront of everything we do, whether it’s creating media plans that reflect the diversity of our communities, promote brand safety, and foster sustainability. 

Our agency celebrates diversity in an inclusive environment where all of our 6,000+ strong talent across 90+ markets feel seen, heard, and valued. Our vision is to create not only a better media company, but also a better media industry, and maybe even a better world.

We make a promise to our people that we double down on seeing, celebrating & elevating all the things that make you, uniquely you. And just as we do for our brands and clients, we connect our people to the journeys that matter in building a meaningful career.

There are four I’s in Initiative and these represent our core values and behaviors.

➢ INDIVID[YOU]ALITY – you bring your genuine and unique self to and into the work, every day.

➢ INSTINCT – you’re tuned in and armed with intelligence; you have a bias for action – shit happens when you’re around.

➢ IMAGINATION – your ability to imagine and bring to life the ideas, solutions, and the future of Initiative, makes us THE create media agency in the world.

➢ IMPACT! – you care deeply about the impact you have on our clients, their customers, our community, the media landscape and our world at large.

Key Responsibilities 

Strategic Leadership
•    Act as the senior voice of business strategy, shaping marketing approaches that drive tangible commercial and brand growth for clients.
•    Lead the creation of brand and performance strategies across the full communications portfolio, ensuring strategies are cohesive, measurable and impactful.
•    Champion audience strategy development, leveraging insights from industry and internal tools and technology platforms, and other proprietary systems to create strategies grounded in robust data.
•    Ensure sufficiency in budget-setting, portfolio management, and investment frameworks, ensuring recommendations are aligned to business objectives.
•    Serve as a senior partner to clients, confidently articulating strategic direction and influencing decision-making at the highest levels.

Driving Fame and Flow
•    Own and embed Initiative’s ‘Fame and Flow’ process across your client portfolio, ensuring strategies align with the agency’s principles of cultural relevance and business impact.
•    Collaborate with the Analytics team to refine and implement proprietary planning, research, and reporting tools, ensuring they are effectively integrated into the agency’s workflow.
•    Partner with Comms Design (planning) to ensure strategies translate seamlessly into execution, delivering cohesive and effective campaigns across media channels.
•    Continuously bring fresh thinking and inspiration to the strategic process, driving award-winning and breakthrough work as well as a bank of case studies..

Pitching and Growth
•    Lead strategy for at least one large and one smaller pitch per anumn and play a key leadership role in high-profile, multi-agency, multi market pitch processes.
•    Actively identify and unlock new growth opportunities within existing client portfolios, helping to position Initiative as an indispensable strategic partner, build prospecting and transformation roadmaps into client work to sell in wider set of strategic services.
•    Represent the agency in industry forums and thought leadership initiatives, showcasing Initiative’s expertise and driving its reputation for strategic excellence.

Crafting Strategy
•    Ensure all strategies demonstrate the highest standards of craft, blending cultural foresight, consumer insight, performance insight and business rigour to create transformative plans.
•    Develop innovative audience strategies by diving deep into consumer behaviours, motivations, and cultural contexts, ensuring all recommendations are rooted in human insight.
•    Use tools such as TGI, GWI, and other proprietary data systems with proficiency, ensuring strategies are informed by relevant and actionable data.
•    Balance long-term brand-building strategies with short-term performance objectives, articulating how they work together to drive overall business success.

External Partnerships and Cultural Foresight
•    Build and maintain relationships with media owners, creative agencies, academic institutions, intermediaries and consultancies, staying ahead of emerging trends and leveraging them to benefit clients. Own specialist relationship with particular passion interest within strategy to create depth of cultural foresight to champion within wider agency.
•    Bring external inspiration into the agency, lead inspiration and bespoke trend sessions for core client roster continuously identifying cultural shifts and industry innovations that can elevate client strategies.

Key Responsibilities 

Planning Leadership
•    Act as the senior voice of planning decisions for the client and the planning team – acting as a ‘sparring partner’ for the client and providing a clear perspective on how the latest trends are impacting our media investment decisions
•    Leading the holistic planning team across Bupa, identifying opportunities for growth for both the team as individuals, their planning output across Bupa, and on the wider client set
•    Champion excellence in planning driving best-in-class solutions and ensuring this filters down across the whole Bupa planning output
•    Demonstrate excellent knowledge and understanding of InterAct (our end-to-end planning solution) and drive adoption across Bupa clients & teams
•    Proactively provide thought-pieces and opportunities for the development of Bupa’s media planning, collaborating with partner agencies to develop and share solutions with Bupa clients and teams

Driving Fame and Flow
•    Working with craft leaders within Initiative and the wider group to elevate and evolve an integrated plan  across ‘Fame and Flow’
•    Develop best in class planning solutions for our clients across Bupa’s entire ecosystem
•    Support and drive the planning team’s understanding and knowledge of ‘Fame & Flow’ principles, process and activation
•    Partner with Strategy to translate strategies into tangible plans & embed Fame & Flow at every level of the plan

Key responsibilities 
Team and Agency Leadership
•    Directly manage a team of strategists & planners across Bupa setting clear goals, overseeing workloads, and fostering professional growth and development, and utilisation of scopes across various brands and projects.
•    With other Comms Design Group Directors deliver Comms Design leadership across the full department – leading by example, creating training & learning opportunities and driving a culture of excellence across every planner in Initiative
•    Act as a senior leader within the agency, setting the tone for strategic excellence and inspiring others to push boundaries in their thinking, lead the strategic initiatives within the agency such as award writing, internal team updates and running workshops with the broader aspects of strategic implementation across the agency outside of the day to day client role.
•    Build and nurture a collaborative team culture, ensuring alignment across Strategy, Comms Design, Analytics, Business Leadership and other craft  departments. Ensure collaborative work and leadershiop meetings amongst senior leaders within each craft.

Qualifications and Skills
•    Extensive experience in a senior strategic role, with at least 10 years experience in a media and/or performance media, having worked at either a media agency, brand, insight platform or media owner and proof of a wider knowledge creative, or integrated communications agency relations.
•    Proven expertise in creating and delivering brand and performance strategies, with a track record of driving both cultural and commercial impact.
•    Deep knowledge of media planning tools and frameworks, including audience insights (TGI, GWI) and portfolio management methodologies.
•    Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence senior clients and stakeholders at the highest level.
•    Strong leadership and mentoring skills, with experience managing and inspiring high-performing teams.
•    A future-focused mindset, with the ability to anticipate emerging trends in media, technology, and consumer behaviour.

Employee Transparency

At IPG Mediabrands, we celebrate differences and believe this makes us stronger. IPG Mediabrands are equal-opportunity employers committed to championing an inclusive culture that provides a sense of belonging for all our employees. We do not discriminate against any applicant based on age, disability, race, colour, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, belief, marital status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Please reach out to our Talent Inclusion Specialist Jess at [email protected] if you would like to have a confidential conversation regarding any adjustments that would ensure our recruitment process is accessible for you. Please note requesting a reasonable adjustment will not affect your application.

The Perks

We aim to provide all our people with a supportive and fun work environment where you can develop your full potential and benefit from the broad range of opportunities within the agency. When you join us, we want to make sure you feel valued – and that you are rewarded for your fantastic work. So, we also offer a range of benefits:

• Flexi–leave, with 25 days annual leave to be taken as minimum. In addition to your holiday entitlement, the office usually closes between Christmas & New Year
• Free breakfast and free lunch
• Early finish Fridays
• Core Hours (Mon-Thurs, flexible start/finish times)
• Retail discounts
• Electric vehicle salary sacrifice car scheme
• Wellbeing programme, including Headspace & flu jabs
• Interest free season ticket loan
• Paid time off for Volunteering
• Group Income Protection
• Life Assurance
• Private Medical Insurance or Health Cash Plan (dependent on level)
• Group Personal Pension Plan with matched contributions from 3-6%
• Generous Parental Leave & Pay
• Independent mortgage advice
• Financial education
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Free eye tests
• Flexible benefits including Dental, Travel insurance, Cycle to Work, Gym Discounts and many more!