Associate Director

About Us

Initiative unlocks business growth for the world’s most ambitious brands. 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. 

OUR BEHAVIOURS

Initiative respects that everyone has something unique to contribute to the agency.

We are a bunch of eclectic and brilliant misfits with diverse backgrounds that represent the unique fabric of consumers and culture.

We want you to be yourself. We want to hear your opinions. We want to see your passion and energy.

If you disagree with something you see or hear then speak up. We will never punish or penalize you for bringing something important to our attention.

If you believe you can improve something in the agency, then speak up. We will always listen to your ideas and suggestions.

We will not tolerate harassment, bullying or corporate politics. We will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We expect you to be responsible on social media and remember that you represent the agency and should not bring us into disrepute.

We are committed to your learning and development. The agency will organize regular training to enhance and accelerate your career – we expect you to prioritize training and actively participate.

There are 4 central behaviours that bind all Initiative employees together. These behaviours are always encouraged and rewarded by the agency.

We use the acronym “FBDS” to describe them.

They are:

Fearless in our approach.

Be fearless. Push back on clients when appropriate. Have the courage to take bold ideas to the table. If you believe in something don’t take “no” for an answer. Remember, fortune really does favour the brave.

Brilliant in our work.

Everything you do for the agency and our clients must be of the highest standard. Good enough is not good enough. Be obsessed about producing brilliant work. Every day. Every time. No exceptions.

Dynamic in our design.

Be dynamic and agile. Design these things into your plans for clients. Remember we must keep pace with technology and consumers. Don’t be afraid of change, run towards it.

Seamless in our approach.

We sell solutions not services. Always “stitch” together the various services of Initiative and IPG Mediabrands in a way that is seamless for clients. We operate as one united IPG Mediabrands and never in siloes. We will not tolerate “turf wars” across business units and expect you to play nicely in the sandpit as you collaborate with others.

ROLE OVERVIEW

We are currently looking for someone to join the Initiative Health team and be responsible for overseeing one or more of our most strategically important accounts

This is a key role in the development of Initiative Health. As an agency we are driven to do things differently within health, and pave the way for market-changing services that propel client’s businesses forward.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

• Managing Partner, Initiative Health
• Group Directors, Initiative Health
• Manager, CAM, Initiative Health
• Director, Partnerships, Initiative Health
• Associate, CAM, Initiative Health

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Responsible for the day to day leadership of assigned accounts, delivering account stewardship to account team, regional agency teams and clients.
• Monitor the profitability of the account by independently reviewing resource utilisation, proactively flagging areas of concern and supporting the development and implementation of action plans where required. Be driven by commercial success.
• Ensure the different disciplines and respective discipline leads working on assigned account work to one aligned vision and brief.
• Ensure everyone working on assigned account is producing high-quality work that is fully aligned with the client’s brief, priorities, business and marketing targets and other mandatories.
• Develop full immersion into the assigned clients’ business, industry, competitors, priorities as well as marketing and business ambitions and act as a confident consultant and partner to senior client contacts in discussing briefs, priorities and workstreams.
• Build strong working relationships with day to day clients, partner agencies and key CAM counterparts in local market agency teams and ensure regular alignment about client projects and priorities.
• Take holistic responsibility for the steering of the client briefing and planning process and ensure that critical thinking is applied in all work and deliverables for the client.
• Oversee the creation of robust project timing plans and ensure their implementation for the timely delivery of projects.
• Work closely with internal stakeholders to establish and implement solid operational excellence frameworks, including tools, process documentation, operating manuals and financial/invoicing tracking.
• Organise and lead key client meetings including managing of internal and external participants.
• Attend regular update/status meetings with clients and agency stakeholders. Support the CAM team during sensitive client conversations and escalate any issues as appropriate.
• Build, negotiate and create scopes of work (SOW), staffing plans and work closely with commercial teams and local markets to create solid, profitable commercial agreements.
• Proactively identify potential areas of organic revenue growth (out of scope projects, new markets, cross-IPG opportunities) and convert these opportunities.
• Supervise a team of internal stakeholders, provide supervision of day to day delivery and ensure client work is delivered on time and to the highest possible quality standard.
• Provide support and coaching for more junior staff on a day to day basis to support their work and elevate the quality of their delivery. 
• Fully understand and integrate with the IPG data stack, and work with all Insights, Research and Analytics teams to ensure data-led best practice
• Drive a team to deliver against client KPIs
• Drive a team to deliver best in class analytics and data visualization, identifying performance of all campaigns
• Push for innovation in client work at every stage, doing things better than previously acheived
• Have a deep understanding of all Initiative Health services, and the ability to sell-in and run campaigns across all services
• Leading presentation skills to client and colleagues alike
• Attend to detail to ensure projects and client deliverable run on time
• Proactively look to build systems for the client, and wider agency, that improve the efficiency of work
• Contributor to impactful communications plan development to meet client needs and deliver communication ideas
• Provide accurate and timely communications planning inputs in support of the Communications Design process
• Provide timely responses to adhoc client requests as required
• Provide communications, audience intelligence, and data inputs through the application of syndicated and proprietary systems for communications design, goal setting, and decision making
• Contribute to the ideation team sessions in conjunction with the Strategy team and relevant Specialty Business Units to generate creative & compelling connections idea

Behaviours

• Team orientated first and foremost
• Proactive solution finder
• Digilent completer finisher
• Commerically driven with a mindset to win as a team
• Pride in company outputs and team performance

QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

• A keen interest and passion within the health space, prior working experience is desired but not essential
• Passion, creativity and problem solving skills with a can-do attitude.
• A confident and engaging communicator with the ability to present to clients at the highest levels.
• High standards for quality output and an excellent attention to detail.
• The ability to adapt your communication skills to suit rapidly changing client circumstances and internal teams so that you can achieve the best outcome for all stakeholders.
• Ability to work successfully within a team, handling multiple projects and meeting tight deadlines under pressure
• Proactivity and a willingness to maintain an up-to-date knowledge of latest digital marketing opportunities and technology advancements.
• Ability to use the Microsoft tool suite effectively to create presentations, project timing plans, status documents and Statement of Works.
• Strong experience in agency account management.
• Excellent time management and organisation skills, with the ability to track multiple timelines in sometimes high-pressure situations.
• Comfortable developing presentations using insights derived from multiple intelligence sources.
• The ability to occasionally travel domestically and/or internationally.

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 Ninette 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!