Associate Director - Influencer & Social

THE ROLE

Our social & influence team, which sits in our consumer practice, has grown exponentially, and has even bigger ambitions to grow and deliver outstanding campaigns for clients. 

The team works in a fast-paced environment, across B2C clients in retail, food and drink, FMCG and travel, and pitches continuously for new projects.

Our influencer marketing remit includes managing long-term brand ambassadors, developing & activating influencer campaigns, running always-on content creator programmes and integrating with paid social.

As an Associate Director, you will be a big-picture thinker and a trusted advisor to our clients, acting as a leader for both our clients and our account teams.  You will be a CRL (Client Relationship Lead), responsible for providing expert, strategic counsel and driving organic biz dev. You’ll be able to deliver best-in-class campaigns, push clients to "think bigger", as well as inspire and motivate junior talent.

This role gives you the opportunity to work alongside colleagues in PR, creative and studio teams, to make sure campaigns (many of which are integrated) are joined up and seamlessly delivered. You will also be integral to the development of new biz pitches and client proposals (both across Roar and the wider VCCP Group).

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Influencer marketing

• Provide strategic direction for all influencer activity and take ultimate responsibility for the delivery of all campaigns.
• Maintain an expert awareness of the influencer, creator and social landscape, on top of all emerging trends, and advising clients on channel developments.
• Be responsible for developing influencer strategy across clients, including global influencer strategy, campaign strategy and strategic toolkits.
• Have an excellent understanding of the value of role of influencer within the marketing mix, and be able to demonstrate this to clients as part of strategic and creative development.
• Proficiently oversee the development of high-standard talent content across all channels, maintaining quality control for all work from teams. 
• Lead the team in the development of influencer-native creative campaign ideas against strategic objectives, in order to deliver against client KPIs
• Identify and build relationships with influencers, creators and agents
• Have expert knowledge of influencer tools, for both identifying potential creator partners and evaluating campaign results. 
• Advise the team on end-to-end influencer negotiations, leading these personally when complex or high value. 

Client management & account handling

• Be known as a trusted consultative advisor to senior clients, building strong relationships and providing expert counsel on industry and campaign challenges, ensuring best practice account delivery.  
• Take ownership of projects from planning to evaluation, ensuring the delivery of key client KPIs, identifying and troubleshooting issues throughout
• Drive client proposals, bringing in expertise from around the agency (including planning & creative), to deliver best-in-class strategic responses to client brief
• Take responsibility for budget tracking, accurate forecasting and negotiating finances with clients.  

Leadership & agency culture

• Act as a coach and mentor to junior staff, setting clear objectives, conducting progress reviews, and identifying training needs to help them overcome challenges.
• Lead by example to nurture a collaborative team culture, employing various management styles to ensure results while keeping the team motivated and valued.
• Be a proactive player in agency life, contributing to working groups, internal marketing, and the development of training programmes.
• Demonstrate and champion agency values at all times.
• Oversee team capacity and plan resources effectively to ensure the production of best-in-class work.

Business growth 

• Be capable of leading new business pitch opportunities, utilising agency models to develop best-practice pitch documents and campaigns.
• Proactively identify opportunities to grow existing client business by cross-selling services and keeping "one step ahead" with forward planning.
• Take part in networking opportunities either across the group, or in the industry, to secure new prospects and drive marketing opportunities for the agency.
• Support and develop agency "thought leadership" marketing activities and the development of new services/products to drive growth

ROLE SPECIFIC SKILLS REQUIRED

• Recent experience working in an influencer/creator/PR agency environment
• Social media native, with excellent knowledge of Meta and TikTok. Experience on additional social platforms a bonus (Substack, Snapchat etc)
• Excellent presentation, communication and negotiation skills
• Demonstrable commercial experience with experience growing revenues and effectively managing budgets for brand campaigns

ABOUT YOU

• A passion for the power of influence & social and how it can deliver results for clients
• Thrive in a high energy and fast paced environment, where no two days are the same
• Be proactive self-starter with a can-do attitude 
• Strive for excellence - be proud of your work and have meticulous attention to detail
• Friendly and approachable 
• Build rapport and able to quickly establish excellent working relationships 
• Live and breathe the agency’s values

VCCP DE&I STATEMENT

We believe that DE&I is about creating a strong culture of inclusion within our agency, where everyone can thrive and be their authentic self. VCCP is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or ethnicity. If you require any adjustments during the application or interview process, please let us know via [email protected].

CRIMINAL RECORDS INFORMATION

As part of our onboarding process, you will be required to complete a Criminal Records Declaration regarding any unspent convictions. For roles in finance, HR, Legal, IT or senior management, we may be required to verify your declaration with a basic DBS check, as well as an Adverse Finance and ID check.