MullenLowe Lintas Group - Associate Vice President - Servicing

Job Description : 

- This position is for those individuals who excel in Brand Management and have a proven ability to train and lead others. In this role, the Associate / Vice President may be working across either one large or a number of smaller clients.

- The Associate / Vice President is expected to have all knowledge and skills listed within the job description of Senior / Brand Services Director.

Duties : 

The duties broadly describe expectations at this level; some variations may exist due to client and business requirements.

1. Brand Stewardship - Needs to know the most about the brand performance, the category and the business issues of the client, from within the agency. Is able to use this knowledge to discuss and filter the creative product to develop solutions that work for the brand. Is able to manage pressure and prioritise for the entire brand across projects and manage any push back from clients. Provides appropriate elements of 360 degree solutions for all campaigns.

2. Creative Product - Champions and celebrates great creative that works for the brand. Is able to inspire, envision and refine great ideas. Actively seeks and uses available opportunities to contribute to and promote the Agency's creative output. The Associate / Vice President organizes periodical advertising appreciation sessions with the client and exposes them to regional and global communication to facilitate better understanding of creative and marketing strategies.

3. Client Trust - The Associate / Vice President is responsible for building client trust and confidence in the ability of the team to deliver. Is able to use his / her relationship with the client to sell work, tailoring his / her - sell- based on the realities of what will and won- t work with the client or Company.

4. New Business Development- Actively seeks new business opportunities for the agency. Coaches and leads team in new business acquisition initiatives. Goes beyond problem - firefighting- to react to business opportunities from existing or potential clients. Is able to prioritize initiatives and work effectively with short time frames, multiple demands and tight resources.

5. Lowe Planning Toolkit - The Associate / Vice President will have an excellent knowledge of the Lowe Toolkit and ensure that it is used rigorously and appropriately across all his / her brands especially across advertising and creative briefs.

6. Client Brief Approvals - The Associate / Vice President is responsible for ensuring that Creative briefs have been fully signed and approved by clients prior to any creative development work commencing.

7. Communication Effectiveness - The Associate / Vice President will collate and document information that showcases the effectiveness of the brand communication work done by the organization. He / She will acquire and maintain necessary data so that well documented cases can be made.

8. Liaison with Departmental Head - The Associate / Vice President will deal primarily with department heads in, Design, Planning, Production, Commercial, HR and Marketing Services to ensure the smooth running of various projects. They will work with these individuals to solve issues that their team members are encountering.

9. Financial - The Associate / Vice President oversees all elements of the client financial process as managed by his / her Senior / Brand Services Director. Regular team WIP meetings should be held to ensure mastery of these elements.

10. Business Impact - Is aware of and tracks own contribution to the agency's performance in the areas of incremental client revenue, cost control measures, new business initiatives and staff retention and productivity. Is responsible for preparing the Communication Brief for all campaigns.

11. Presentations - The Associate / Vice President may be responsible for client presentations as it relates to budgeting, process, strategy and creative work.

12. Integrated Project Evaluations - The Associate / Vice President is responsible for the analysis of any projects conducted on behalf of the client - obtaining relevant sections from other departments disciplines such as media, PR, event marketing or interactive marketing, when it is an integrated campaign. The Associate / Vice President is also responsible for the presentation of the evaluation to the client.

13. Business Partnerships - The Associate / Vice President will have solid relationships with a variety of suppliers / partners built over time. He / She uses this equity to work with them to provide the team the best solutions in a timely manner.

14. Training / Coaching juniors - A primary responsibility of the Associate / Vice President is to effectively train his / her staff in all elements of his / her job description. Training and coaching involves day-to-day briefings, supervision, appropriate delegation and regular feedback. He / She actively promotes responsibility, trust and recognition to develop the talent and skills of team. He / She ensures that every member of the team completes Job Status Reports, minutes of meetings, and outstanding statements accurately and on time. And that all members of the team are aware of and using the Lowe Planning Toolkit appropriately.

15. Growth Development- The Associate / Vice President is responsible for the evaluation and training of their staff. The Associate / Vice President must provide constructive feedback to their team members so that they are clear on the areas that need improvement. He / She also ensures that direct reports are training their respective teams.

16. Knowledge sharing - Sharing category/ brand knowledge that can help other businesses within the agency.

17. Agency Reputation - Attends and represents the Agency in industry and academic events. Proactively furthers the cause of the Agency when the opportunity arises.

Job Knowledge : 

1. Production & Process - The Associate / Vice President will actively seek for new and innovative ways to improve the Agency production and process structures to better efficiency and costs. They will seek to understand new methodologies and systems as they are introduced into the market to find ways of application.

2. Client Relationship - The Associate / Vice President will be able to establish quick rapport and trust from their range of clients through their thorough knowledge and understanding of the process. They will seek to innovate / improvise with clients when confronted with unseen obstacles / objections.

3. Client Business - The Associate / Vice President should have an excellent understanding of the client's business, markets and brands. They should fully understand their brand's performance and lead through the planner, the development of the communication strategy in the context of its competitors and how it impacts on the brand. He / She must be able to look ahead, anticipate problems and opportunities, and get projects / solutions approved to address them.

4. Media Contact Points - The Associate / Vice President will actively seek to promote holistic communication principles and learning throughout the team and clients in conjunction with the Planner. A comprehensive understanding of the roles and usages of all types of communication media as well as knowledge of how market trends are affecting their usage is thus required.

5. Legal Awareness - Is aware of the limits, responsibilities and implications of communication strategies on our businesses and is able to proactively protect the brand and agency interests.

6. Business and Marketing Knowledge - The Associate / Vice President must demonstrate a clear understanding of the clients business and be a major contributor to the development of brand plans based on thorough understanding of the business the client operates in. Skills should include knowledge of how key businesses are structured internally, understanding company reports, key business theories, and an awareness of day-to-day business news. He / She maintains an awareness and knowledge of contemporary theory and practice in the area of Marketing Communications specifically and Marketing generally.

Professional Skills

1. Creative Appreciation - Has superior creative evaluation skills - is able to distinguish between good work and great. He / She actively seeks out ways to hone this skill in self and develop it in junior reports.

2. Negotiation Skills - The Associate / Vice President must be able to negotiate on behalf of the client to ensure that the client receives maximum value for any costs going through the Agency. Similarly, the Associate / Vice President must be able to defend Agency costs and timelines to the client. These negotiations are based upon truly understanding the nature of the costs and project flow as well as understanding the client and suppliers- points of view.

3. Coaching Skills - The Associate / Vice President is able to train his / her Brand Services Director, and Senior / Brand Services Manager reports to achieve excellence in their job description and the attainment of rapid professional growth. The Associate / Vice President must fully understand the performance evaluation system in order to effectively evaluate and provide feedback to the Senior / Brand Services Director and ensure they are doing the same to their own reports.

4. Presentation and Communication Skills - The Associate / Vice President must demonstrate excellent written and verbal skills. He is a clear, persuasive and comfortable presenter.

5. Interpersonal skills - The Associate / Vice President successfully manages through the issues that may arise from his / her staff in terms of interdepartmental communication and efficiency.

- He / she must develop a strong working relationship with senior departmental heads, Commercial, Marketing Services and Production to enable this and so ensure he / she drives seamless integrated communication along with their Brand Services Director.