SPORT SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR

We have an opportunity for a Senior Account Director to join the Sport team. Along with a passion and expertise in sports marketing, we’re looking for someone to lead across big brands, delivering major, multi-layered campaigns. You’ll have a breadth of knowledge that encompasses PR, partnerships, sponsorship, digital, experiential and influencer engagement.

About Us

M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment creates change for brands by making them culturally relevant in people’s passions. We forge enduring connections between brands and consumers through their love of sport, entertainment, and culture.

Our clients include, adidas, Amstel, Ballantine’s, Barclaycard, Barclays, Coca-Cola, Dettol, Dreams, Heineken, Kia, Old El Paso, UEFA Women’s Euro England 2022, Virgin Media O2 and WHOOP. With offices in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Sydney, New York and Johannesburg, a team of specialists deliver the agency’s core disciplines across sport, entertainment and lifestyle, including sponsorship consultancy, rights amplification, PR, branded content creation & experiential production.

Our work has been awarded across the board, including six-time Agency of the Year at the Sport Industry Awards and two-time large Agency of the Year at the UK Sponsorship Awards. The agency is driven by the philosophy of ‘Brutal Simplicity of Thought’, which has been the M&C Saatchi (UK) Group’s mantra since birth: simple messages are the most powerful, making Brutal Simplicity of Thought more valid today than ever before.

M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment sits within the M&C Saatchi Group. Beyond this, the M&C Saatchi global network spans 23 countries with major hubs in the UK, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia and Australia.

Your Role

As a Senior Account Director on the sport team, you have a robust, integrated skillset and breadth of knowledge that extends beyond PR into the wider marketing sphere, covering partnerships, sponsorship, digital, experiential and influencer engagement. You have extensive experience in being the account lead across big brands, who is well versed in delivering major, multi-layered campaigns for these brands.

You are hyper-organised, revelling in the detail and express huge levels of passion and enthusiasm for your work. You demonstrate an ability to write with flair and can craft strategically sound presentations, whilst delivering innovative and creative solutions for your clients. You deliver work to the highest possible standard, motivating your team and keep client satisfaction high. You have an awareness of global culture, current trends, media and technology.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic planning
• Creative idea generation
• Delivery and implementation of UK & international PR campaigns
• Toolkit writing and creation of assets
• Branded content creation
• Event management and delivery
• Partnership negotiation and delivery (brand / media)
• Talent negotiation, management and contracting
• Delivery of effective social media campaigns (within context of broader integrated campaigns)
• Delivery of influencer engagement programmes
• Budget management / ownership, including monitoring and reconciliation (plus fee negotiation)
• Manage a small team JAE’s to AM’s
• Contribute to new business pitches
• Attend relevant industry events
• Deliver tasks outlined below in a highly proficient and authoritative way
• Show a broader development of the skills outlined in this document
• Display a deep and expert knowledge and specialism within your role
• Achieve new business wins where relevant and possible
• Take responsibility for wider agency related tasks

Job Specification

Marketing and PR:

Ensure that successful PR output is at the heart of all client work

Display a sophisticated understanding of how PR enables clients to achieve their business objectives and provide competent counsel against their commercial deliverables

Media Management:

Have a strong knowledge of media being able to offer your team and client council on the media landscape and fully understand media’s needs and requirements

Maintain strong relationships with key high-level media across all relevant clients

Manage your team to ensure they are delivering rich editorial opportunities

Aware of all client coverage and articles of interest, as informed by more junior members of the team

Aware of any coverage issues your team may face ahead of it becoming an issue with your client and deliver effective solutions

Social Media:

Define relevant client strategy based on brief and objectives

Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the social media / digital media landscape – in relation to your client’s digital presence and objectives

Incorporate relevant digital mechanics / strategy into client responses

Help to manage the cross-agency structure (where relevant) understanding where we fit into it from a digital perspective

Develop an understanding of emerging technology and its potential uses in marketing. Use these insights to sell new ideas to the client

Provide strategic counsel to the client based on their social objectives and competitor activity

Proof and approve content for social media created by your team

Proof and approve social media reports and ensure insights and recommendations identified fit with the broader strategy

Campaign Execution:

Oversee the planning and implementation of client activations

Work to ensure that activation is delivered to an extremely high standard, on time and within budget

Ensure success and a result driven approach when implementing all campaigns

Aware of any financial or logistical issues before they become an issue for the client and provide relevant solutions

Account Administration:

Oversee AM’s and AE’s delivery of day-to-day account tasks, ensuring that all client-facing work is completed to deadline and is of an appropriate standard

Lead meetings (both internal and client facing) ensuring that they are constructive and efficient

Team Relations:

An approachable source of knowledge for your team members, providing sound advice and direction

Viewed by team members as a dynamic and reliable AD

Lead by example

Client Services:

Show genuine interest in your client’s business

Ensure that the team respond promptly to client requests and that general client facing communication and processes are maintained to a high level

Work with other AD’s to plan resource requirements on a rolling monthly basis

Financial Management

Understanding and Overseeing of Client Finances:

Have a full understanding of the finance processes, including issuing SOW, client estimate signoff, setting up new job numbers, processing PO’s and managing budgets

Proficient in estimation of campaign fees and expenses; signing off invoices; budget monitoring; management of job bags; tracking PO’s etc.

Ensure your team are aware of protocol surrounding budgets

Financial Effectiveness:

Responsible for ensuring that budgets are correct and are effectively managed

Production of accurate forecast of work for fee breakdown

Ensure client fees invoices are raised promptly after they are signed off

Ensure all client and supplier POs are managed in an efficient manner

Report anticipated overspends immediately to the client

What we offer

For the right candidate, we will offer a competitive salary and benefits package which includes private healthcare, employer contributory pension, life assurance and income protection. We also offer a host of benefits that support wellbeing including inclusive bank holidays, subsided gym membership, whilst our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sees us offer learning opportunities around DE&I, targeted mentoring programmes and the opportunity to participate in a number of active Employee Led Networks and associated events. Finally, this role will be supported with all the necessary personal development required to set someone up for success.

The M&C Saatchi Group UK has pledged its commitment to create a company that values difference, with an inclusive culture brought to life through equity with an 18-month roadmap of business-wide activity across people, culture, industry and society. As part of this, M&C Saatchi Group continues to be an Equal Opportunity Employer which does not and shall not discriminate, celebrates diversity and bases all hiring and promotion decisions solely on merit, without regard for any personal characteristics.

All employee information is kept confidential according to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

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