OUR COMPANY

We are dynamic, empowered and entrepreneurial.

We pride ourselves in being an equal opportunities employer and diversity and inclusion is at the heart of what we believe in. IPG Mediabrands are committed to increasing the diversity of our workforce and welcome applications regardless of gender identity, race, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion or belief.

Initiative is different to other media agencies.

We are not trapped by a legacy structure primarily centred on paid advertising. Instead, we are liberated by a new world structure designed to deliver highly differentiated and highly effective communications strategies for our clients.

We’re not the biggest agency in town. So rather than outsize our competitors we must outsmart them. That’s why we’ve built the strongest strategic capability of any agency in the market. Core to this strategic capability is an obsession with culture and how brands can pivot from brand advertising (which is forgettable) to cultural branding (which is highly memorable).

Initiative Health is a specialist division of Initiative, focused on delivering transformative media and marketing strategies within the dynamic and highly regulated world of healthcare and pharma. We help healthcare and pharmaceutical brands drive better patient outcomes while delivering measurable business outcomes. Our mission at Initiative Health is to work with leading and ambitious health brands to drive marketing excellence leading to meaningful improvement to the health of all global citizens.

Our new world model is comprised of four central “craft centres” – Business Leadership, Strategy, Communications Design and Partnerships.

Here is a brief description of each centre.

Business Leadership

Business Leadership actd as both business partner to the client and internal leader to brief, inspire, motivate and drive our teams to deliver the highest quality integrated solutions across a full spectrum of communication disciplines – Strategy, Communications Design, Partnerships and Mediabrands Specialty Business Units in areas like Social, Programmatic, Search, Data and Innovation.

The authority on all Initiative and IPG Mediabrands services, Business Leadership is responsible for regularly identifying unmet client needs and challenges, for bringing forth specialised services and solutions to meet those needs, and for growing Initiative’s client relationships in both revenue and profitability.  Importantly, Business Leadership must also ensure that reasonable, achievable and business appropriate KPI’s are in place to ensure a positive and mutually beneficial relationship between agency and client.

Strategy

Strategy create the opportunities for brands to lead in culture, designing and defining how a brand will live, play and thrive in the world.  They are the voice of the people, using deep and intuitive cultural understanding of consumers and communications to develop the strategic direction a brand must take. They translate business goals into actionable communications tasks, first identifying and then designing the most profitable audience, space or place for the brand to occupy. The Strategists believe that everything communicates and that ‘media’ can and should mean more in today’s world - that there is a ‘better way’ - and that propels them to constantly challenge convention to add value, unlock untapped market potential and generate unfair share of hearts and minds.

Communications Design

Communications Design are the architects of how a brand idea will be delivered across a communications ecosystem in order to unlock the behaviour change that drives brand growth. Communications Design are experts in creating connected communications experiences that spread.  They work with strategy and creative partners to translate the client’s cultural opportunity into the idea that shapes the experience someone will have with the brand across paid, owned and earned encounters. Communications Design define the right audiences of value, and how you will engage them within the experience and they work with our analytics partners to quantify the business impact that the holistic experience will have on the brand over time.

Partnerships

The Partnerships team is the next generation marketplace team of experts that identify, broker and manage the relationship between media, partners and culture vehicles for a given brand.  This team leads partner evaluations, makes strategic investment recommendations and manages in-market KPIs.  Partnerships works closely with Strategy and Communications Design to bring communications experiences to life and drive innovation.  This team ensures we are supporting and executing against the overall corporate initiatives as well as drive maximum value for our clients.

Each craft centre is as important as the other, because only when they are effectively combined can we produce a truly creative and integrated product for our clients.

We strive for world-class work on every client, every time.

We believe that good enough is not good enough. We hope you do too.

We are excited to have you and your unique talent helping us to realize our ambition to be the best media agency in the 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 three central behaviours that bind all Initiative employees together and these are front of mind when responding to any client brief. These behaviors are always expected, encouraged, and rewarded.

They are:

Be Restless for change.

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. 
Never accept the status quo.

Be Radical in our ideas.

Be fearless and speak your mind. Feel comfortable saying “no”. Have the courage to take bold ideas to our clients. If you believe in something, fight for it. Remember, fortune really does favour the brave.

Be Relentless in our work ethic.

Everything you do for the agency and our clients must be of the highest standard.
“Good enough” is never good enough. Be obsessed about producing brilliant work. Every day.
Every time. No exceptions.

DISCIPLINE OVERVIEW: BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

At Initiative, our promise is to build our clients’ brands, and that promise is led, and driven, by our Business Leadership leaders.  Responsible for cultivating deep client relationships from the highest levels to day to day execution, we seek strong leaders with a point of view, who can clearly articulate our clients’ needs and drive our teams to deliver on those needs seamlessly and with excellence.

The authority on all Initiative and IPG Mediabrands services, Business Leadership is responsible for regularly identifying unmet client needs and challenges, for bringing forth specialised services and solutions to meet those needs, and for growing Initiative’s client relationships in both revenue and profitability. Responsibility for all commercial elements such as annual budget, revenue, spending and P&L delivery fall under the remit of Business Leadership, and importantly, Business Leadership must also ensure that reasonable, achievable and business-appropriate KPI’s are in place to ensure a positive and mutually beneficial relationship between agency and client.

In short, Business Leadership is accountable for the full client relationship and business held across both Initiative and IPG Mediabrands.

As such, the Business Leadership team exemplifies our core behaviours and delivers on the following:

• Maintains expert knowledge of and point of view on the client’s business and industry
• Understands client needs and motivations, earning the role of trusted partner
• Clearly communicates the agency’s positioning and SBU offerings
• Seeks out innovative ways to meet complex and challenging needs of the client
• Drives our overall product and process, ensuring comprehensive solutions, delivered on deadline and above expectations
• Challenges and pushes both the client and our internal agency teams to innovate, test and learn in new and emerging areas of discipline
• Motivates by creating a positive and collaborative team environment, effectively manages through difficult situations, acts as an agent for change when necessary
• Builds and drives cross functional team success, fostering collaborative relationships with all client agency and marketing partners
• Exhibits excellent commercial acumen skills and full understanding of the contractual relationship
• Meets or exceeds all Initiative and Mediabrands SBU budget, revenue, spending and P&L goals for your client, or group of clients

ROLE OVERVIEW: GROUP DIRECTOR, BUSINESS LEADERSHIP, INITIATIVE HEALTH

The Group Director, Business Leadership is a senior leadership role, managing across an integrated team (Business Leadership, Strategy, Communications Design and Partnerships). As a member of management, you exemplify our behaviors, drive quality work and motivate your full integrated team by creating a positive and collaborative environment.  You work in partnership and collaboration with the discipline leads and across the SBUs, to ensure comprehensive, business-appropriate solutions for clients.

You are the day-to-day leader and driver for the client and the internal team. Your daily insights will keep your CEO – and your full Initiative team - ahead of the game, with your category expertise, status updates and proactive guidance. You are the authority on the client business to the agency and an authority on Initiative and the SBUs to the clients.  You translate the clients’ challenges and opportunities, both internally and externally, and lead the development of solutions that achieve the goals. The Group Director manages the profitability of your group of accounts and has strong commercial acumen skills.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Client

• Day to day client leader and advisor
• Actively lead the team to deliver brilliant work and flawless execution, ensuring positive client satisfaction scores
• Leadership and authoring of all client proposals, recommendations and points of view
• Ensure all client reporting, budget management, authorization and billing needs are met in a timely and accurate fashion
• Responsible for ensuring a positive relationship between clients and Strategy, Design, Partnerships and SBU leads on your group of accounts
• Astute listener and learning to drive the right solutions
• Agitator / driver to push clients to innovate rather than stagnate
• Ready to professionally push back where necessary to effectively manage client expectations, agency resources and deadlines
• Deepen relationships and craft collaborative partnership with clients’ partners agencies
• Contribute to client QBR meetings

Internal

• Participate in all client briefings, clearly articulate client needs and objectives to the integrated Strategy, Communications Design and Partnership leads
• Apply a client lens to all areas of Initiative product, ensuring solutions developed are business- appropriate and meet agreed-upon KPIs
• Regularly educate your team and Initiative leadership on your clients’ business, culture and industry
• Involve leadership in key client engagements
• Partner with discipline leaders to stay informed and aware of new developments internally and externally
• Promote an open working environment where opinions, views and ideas can be shared
• Develop your client advice and management team through performance management and giving consistent feedback
• Partner with the discipline leaders (e.g., Strategy, Communications Design, Partnerships, Analytics) and Leadership, to provide team members with well-rounded performance goals, evaluations and career paths

Commercial

• Ensure over delivery of all agreed-upon performance KPI’s
• Actively track and manage team staffing and resource allocation
• Regularly update Leadership on utilization, profitability, fees, and scope of work compliance
• Seek out opportunities to grow existing business and drive organic growth across group of accounts, through Initiative’s services as well as those of Mediabrands’ and IPG partner agencies
• Ensure all annual financial goals / targets are met across Initiative and Mediabands SBU’s

New Business

• Participate in new business when required – either on prospective clients or organically from your own group of clients

Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s):

Client

• Work with Leadership team to develop and implement a plan to show incremental improvement in Net Promoter Score
• Demonstrate how client work specifically addresses and dynamically achieved improvement in client KPIs over the assessment period.
• Provide examples where you have challenged the client team, Media Brands assets and the client to think differently about client business challenges (help your brands take the initiative in culture). What initiatives have you lead that resulted in bigger picture thinking (outside of media plans), break-through/award winning work and real world results?
• Give examples of where you have effectively managed client expectations in terms of deliverables, deadlines, reporting and scope.

Internal

• Give examples of how you have successfully coached team members to address personal challenges, promotion, and internal conflicts or overcome a PIP. Discuss how you have mentored/coached the Client Advice and Management team to advance in their careers.
  • Demonstrate usage of agency tools and work process
  • Give examples of how you have taken initiative in making Initiative a better place to work (e.g., charity project, team building, streamline workflow, build bridges to other disciplines).
  • Have positive feedback on leadership skills/approach from client teams, SBUs and Initiative Leadership team.

Commercial

• P&L is in-line with goals for each client managed (hours and staffing appropriate, allocation to disciplines is in-line with best practices, scope is reflective of MSA).
• Financial goals achieved for clients (billings and revenue).
• Show how you have managed performance to achieve incentive plan goals.
• Collaborate with disciplines to develop and implement a plan for improving (not just managing) margin across businesses managed.

New Business

• Develop and implement a plan to maximize SBU usage by managed clients, show an increase in SBU billings across assessment periods
• Actively participate in at least three new business pitches, ideally develop and present material to prospects
• Collaborate with new business to identify, research and rationalize three new business prospects over the assessment period.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Proven ability to develop and maintain strong professional relationships with clients, colleagues and vendors
• Extensive experience in Marketing and/or Advertising and Media
• Experience in leading, managing and developing a multi-dimensional staff
• Ability to drive projects from conception to completion; project management experience
• Background in consulting, marketing, advertising or integrated communications
• Strong leader, presenter and packager of opportunities
• Strong commercial acumen

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 Jess.Richardson@mbww.com 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!