Freelance Business Unit Director at TBWA\ South Africa

Creative Excellence

• Strategic and Creative Leadership
• Deep understanding of the client business, brand and brief to guide Strategic and creative outputs
• Manage, actively input into and guide strategic and creative development workstreams
• Maintaining a strong understanding of changes in the client’s industry their  customer needs, how they are adapting and developing, relevant case studies on client businesses, trends, competitor insights etc
• Deliver strategic client engagements, presentations and providing recommendations (both to client and internally) that are concise, insightful and on point
• Proactive management of all project timelines, always ensuring on time and accountable for delivery of projects
• Overseeing deliverables of extended internal team to ensure client needs are met (suppliers, strategic partners, production partners etc.)
• Building relationships and partners with senior creative leads to drive collaboration against Grid creative outputs for client
• Focus of Grid internal creative excellence goals such as awards and reputational impact and growth
• Intentional problem solving and a commitment to great thinking that you bringing to the table with every brief – how can your work contribute to the creative process and creative excellence?

Culture & Relationships

• Client Relationship Management: serve as the primary point of contact for key clients, building strong and lasting relationships based on trust, transparency, and exceptional creative delivery
• Ownership of full client scopes of work, the processes to achieve scope, and delivery of scope
• Strive to learn and grow, pro-actively seek opportunities and become involved in projects outside of allocated day to day tasks
• Our business is your business/ your clients business is your business
• Drive the optimisation and harmonization/integration of the various departments and skillsets within Grid, as well as integration and collaboration with interagency relationships and external partners where applicable
• Be a Champion of Grids shared values, live our culture and behave as an ambassador for Grid in all interactions
• Build and enable excellent communication, collaboration and partnership across departments within Grid and across client stakeholders
• Team Building and Talent Growth - support knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing and upskilling of the team around you through mentorship and relationship building
• Ensure onboarding of all new team members - you’ll coach them to close talent gaps, motivate them to develop skills and help them to overcome tricky situations and barriers
• Promote collaboration and cross-functional teamwork across account management, creative, and all other departments to maximise efficiency and effectiveness in executing projects
• Building relationships and effective communications with key senior Grid leads in ensuring alignment, optimisation and best practice outcomes

Client Value & Profitability

Value as Clients Strategic Partner:

• Understand clients' business objectives, challenges, and industry landscape to anticipate their needs and proactively offer strategic solutions.
• Lead client presentations, negotiations, and business reviews to ensure alignment with expectations and objectives

Value as Creative delivery:

• Responsible for delivering client value -primarily in the form of meaningful solutions and outcomes that drive business impact through creative excellence, as well as through financial objectives
• Owning the financials for clients, including forecasts, budgets, scoping, tracking and reporting – ensuring that key financial responsibilities are mutually understood and agreed upon.

Financial value:

• Client Organic Growth and New business development
• Taking on an influential role in driving organic growth on client portfolio, supporting new business initiatives and leveraging client relationships in the development of overarching business growth
• Financial Health and Process Diligence
• Oversight, management and ensuring Grid financial practices – finance statuses, supplier payments, reconciliations across fees and production, tracking, reporting and forecasting
• Monthly management of client retainer recons to ensure accurate time tracking against budgets.
• Weekly management, updating and tracking of finances (CE's, PO's, Billings) and reporting to ensure cashflow management
• Responsible for financial targets allocated to client portfolio
• The ability to scope projects from a resourcing and timing point of view.
• Operational excellence as a key driver in delivering financial success, creative success and relationships success - identification and implementation of resource & optimisation opportunities, effective operations management and driving outputs with planning teams

Role requirements:

• Alcohol/beverage/retails FMCG experience required 
• Experience running a large multifaceted client portfolio required 
• ATL Advertising experience required
• Branding and design agency experience nice to have