Director, Communications Design

Initiative; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Initiative seeks a Director of Communications Design to blueprint cultural ideas across communications planning excellence, integration, and growth for clients and brands. You will translate strategy into actionable ideas in collaboration with creative partners to drive behavioral change at all connection points.

You will partner with Strategy on the Connections Architecture and manage fully integrated plans across owned, earned, and paid connections, while collaborating with analytics leads to

Qualifications

• Experience in an integrated planning role in media, publisher / vendor, or communications discipline (digital, content).
• Ability to delegate and oversee direct reports.
• Proven ability to develop and maintain strong professional relationships with senior clients, colleagues, and vendors.
• Strong time management and organizational skills.
• Experience/involvement in new business planning and strong presentations skills.
• Required PC proficiency and solid working knowledge of Microsoft Office (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.)

Responsibilities

• Present the communications design idea and recommendation to the client in collaboration with Client Leadership, Strategy and Partnerships.
• Oversee the day-to-day requirements and workflow of the client as it relates to Communications Design outputs, in consultation with Client Leads.
• In charge of the communications design brief deployment and relevant stakeholder engagement (Specialty Business Units, partnerships, partner agencies, media).
• Lead ideation sessions and curate outcomes.
• Develop the communications idea all connections will help unlock.
• Effectively design communications architecture and ecosystem delivery across Owned, Earned, Shared, Paid (OESP) for your clients. Within the team, must ensure communications plans move far beyond paid, and are unified by a clear idea and communications behavior.
• Integrate Specialty Business Units activities within every relevant brief, in line with business goals.
• Implement communications design deliverables as part of client business development & growth strategy

Job description

We believe in the power of media to reshape our industry and orchestrate a brand’s entire consumer experience, by balancing both what unites people and what makes them different. When brands unite people in culture, they build Fame, and when brands connect individuals to their unique journeys, they build customer Flow. Initiative builds Fame & Flow for brands like Nike, Amazon, Merck, and T-Mobile. Media responsibility is at the forefront of everything we do, whether it’s creating media plans that reflect the diversity of our communities, promote brand safety, and foster sustainability. Our agency celebrates diversity in an inclusive environment where all of our 6,000+ strong talent across 90+ markets feel seen, heard, and valued. Our vision is to create not only a better media company, but also a better media industry, and maybe even a better world.

We make a promise to our people that we double down on seeing, celebrating & elevating all the things that make you, uniquely you. And just as we do for our brands and clients, we connect our people to the journeys that matter in building a meaningful career.

There are four I’s in Initiative and these represent our core values and behaviors.

• INDIVID[YOU]ALITY – you bring your genuine and unique self to and into the work, every day.
• INSTINCT – you’re tuned in and armed with intelligence; you have a bias for action – shit happens when you’re around.
• IMPACT! – you care deeply about the impact you have on our clients, their customers, our community, the media landscape and our world at large.
• IMAGINATION – your ability to imagine and bring to life the ideas, solutions, and the future of Initiative, makes us THE create media agency in the world.

Position Overview

As Director, Communications Design you are designing the blueprint for cultural ideas to spread through communications planning excellence, integration and growth performance on your clients and brands. In your role you are translating the communications strategy into the actionable idea platform (in junction with creative partners) that will deliver behavioral change at all connection points. Creating innovative connections that grow brands is a passion for you.

You will partner with the Strategy team on the Connections Architecture and utilize your experience & skills to manage the design of fully integrated communications plans across owned, earned, and paid connections. You work closely with the analytics leads to identify appropriate audience and data strategies to unlock growth. You lead the relationship with SBUs and client agencies roster throughout the design stages and work with the Partnerships team in evaluating & selecting the right partners, and appropriate spends across the Communications Design blueprint.

Responsibilities

• Present the communications design idea and recommendation to the client in collaboration with Client Leadership, Strategy and Partnerships
• Oversee the day-to-day requirements and workflow of the client as it relates to Communications Design outputs, in consultation with Client Leads
• In charge of the communications design brief deployment and relevant stakeholder engagement (Specialty Business Units, partnerships, partner agencies, media)
• Lead ideation sessions and curate outcomes
• Develop the communications idea all connections will help unlock
• Effectively design communications architecture and ecosystem delivery across Owned, Earned, Shared, Paid (OESP) for your clients. Within the team, must ensure communications plans move far beyond paid, and are unified by a clear idea and communications behavior
• Integrate Specialty Business Units activities within every relevant brief, in line with business goals
• Implement communications design deliverables as part of client business development & growth strategy

Required Skills and Experience

• Experience in an integrated planning role in media, publisher / vendor, or communications discipline (digital, content)
• Ability to delegate and oversee direct reports
• Proven ability to develop and maintain strong professional relationships with senior clients, colleagues, and vendors
• Strong time management and organizational skills
• Experience/involvement in new business planning and strong presentations skills
• Required PC proficiency and solid working knowledge of Microsoft Office (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.)

Desired Skills and Experience

• 8+ years relevant experience with 4+ years of experience managing or developing staff
• Category or audience experience as relevant per assignment
• Proven problem-solving ability
• Ability to work successfully within a team, handling multiple projects and meeting tight deadlines under pressure
• Prior experience working on a pharmaceutical account