Digital Lead

Residing in our Strategy & Planning team, the Digital Lead helps evolve briefs into recommendations for (in no particular order) budgeting, audience selection, channel/platform ecosystem selection, creative design recommendation, cross-channel media planning, and measurement framework, with a specific focus on digital platforms, channels, and methodologies. The Digital Lead is involved up front in client planning and ensures that all recommendations and campaign executions deliver growth to our clients' businesses. To do this, they will deepen EssenceMediacom's position with its clients, have a thorough understanding of the breadth and depth of EssenceMediacom's digital product offering, and effectively collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to constantly bring effective and innovative solutions to our clients. Whilst biddable execution is not in the day-to-day deliverable, understanding the digital process and helping more junior team members be empowered to deliver this is crucial. As a senior digital role in our agency, you will be guiding team members to deliver digital brilliant basics. Person should have a good understanding of the digital media landscape and sound knowledge of performance media – search, social, affiliates, and all that comes with it.

Key Areas of Responsibility and Accountability

1. Understand client objectives, category/competitive trends for various product categories.
2. Ability to manage large teams on Performance (Biddable and Performance Display) from strategizing to delivery and client engagement at Annual to regular reviews.
3. Develop and strike partnership deals with key publishers and large affiliates.
4. Ability to steer client review meetings on a regular basis.
5. Excellent written and oral communication skills combined with outstanding presentation skills.
6. Understanding of programmatic landscape.
7. Knowledge of the digital advertising industry, trends, technologies (DMP, DSP, SSP etc.).

Preferred Skills

1. Applied knowledge of 3rd party ad serving, website and tracking and associated technologies.
2. Intermediate to advanced analytical skills, specifically relating to performance data and metrics.
3. Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
4. Problem-solving skills.
5. Abreast with the latest technology that will affect digital advertising.
6. Worked closely with publisher partners to elevate industry standards in line with client needs.
7. Exposure to affiliate and programmatic technologies.
8. People managing skills.

Strategic Skills

1. Support the Client Lead by providing expertise in the specialist area.
2. Provide insight and analysis to the Client Lead to support the development of data-driven strategic recommendations for the client.
3. Work closely with the Client Lead and the Strategy team to produce best-in-class campaign strategy, plan and rationale documents, for both digital and offline media.
4. Be the custodian of your client's advertising presence on digital platforms & the go-to person on all matters social.

Client Account Management

1. Develop strong relationships with clients, be their go-to person for anything digital.
2. Work with wider teams and outsourced partners to ensure delivery that serves the client's needs.
3. Anticipate the client's needs and set up internal processes to meet/exceed them.
4. Lead on relevant parts of client meetings, QBRs, etc.
5. Keep your client leads up to date on social best practices - content, platforms, and tools within the paid social ecosystem.

Operating and Technical Requirements

1. Expertise in performance media platforms, including Google marketing stack, Ad serving technologies, and biddable media platforms.
2. Meticulous, detail-oriented and able to QC data and operations for accuracy and compliance.
3. Analyse data and deliver insights that add value for future campaigns.
4. Lead briefing processes and discussions with media partners.
5. Review partner proposals and take a lead role in shaping them to align with campaign objectives and ensure the strategy has been fulfilled.
6. Establish and deliver tracking of campaigns status and update the teams and the client in a structured and timely way.
7. Control and improve the quality of the teams' work output.

People Management

1. Manage Planner/Media Exec to ensure campaign planning and execution (including ad operations and biddable operations) are on target and meeting client expectations.
2. Work with client and global team to implement all technologies that are required (e.g., tracking, audience measuring, DSP).
3. Work collaboratively with the MediaCom and GroupM colleagues across the market to develop the capability, skills, and knowledge of our digital talent.
4. Be willing to train, mentor and provide direction to team members.
5. Set clear KPIs that focus on individuals' key behaviours and areas for improvement.
6. Flag up any serious performance issues immediately and seek help to manage them accordingly.

Other Areas

1. Take a hands-on approach to the role, with the necessary digital platform expertise to QC or troubleshoot issues around set up or tracking where necessary.
2. Stay on top of new developments in the industry and readily suggest new technology and/or beta tests to the client.
3. Meet regularly with media owners to keep up to date with the latest digital trends.

Key Performance Indicators

1. Product: outstanding plan execution & operational excellence.
2. KPI Digital Specific KPIs.
3. Client: satisfaction, retention, and growth, contributing to a high TRR score for Digital Planning.
4. KPI TRR score.
5. People: identification and retention of high performers, team engagement at all levels.
6. KPI scores, retention of team commercial: client profitability.
7. KPI Client profitability target.
8. Personal development: positive My feedback from manager, peers, and clients.

Education, Skills, and Behaviours

1. 5+ years experience in digital performance media planning or execution.
2. 3+ years of senior experience in a similar role.
3. Numerate and analytical.
4. PC literate (Excel, PowerPoint, Word).
5. Strong target orientation e.g., very results driven, ability to work effectively to targets.
6. Evidence of strong collaboration skills used to develop team and client knowledge in order to grow shared understanding and knowledge to facilitate a step-change in strategic planning.

The Digital Lead is the primary point of contact for clients for agency deliverables pertaining to digital campaigns.

Works collaboratively with Communications Planners in developing digital strategies ensuring up-to-date consumer behavior insights are applied.

Leads and expertly manages digital planning and buying, and evaluation of ads for various digital platforms and executions.

Consolidates data and analyses done by the digital planners and Communications Planning Teams to establish learning and drive improvement of existing practices.

Identifies and evaluates results of test and learn initiatives to discover new knowledge and support for innovative agency recommendations.

Works with relevant internal and external EssenceMediaCom teams and digital partners for brands' requirements and deliverables (i.e.- MBA, GroupM Units, and Digital vendors).

Guides junior members of the digital team in plan management, campaign evaluation as well as developing recommendations for digital campaigns.

Works with digital vendors to stay abreast of innovations and to look out for fresh and strategic test opportunities.

What you'll bring

1. Comfortable working with data.
2. Strong analytical and number skills and ability to turn data into actionable insights.
3. Google and Facebook certifications.
4. Highly proficient in planning and implementing campaigns in Facebook and Google platforms, with substantial experience in drawing learning from Analytics dashboards of said platforms.
5. Experience in Programmatic.
6. Substantial knowledge of Ad Serving Technologies.
7. Good MS Excel and PowerPoint skills.
8. Detail-oriented.
9. Proactiveness.
10. Self-starter attitude.
11. Good communication and presentation skills.
12. Confidence and a can-do/positive attitude.
13. High level of accountability and integrity.