Business Unit Director (OneAbel)

As a Business Director, you are responsible for overseeing the successful delivery of a project to the client’s satisfaction and within agreed scope and timelines. You will manage several high-level client relationships, oversee multiple projects simultaneously, and look for opportunities to expand existing relationships.

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Skills Required:

An M&C Business Director must possess the following skills in order to succeed.

• As the senior consultant on the business, embed innovative thinking and strategic direction for the client. 

• Be able to ‘connect the dots’ and actively seek to improve the agency's role within the client's business.

• Provide flawless service delivery to client.

• Foster the relationship with the most senior clients (Marketing Director/CEO) and engage meaningfully to drive a partnership model.

• Maintain a partner relationship with the ECD and embed innovative thinking into the core of the business.

• Have a clear understanding of the broader business objectives of the client and be able to act as a strategic consultant on all marketing and communication requirements.

• Manage the financial fitness of the account, including profitability, staff- and income ratios, while driving and identifying additional revenue and business opportunities to increase forecasts. These duties include submitting budget summaries every month as well as new revenue proposals to clients.

• Optimise process and production to drive long-term efficiencies.

• Ensure proper usage of workflow tools by all teams.

• Proactively identifying growth opportunities.

• As a mentor to the Account Management team, the Business Director is ultimately responsible for the structure of the team, succession planning and the formal performance appraisals for the team.

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Additional Role Dimensions:

• Business accountability: Successfully drive both business and communication strategies.

• Financial accountability: Fully own and take responsibility for finance and profitability on the business portfolio.

• Internal relationships: Build a respected and knowledgeable Account Management team and ensure you are a trusted advisor to the senior team.

• External relationship: Actively drive Senior Partnership involvement.

• Working environment: Be a collaborator and proudly drive the agency’s culture and values.

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Experience Required:

The ideal candidate should have:

·       8+ years of experience as a Business Director – big agency experience.

·       Strong B2B marketing and communications experience.

·       Experience managing large, complex corporate clients, preferably JSE-listed organisations or businesses of comparable scale.

·       Experience navigating complex corporate approval structures and multiple senior stakeholders.

·       Strong campaign planning and integrated project management experience.

·       Demonstrable financial and budget-management capability.

·       Strong understanding of the media landscape, paid media, digital media and digital advertising systems.

·       Experience working across multidisciplinary agency teams.

·       A strong understanding of agency processes, including briefing, workflow, approvals, production and campaign rollout.

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Personal Qualities required:

·       ‍Confident  

·       Authoritative  

·       Assertive  

·       Strategic  

·       Charismatic  

·       Persuasive  

·       Proactive  

·       Highly organised  

·       Detail-oriented  

·       Commercially minded  

·       Calm under pressure  

·       Collaborative  

·       Curious  

·       Solutions-focused

Business Director Competencies:

Behavioural Competencies:

• Proven leadership skills

• Strategic thinker

• Creative thinker

• Proactive problem solver

• Independent

• Detail-orientated

• Effective communicator

• Decisive decision-maker 

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Technical/Functional Competencies:

• Relationship management

• Project management

• Ability to sell work and persuade internal team

• Interpret the client’s business needs into clear creative/digital briefs

• Business development

• Process-driven

• Ability to analyze the risks and the future impact of decisions

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Leadership Competencies:

• Social intelligence

• Conflict management

• Self-management

• Collaborative

• Shared-vision mindset 

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