Global Account Director

Job Description:

We are looking for an experienced Global Account Director to join the client management team. This role will Join the 'Red Star' team. Red Star is a bespoke service brand that brings together the best of dentsu International to service Heineken.

The purpose of the Global Account Director role is to build strong upstream relationships with clients and to support the Global Client Director to deliver a business plan that will galvanize dentsu's operating model and, where appropriate, the network (local markets + central digital COE) around both the objectives of the client and the business.

As a Senior representative of the agency in the client HQ location, the Global Account Director will support to deliver innovative approaches within the global client, maintaining a pulse on the Red Star network, Amplify (Digital COE) dentsu international, and media industry developments.

Role purpose 

• Deliver Global leadership across the international brand teams based in Amsterdam Heineken HQ;
• Project management of large-scale global campaigns and projects – from ideation stage, bringing together internal and external stakeholders to ensure synergy of creativity and media.
• Building and managing client relationships across a complex matrix structure, elevating dentsu's reputation and positioning us as experts.
• Working collaboratively with key additional agency partners, ensuring a harmonious relationship, and that Red Star brings acknowledged added value to all;
• Ensuring strategy has  through-the-line thinking and working towards one strategy.
• Working collaboratively with internal functions to scale expertise
• Encourage the sharing and best practice within client and agency communities through informed global frameworks, playbooks and campaigns.

Key accountabilities 

The Global Account Director role provides a client facing leader across a subset of the International brand portfolio teams including Desperados, Amstel, Birra Moretti and local focuses as and where needed.

This role requires the individual to be hands on, but also coordinate and manage scope for Strategist, Digital and Account Management teams across the International Brand service teams.

The Global Account Director will also be responsible for ensuring we are delivering the best possible comms and Media strategy and solutions, and ensuring the local teams are informing, leveraging and applying global thought leadership.

The Global Media Team (GMT) internal at Heineken will be a further key point of servicing, with support across a number of workstreams, working collaboratively and as an enabler of further agency visibility.

Broader accountabilities include:

• Managing the Business: Day to day lead, driving the delivery of multiple work streams on Heineken international brands in order to meet client expectations;

Communication: Effective and regular communication to clients, reactiveness and follow-up – not waiting for clients to chase. Strong communicator to external agencies, ability to push-back on deadlines and question decisions for benefit of dentsu and client.

• Project Management: Support delivery of ways of working across international brands, and key wider GMT projects globally, and in network deployment:

o Global project management ensuring agreed projects run smoothly and deadlines are met;

o Work with wider global team to help identify trends and generate insights across markets that can inform the strategic direction for the wider agency teams and Heineken organization;

o Develop full knowledge of dentsu international planning tools and processes (M1, CCS Planner and understand when these should be implemented in the planning process to aid workflow management and client delivery.

• Relationship Management: Supporting the delivery of outstanding client service for central clients and working with Client Director and Client Lead to deliver according to appropriate contact strategy and client service plan; They must be visible and accessible with the expectation of being in the Heineken office 1-2 days per week.

• Client Knowledge: Demonstrate a good understanding of the client's products, services, evolution vision and targets;

• Proactive Client Development: Support the team in identifying opportunities for cross-sell and up-sell across the dentsu international capabilities;

• Best Practice: Delivering and sharing best practice as appropriate with wider team and markets;

• Collaboration: Demonstrate the ability to cultivate strong relationships across local markets and global partner agencies to ensure that work is delivered on time and to high quality;

• Culture: Help demonstrate and evolve the high energy culture of Red Star developed across the world to best service and grow the client relationship.

Professional Skills 

This role requires a strong and broad background in media industry knowledge and capability to ensure agency though leadership can be represented and coordinated by the individual.

A familiarity with matrix organizations and international account management is not essential for this role, but evidence of this experience would be strongly beneficial.

Client & Project Management Knowledge (at a Global Level)

• Experience working on strategy, planning and campaigns;
• Local advanced market experience essential to build global solutions and advise markets successfully. Global experience is helpful (experience managing 15+ markets);
• Collaborator that can bring local, regional, and global teams together for decision making (including Global and Local clients, as well as other agency and media partners);
• Experience working with client in-house specialty teams, specifically research, insights, and analytics;
• Strong evidence of collaborative cross agency relationship management especially media and creative teams;
• Global Media Partnership collaboration experience (e.g. Google, Meta, Amazon, etc.);
• Data Driven Marketing experience with more personalized media and creative delivery for more effective campaigns;
• Strong marketing and business client leadership through relationship-building that thinks and acts proactively to create regular contact opportunities with clients by sharing information, experience, and insights to build trust and mutual respect;
• A Strong desire to take more ownership and personal development around the business planning and growth of the clients.

Media, Insights, and Strategy Skills

• Thorough media and particularly digital / social media planning understanding;
• Solid understanding of media budgeting, ROI, and portfolio management for large global clients;
• Data and analytics knowledge – specifically with creating audience segmentations, data fusions and audience profiles, as well as data and reporting systems;
• Experience using proprietary research along with other first, second, & third party data to create actionable insights and uncover meaningful trends for clients;
• Skill to analyse numerical data and extract reasonable and rational conclusions to underpin innovative strategic plan;
• Strong marketing, media and communications concepts, models, skills, practices, tools, frameworks, etc.

Other Related Skills

• Knowledge of technology and innovation led brands would be beneficial;
• Works well with partner agencies and media owners across the globe to deliver the best output for the client (e.g. creative, search, social, PR, etc.);
• Strategic thinker that considers out of the box responses in regard to presenting innovative solutions to client challenges;
• Excellent communicator: verbal, written, presentation, listening skills with internal and external stakeholders both senior and junior. Ability to adjust communication based on the stakeholder;
• High level of attention to detail within all outputs.

Teamwork and People Management

• Experienced in handling difficult and sensitive conversations with peers;
• Strong EQ capabilities; Can "read the room".
• Elicits confidence in delegation and requesting support where necessary;
• Deploys a developmental mentoring style; gives praise and constructive feedback to enhance the performance of the team.

What do we offer?
 

• 3 extra days off (yes, at dentsu we take your well-being very seriously) - next to 25 annual holiday days off there are 3 Well-being Days;
• 2 Social Impact Days - you can volunteer for the cause of your choice;
• Extensive learning and development possibilities - wide range of in person and online training courses;
• Clear career progression - you can grow towards a Lead position; Needless to say that besides the vertical growth in your role there is plenty of opportunity to grow horizontally as well;
• Plenty of room for socializing and other cool things besides work, such as Friday afternoon gatherings, boot camps, boxing lessons, karaoke, a game of pool or table tennis and the well-known dentsu parties;
• A hybrid work model, we work 3 days at the office, 2 days at home;
• And, of course, a good salary and excellent fringe benefits.

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