Client Operations Lead

At Saatchi & Saatchi we believe in creating ideas that can live anywhere. We believe that when we work as a team, nothing is impossible. We strive to bring out the best in each other and in ourselves and expect applicants to understand the value of close collaboration. We also believe that creating transformational work requires initiative, an entrepreneurial spirit and a bold commitment to achieving measurable results and business success for the clients we service.

As Client Operations Lead (COL), you are the internal lead for your assigned initiative(s). In partnership with the Client Partner (CP), you are uniquely responsible for driving projects forward, which includes responsibility for workflow, process, and internal momentum for the projects to which you are assigned. The Client Partner and Client Operations Lead are collectively responsible for owning the short- and long-term success of the initiatives to which you are assigned. You will work closely with disciplinary leads across creative, media, strategy, production, and data/analytics to launch creative marketing solutions that directly service our clients’ business objectives.

You will both be seen and known by clients and internal stakeholders. However, insofar as the Client Partner is empowered to own the client relationship, as COL you are empowered and responsible for activating the internal teams against client context, direction, feedback, and agency processes and best practices.

This half of the CP/COL partnership is responsible for upholding process, communicating timing of a project or set of deliverables, communicating risks and dependencies, resolving internal conflict and communication gaps, facilitating mitigation plans, ensuring all work has been vetted, reviewed and approved, and providing quality control. While both positions face clients and internally, the Client Partner and Client Operations Lead own non-competing, complementary functions over the life and success of an initiative.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Co-manage projects or campaigns from brief through delivery by driving team decision-making and ensuring key internal touchpoints and communications occur across Creative, Media, Strategy, Data Science, Analytics and Production.
• Consistent oversight of process, efficiencies and resource documentation with the goal to keep process and templates consistent across workstreams.
• Leading and/or facilitating internal discussions designed to foster collaboration across departments, as well as accomplish key campaign development tasks including application of best practices, scope & resource planning and monitoring, workback calendars and schedules, definition around creative deliverables, project assignment summaries, and creative kick-offs

We are looking for candidates with the following background and capabilities:

• 8-10 years of project or client/account management experience in an ad agency managing projects across multiple media, including digital, video, social, print, large-scale website maintenance, application, or digital product initiatives. Previous vehicle or similar scale client experience preferred.
• Extensive management of multidisciplinary campaigns or large-scale projects from project brief through delivery, including oversight of scheduling, budget management, and production best practices.
• Train, mentor and develop team members knowledge and capabilities with a focus on ensuring direct reports are following correct processes.
• Understand and articulate business reasons behind agency processes and best practices.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office 365, Google Docs, PowerPoint, Keynote, Acrobat Professional, Smartsheet, PM related workflow and reporting tools. Working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop; knowledge of social media platforms.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.