Freelance Manager Communications Design

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Job description

General information

Agency: Initiative

Job Function: Planning

Location: New York, United States

Job Ref#: 5376

Description & Requirements

Position Summary

As Manager, Communications Design, you are responsible for managing the production and application of accurate and insightful consumer, cultural relevant, media and market intelligence to contribute to an impactful communications/media plan.

With direction from your Associate Director or Director, you take the strategic design imperatives (Strategy On A Page: SOAP) and communications idea and deploy a variety of data and intelligence to identify and prioritize the best communications channels.

You are able to plot the course of action your team of Communications Designers needs to take, to address the challenge (tasks, approaches, tools, and timelines) and ensure best practice, innovative thinking is applied to the communications design fundamentals.

In this role, you are responsible for the preparation of the communications/ media plan flowchart via MediaTools or Lumina and ensuring the communications plan is built on solid, data rich fundamentals.

Working with partnerships, media publishers/ distributors/ suppliers, and your communications design team, you ensure the accuracy of the inputs required for the development of the media plan flowchart and are responsible for ensuring any changes made to the approach are reflected in the plan and documented to ensure financial compliance and accountable standards are achieved.

With more than 4 years in a Communications Design role, you are versed in the media planning design process/workflow, media fundamentals across all channels, tools and techniques.

You are able to share your thoughts clearly and succinctly in both written and presentation form-you will be expected to know how to use PowerPoint or Keynote Presentation Desktop applications to develop client ready, accurate and error free presentations

You are a disciplined and nurturing manager, able to develop junior talent to produce high quality planning inputs that result in an effective, culturally resonant, highly connected integration (OESP) communications plan.

You have learned and are practicing using the media planning fundamentals and are able to teach those fundamentals to internal teams and clients alike.

Key Responsibilities

• Client
  
  • Responsible for the creation of accurate substantiated and detailed media plans and media planning scenarios
  • Responsible for the timely, accurate delivery of day to day requests from the team along with disciplined and organized call-reports and timely follow-throughs
  • Responsible for organizing and developing client-facing category, culture and competitive tracking documents
  
  Internal
  
  • Work with the Associate Director and Partnerships team to develop the RFP to brief internal partnership's/ SBU team and external partners
  • Manage the team output and development of the flowchart including oversight of the plan being accurately produced within Ripple/ MediaTools/Lumina to address the reach/frequency and business goals
  • Seek opportunities to extend beyond paid through the integration (and quantification) of owned, earned and shared media channels
  • Lead the best practice production of audience and communications data and intelligence for the development of the communications plan, utilizing relevant tools and techniques
  • Contribute to the ideation team sessions in conjunction with the Strategy team and relevant SBU to generate creative & compelling connections idea.
  • Responsible for timely, accurate delivery of day to day requests from the client and internal team
  • Responsible for maintaining impactful media plans
  • Oversight of brand media plans, financials, ATBs and billing documentation internally and for the client; able to know and speak to the plan inside and out
  • Leads internal, client and partner agency status calls and updates; organizes and coordinates call-reports and ensures that follow-ups are documented and carried out in a timely manner
  • Takes the challenge at hand (tasks, approaches, tools, and timelines) and ensure best practice, innovative thinking is applied to the communications design fundamentals
  • Digests the client's goals/target and leads compiling planning inputs - competitive reporting, syndicated audience research, landscape trends, campaign learnings
  • Manage, train & mentor junior members of the team - Associate(s), Comms Designer(s)
  
  Key Performance Indicators (KPI's):
  
  • Client
  • Contribute key media inputs for best in class communications planning solutions that propel the communications idea
  • Able to effectively lead the management of the client's communications budget to successful outcomes
  • Accurately and effectively manage client's day to day communications design product requirements
  
  
  
  • Internal
  • Able to successfully manage Communications Design planning outputs from team
  • Key contributor to RFP process, including briefing and partner selection together with Partnership colleagues (may oversee this on smaller briefs / accounts)
  • Able to deploy tools and techniques to deliver best in class communications planning outcomes across OESP

Desired Skills & Experience

• 4+ years in integrated planning role in media, publisher / vendor, or communications discipline (digital, content)
• Media planning skills must be proficient and able to be taught to junior team members
• Category or audience experience as relevant per assignment
• 1+ years of experience in managing or developing staff
• Ability to delegate, develop and oversee direct reports
• Excellent written, verbal communication and presentation skills
• Strong time-management and organizational skills
• Required PC proficiency and solid working knowledge of Microsoft Office (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Proven problem-solving ability

Employment Transparency

It is the policy of Mediabrands, division of the Interpublic group, to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, citizenship, genetic information, veteran status, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

The employer will make reasonable accommodations in compliance with the American with Disabilities Act of 1990. The job description will be reviewed periodically as duties and responsibilities change with business necessity. Essential and other job functions are subject to modification. Reasonable accommodations may be provided to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

For applicants to jobs in the United States: In compliance with the current Americans with Disabilities Act and state and local laws, if you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation to apply for a position with Mediabrands, please email

About Us

Initiative is different to other media agencies.
We are not trapped by a legacy structure primarily centered on paid advertising. Instead, we are liberated by a new world structure designed to deliver highly differentiated and highly effective communications strategies for our clients.
We are the world's fastest growing media agency built upon the strongest strategic capability of any agency in the market. Core to this strategic proposition is the belief that the faster a brand can move through culture the more relevant it can become.
We call this Cultural Velocity ™.
Our process is designed to create ideas that move through culture through unique insight, market leading analytics and strategic media brilliance.
Our new world model is comprised of "craft centers" - Client Advice and Management, Strategy, Communications Design, Partnership and Culture, Insights & Analytics.