Business Lead - Communications Consultancy

Company description Move people

Change the world

Founded in Chicago in 1935, Leo Burnett Worldwide is one of the largest agency networks with 96 offices and nearly 10,000 employees

In the Middle East, we’re consistently making an impact in KSA, Lebanon, UAE, Egypt, and Jordan thanks to our teams of go-getters

In a historic achievement, our agency was voted #1 Creative Agency for Effectiveness in the World, while Leo Burnett UAE has claimed the top spot in the WARC Effective 100, earning the title of the most effective creative agency in the world

Additionally, Leo Burnett enjoys the title of "Most Innovative Company" for driving brand purpose, as recognised by Fast Company

In 2024, Leo Burnett UAE was ranked #1 most Effective Agency, and it also secured the titles of #1 Agency and Network of the Year at the MENA Effies 2023, as well as at Dubai Lynx in both 2023 and 2024

At our core lies the Humankind philosophy, a belief that creativity has the power to transform human behaviour

We focus on people and purpose, not just advertising

Overview An expert across all creative and media agency services and platforms

A hands-on future leader across all facets of the brand agency’s business with the ability to converse confidently and lead on all clients servicing needs, be it technology, data, content, trading, planning, strategy or creative

Future leaders that will be solidifying and delivering the vision for the agency built from a culture of high performance, innovation…. leading to a unique differentiated marketplace proposition

Focus on solving problems and growing clients’ businesses keeping true to a sound and profitable commercial model

A strategic trailblazer who boldly takes risks and makes difficult decisions that propel the agency into the future

Transforms capabilities, inspiring and engaging talent along the journey, while setting the vision and strategic direction of the client’s business through consultative partnership

As a growth mindset leader, the Business Lead is an advocate of high-performance culture and uplifts team performance by empowering and coaching, while creating a distinctive culture of accountability and inclusivity that ignites engagement and enables high performance and collaboration

The Business Lead is a driver of agnostic collaboration/interdependency, growth mindset, adaptive gene, resilience, savviness in Data/Technology, very agile, consultative selling (upselling/cross selling), commercial acumen, comfortable in change, simplifying the complex, Influential and impactful

Responsibilities Technical & Product • Manage, maintain and develop the client relationship including servicing the business end-to-end. • Oversee the overall performance, profitability, growth, and reputation of the agency. • Responsible of all outcomes, quality control and the health of the relationship with the client across all disciplines, practices, facets of the business internal and external. • Generate year-on-year revenue growth supported by visionary business plans set in collaboration with the CEO of the brand. • Set the yearly strategic roadmap with the client on business transformation by becoming the trusted consultant and authority on the client’s Consumer Journey and the advisor on how to optimize marketing spend. • Be the single reference to setting, negotiating, understanding, and activating the client’s Master Service Agreement (MSA) end to end

Ensure that the MSA is upheld in its entirety and ensure all SLAs are followed. • Responsible for the management of the client’s P&L end to end ensuring a healthy and profitable P&L

This responsibility spans across understanding all the elements of the P&L and optimizing them for the best outcome of the agency and the client. • Drive business transformation of existing clients and actively pursue new opportunities

Configure best in class capabilities in service of clients’ unique business needs, collaborating closely with other agencies and practices within the Groupe with a continous focus on cross selling and upselling the client where applicable. • Being the constant audit holder of opportunities with the client and ensure the constant involvement of the Groupe subject matter experts. • Drive collaboration between client, client’s team and practices to ensure that the best strategic solutions are presented to the client and ensure an unparalleled competitive advantage is given to the client within their industry. • Constantly aim to drive award winning work delivered to the client with the aim to both give recognition to the client in their industry and get recognition as an industry leader in our field. • Elevate the client and the client’s team by training and knowledge sharing across the different disciplines and areas that our industry and our Groupe covers. • Have an entrepreneurial approach to driving higher revenues for the client and have an outreach not only to the CMO at the client’s side but also the CEO. • Develop a detailed understanding of competitors’ service capability in the local market while anticipating future trends to ensure agency performance is consistently ahead of competitors. • Create positive momentum that propels the team forward and ensure such momentum is sustainable by injecting fresh ideas & insights, innovation, cultural events, team bonding and one-on-one meetings to inspire the team to succeed. • Be an integral part in new business development specifically if the group is hunting a client of similar vertical. • Ensure a RASCI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Supportive, Consulted, and Informed) is always up to date for your client’s end-to-end management including of all the tasks, products, projects, reports… that are delivered to the client and are existing in the MSA or any additional contracts/scopes that are signed with the client. • Responsible for driving cross client collaboration to drive both business growth as well as strategic alliances cross industries. • Have a hunter’s mentality and instill this mentality across the team to ensure a supercharged productive team environment. • Manage client portfolio revenue with forecast accuracy, as well as the internal processes for approvals. • Demonstrable ability to simplify/synthesize complex data from a variety of sources and then communicate solutions in a simply fresh perspective. • Expert-level quantitative analysis & critical reasoning skills; ability to apply a broad range of frameworks, approaches, and methodologies to solve complex business problems. • Create empathetic and precise brand experiences that engage customers at the right moment in an inclusive and human way. • Deploy leading communication insights to help clients plan and implement solutions to drive results. • Manage, collaborate, and contribute to a successful integrated brand/client team at a strategic and business building level. • Have a creative flair and the ability to approach things from a different perspective, a razor-sharp mind capable of thinking on your feet in high profile/pressure scenarios and an unquenchable thirst to learn every aspect of our clients’ business. • Shaping strategic thinking and decision making across your accounts/client portfolio. • Developing brand strategies and propositions; creative briefs; client presentations; audience profiles; customer journeys; communications and channel strategies. • Taking a big-picture view of your clients’ challenges; considering all factors that might affect their brand and communications strategy and developing strategic recommendations to drive our clients’ businesses forward • Superior marketing skills, with proven track record of developing winning marketing campaigns that contribute to clients and business growth, based on soft and hard data. • Strong customer focus with the ability to get into the customer mindset and articulate the Groupe, products and assets in a way that is meaningful and will resonate with clients’ briefs and projects; ability to map out a consumer journey across campaigns, products, and assets that tells a cohesive and integrated story to our clients. • Positively impact the agency’s new business drive through involvement in pitches. • Proficient in strategic thinking in regards to web 3.0 and value generation for brands. • Provide valuable business insights on the benefits of web 3.0 for brands within the existing marketing mix. • Expert in developing integrated digital and social media marketing plans. • Full understanding in translating strategic discoveries to external facing marketing narratives brought to life on social and digital. • High competency in consumer journey design, information architecture and digital content. • Good understanding of digital experience design and strategy • Expert knowledge of agile process leveraging new tools and techniques to enhance time to market, quality of output and content performance • Able to define and differentiate the role of the different platforms in the marketing mix • Strong ability to lead efforts to uncover trends and insights through analysis of platform data • Full understanding of how to transform a digital marketing funnel into an end to end marketing strategy • Ability to lead strategic goal setting per campaign and work against achieving these goals with precision through detailed marketing and channel activities • Full understanding of consumer journey development and analysis through mastering tools that allow you to read and derive meaningful actions from the data captured. • Bridge the gap between the uncovering of key behavioral insights, creative platform and manifestos to activate digital content in the marketing funnel with more granular and targeted formats Business Acumen & Operational Efficiency Business Planning & Delivery • Responsible towards the flawless delivery of all client’s campaigns and all deliverables released to clients and to the market. • Consult with internal stakeholders and vertical/ discipline leads to build the best solutions for each individual campaign. • Responsible towards meeting business KPIs for both client and brand. • Knowledge of in-depth channel planning and management to ensure that no matter what channels mix is used, the business lead can have a constructive strategic input. • Always on top of all campaigns’ planning ensuring a smooth planning process, solid and robust insights, and successful and effective creative delivery. • Keep accurate records of campaign and campaign performance and develop case studies to share as best practice when applicable. • Maintain an effectiveness mindset through KPI setting and Performance metrics across activities and ensuring they are monitored and optimized. • Responsible in keeping all communication channels open internally between the different disciplines and externally with the client, clear and optimized to drive efficiency. • Enhance internal process by developing effective measurement and feedback loops. • Actively Looks for breakthrough business ideas and practices within and beyond the company; encourages others to do the same. • Responsible of managing not only the CMO and CEO at the client side but also the management and servicing of all campaign level managers, brand managers and other team members of the client’s team. • Be the reference on most of the sections of the consumer journey keeping the big picture in mind and ensuring each campaign plan is covering what is needed from the consumer journey. • Be the authority on the customer segments of the client and what is required for the campaigns at hand. • Be on top and aware of all campaigns’ metrics to clients with deep knowledge on the analysis on performance and next steps optimization required to deliver to the client. • Drive competitive analysis and adapting to market, business and competitive signals ensuring your team is up to date on the surrounding scene. • Good understanding of the metaverse opportunities for brands. • Expert in social media and immersive content marketing deployment. • Builds value across social media marketing in solution ideation, solution design and solution implementation. • Good understanding of digital loyalty KPI's: engagement, conversion repeat, referral, advocacy, database size, data integrity etc. • Advanced knowledge in developing, managing and optimizing digital earned media including channel and content strategy. • Full understanding of content management system to deploy, run and manage social and digital campaigns. • Able to plan, activate and allocate marketing investments and content planning for campaigns. • Ability to understand strategies for retargeting, programmatic and marketing automation

Operational • Oversee the strategic communication management, planning and creative process and allocate and assign talent from the different disciplines on projects accordingly. • Manage budgets on weekly/monthly/yearly basis. • Keep accurate records of campaigns against client agreed contractual scope. • Responsible in insuring that all delivery and reporting of campaigns is done on time and with zero errors. • Responsible and accountable for the hygiene of the account end-to-end including operations, reporting, financial management, account data and intellectual capital. • Responsible in upholding the compliance for the account end-to-end and any data compliance and privacy rules and regulations that are mandated by both the client and the global network. • Continuous alignment with the internal integrated team on campaign deliverables. • Responsible in overlooking the entire billing management process end-to-end - tracking of POs and BOs for financials - Booked/Invoice/Paid management, keeping your unbillable to a minimum and ensuring collection from client is on time. • Proactively look for ways to enhance internal process through process automation and process optimization. • Exercise good judgment by making sound and well-informed decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; makes effective and timely decisions. • Manage high level technical delivery of web 3.0 scope in collaborating with diversified team of digital delivery and subject matter experts. • Expert in setting up ROI frameworks to drive marketing and sales objectives. • Full understanding of publishing management systems and metric tracking to manage and lead production, delivery and reporting of social media campaigns. • Master content calendars, editorial techniques, moderation policies, benchmarking, messaging matrices and audience identification. • Full understanding of complex ecosystem and activities across different channels from awareness to conversion, working closely with subject matter experts be it in search, social, CRM, influence among others

Innovative & Analytical Mindset • A self-starter & entrepreneurial spirit: partners with the CEO and other leadership roles and proactively looks for solutions. • Passion for innovation and creative thinking, relentlessly driving to deliver tangible business results. • Committed to high standard in a pragmatic manner (not idealistic/ theoretical). • Ability to challenge conventional thinking in a constructive way. • Develop and drive the skills matrix required to service the account(s) end to end and ensure these skills are acquired by the team in collaboration with the talent team. • Drive and support the transformation, upskilling and reskilling of talent consequent to the business needs and encourage cross collaboration and connecting experiences and accessibility to Groupe brands and resources. • Ensure all Groupe led and assigned trainings throughout the year are attended by members of the client team for upskilling and enhancing the knowledge of the team. • Drive collaborative education sessions between the internal team ensuring there is zero gaps, zero tasks falling in the cracks and zero misalignment between team members both on a professional level and on a personal level. • Ensure client educational sessions are periodically set by quarter to educate the client on the latest tools, methodologies, products, and processes that we have as a partner. • Keep up with the newest trends and changes of the industry by learning, applying, and sharing new techniques, research, technology, tools, KPIs, measurements, features, innovation. • Collaborate with the talent team to enhance the learning curriculum which caters for the client’s industry specifically or that caters for the talent gaps found in the team. • Write a bi-annually point of view on the client’s industry ensuring a professional piece worthy of the client’s time to read and worthy to be discussed amongst industry professionals

People & Leadership Capable of developing and sharing a strategic vision that others can aspire and commit to, having the confidence to adjust and adapt in the dynamic world

Able to use storytelling to connect with internal and external stakeholders in a compelling manner to influence and inspire

Able to handle complex issues and make decisions even when missing information

Able to proactively develop meaningful relationships with key decision makers across functions

Accepts responsibility for client problems, manages conflict and actively works to solve issues internally and externally

Able to build succession plans and grow and mentor future talent

Encourages others to value difference, collaboration and positive spirit while getting the best out of their diverse teams

Listens and proactively seeks views from others to create an environment that is transparent and comfortable for others to share

Able to understand, inspire and motivate their team to pursue goals and deliver beyond their beliefs

Able to assess ideas and people on merit alone, without bias or favoritism and gives recognition when due

Capable of coaching and supporting others by aligning career expectations, defining success criteria and providing actionable, open and constructive feedback

Capable of persuading others with integrity by understanding their motivations and identifying their concerns and work toward solving them

Able to handle complex messages and is able to convey issues to facilitate others' understanding

Able to manage multiple viewpoints to build consensus and create positive outcomes for all stakeholders

Initiates and leads open conversations with internal and external stakeholders to build trust and ensures long term influence, partnership and support

Empowers individuals to solve problems and creates opportunities for others to grow and demonstrate their learning agility

Capable of breaking down silos to enable cross collaboration by leveraging expertise resulting in cross-selling across different Groupe verticals and practices

Able to encourage their team to evolve processes and improve collaboration to drive efficiencies, quality and effectiveness

Steers teams on key-clients strategies and ensures delivery of a superior output

Drives a culture of trust with peers, clients and other stakeholders

Self Showcases agility and ability to adapt to different situations based on past experiences, feedback and industry changes

Is able to set high impact objectives and goes above and beyond to exceed performance

Demonstrates the Growth Mindset and is capable of taking ownership of personal development to continuously evolve and futureproof their capabilities

Able to constructively challenge the status quo and take risks to challenge internal and external perspectives

Approaches situations and individuals with honesty, integrity, transparency and humbleness

Able to stay resilient and maintain drive and a positive outlook when faced with challenges

Actively listens and is receptive to others' feedback on performance

Able to take justified risks when appropriate and takes accountability and responsibility when things don’t go as planned

An early identifier of change, is able to proactively develop and shar