Associate Director - Mobility & Transport

Hill & Knowlton is a strategic and creative partner to drive breakthrough opportunities for growth and value creation, advance corporate strategy, and build reputation capital and resiliency. We’re a proven partner for business and brand transformation. A full-service global firm, we provide strategic communication, marketing and corporate affairs solutions distinguished by intelligence and creativity.

We are seeking to recruit an exceptional Head of Content & Publishing (Associate Director level), to join our team, supporting the Mobility & Transport practice. The Mobility & Transport sector helps globally recognised brands such as Ford, IAG and ANA as well as start-ups in the mobility revolution. Our expertise spans automotive and transport to technology and logistics. With an increasing consumer and business demand for better access to cleaner and more flexible ways for people, goods and services to move around, the Mobility & Transport team creates compelling communications programmes that change behaviours, drive demand and shape reputation.

The Ford team has been recognised for excellence in communications at multiple awards, including winning a prestigious Cannes Lions in 2022.

THE ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

• You will be tasked to oversee and lead best in class content strategies and programmes for new and existing clients within the Mobility & Transport sector.
• You will take responsibility for the development of social and digital initiatives of all forms to drive new and current business.
• You will have a proven history and an ability to deliver and win new business pitches and projects, and demonstratable experience in driving new revenue for the agency by spotting new opportunities and initiatives and develop proactively with the senior Mobility and Transport team.
• You will need exceptional client and team management skills growing brilliant relationships with internal stakeholders and external cross-agency groups.
• You will act as lead client contact during content strategy and development phases of campaigns and develop comprehensive social media strategies that incorporate industry best practices and are integrated and aligned with existing plans, influencer programmes, media relations campaigns etc.
• Provide strategic, audience-centric social media analysis and counsel for senior clients.
• Develop standards, systems and best practices for content creation, distribution, and maintenance including real time implementation of content strategies.
• Define clear and intelligent ways to help measure the ROI of programmes, define KPI’s and implement measurement and reporting methods to gauge success for client campaigns.
• Champion the importance of client satisfaction and service within the team, leading by example and encouraging positive client relationship building behaviour and champion stand-out work.
• Work well within collaborative, integrated teams, displaying a proven ability in running a team, controlling timelines and budgets, anticipating issues and working towards solution of complex problems.
• Have exceptional creative and proposal writing skills.
• Display strong technical proficiency in social media platforms and inherent curiosity about merging platforms.

Commercial:

• Proven and successful experience in leading and provide recommendations and insight to growth strategies for clients, identify new opportunities and play a proactive role in terms of proposal development, pitching and conversion.
• Attend new business pitches and make active contributions.
• Demonstrate excellent negotiation skills, contribute to fee recs, budget monitoring, job bags, revenue forecasting, fee negotiation, etc.
• Contribute to staff planning across your accounts and matching team hours to client revenues to reduce over servicing and increase team profitability.
• Experience and ability to accurately cost social and content projects and effectively manage resource.

People & Culture:

• To build, develop and lead high performing individuals, incl. content strategists, content creators, data scientists, community managers, influencer managers etc - with the right mix of competencies and capabilities to meet the changing client agenda.
• Drive escalation of knowledge within the agency, continuously focus efforts on developing and enhancing the skills and capabilities of the UK business, as well as working with other content and publishing leads across the agency globally to share key learnings and develop expertise for the agency.
• Play a central role in recruiting new talent to the team/agency and retention of existing talent.
• Goal setting and performance management: act as an efficient and dedicated line manager; develop career plans for people you line manage; and mentor team members to develop their potential.
• Responsible for inspiring and mentoring junior team members and helping develop greater expertise within the team.
• Actively encourage and support your direct reports in attending training arranged by the Hub.
• Act as a H&K ambassador internally and externally.

DESIRED ATTRIBUTES

• You will have proven editorial skills, be a great storyteller with an understanding of how to create content that draws an audience.
• You will also have the ability to lead and inspire teams to achieve stand out work.
• You will have strong technical knowledge of web analytics tools, social media marketing applications and leading social media monitoring platforms.
• Demonstrate a clear ability to lead teams to successful growth.
• Experience working within a large integrated agency model and experience with global clients is a benefit.

At Burson, diversity, equity and inclusion are not just values; they are strategic imperatives that fuel our future in an industry built on the art of understanding, connecting and developing relationships. We believe that a diverse workforce is essential for inspiring bold ideas, fostering constructive dialogue and cultivating meaningful experiences that drive innovation and creativity. It also enables our agency to thrive and deliver brilliant work.