Solutions Director

Part of the ITA Group community of companies, NKD is a next-generation employee engagement agency based in London. We exist to make the world of work better, and we do it for some of the world’s most loved brands. We’re passionate about employee engagement, customer experience and brand cultures. We combine our expertise in strategic consulting, learning and development and creative communications to shift thinking, change behaviour and transform performance for some of the world’s most exciting brands.

The Solutions team is a critical part of NKD, responsible for creating, defining, and improving NKD’s solutions and products so we can consistently wow and delight our clients. The Solutions Director leads the successful design and delivery of our solutions in three ways:

• Client leadership on the design and delivery of our bespoke products as part of specified projects.
• Providing subject matter expertise and input into pre-sale opportunities in partnership with the Business Development team.
• Leading and delivering on internal team projects to ensure we’re as fit inside as we are outside.

You’ll steer our discovery work, getting under the hood of the businesses we work with using your finely tuned, strategic consultancy skills. You’ll cast a new lens on their business problem and propose bespoke, human-centred end-to-end solutions that inspire and enable people to deliver lasting change. You’ll lead a talented portfolio team to create and deliver innovative projects and programmes with results that stick. Subject areas are varied – communications, skills development, leadership development, engagement, onboarding, customer experience – whatever it takes to help brands keep the promises they make to their customers.

The Solutions Director also supports the development of NKD’s people, using your knowledge of skills development and learning, to keep on creating incredible work and aid them in achieving their dreams. And you’ll do your bit to role model a pragmatic and commercially savvy approach that leads to healthy business performance.

Our NKD strategy is built on three pillars: our Family (the team), our Friends (our clients) and our Future (how we grow). The Solutions Consultant role contributes towards the NKD strategy in the following ways:

• Our family: Role model our 4C behaviours and be a guardian of the NKD culture. Help to lead and develop our teams through the delivery of client projects, making NKD a truly great place to work by coaching and providing and seeking feedback. Easily and frequently connect with the NKD team. Actively lead your self-development and career by leveraging opportunities to help you define and reach your goals. Demonstrate awareness of your personal style, strengths and development opportunities. Contribute to operational or strategic thinking across the business. Take ownership for your personal brand and demonstrate high levels of personal standards.
• Our friends: Own the overall solution design from discovery right through to implementation, defining clear measures of success. Walk in our client’s shoes, bringing a fresh perspective to their business or people challenges, often influencing, guiding and advising multiple senior stakeholders through options and decisions. Easily and frequently connect with clients on specified projects to keep their experience seamless. Maintain close connections with our partners and Associates, demonstrating a strong awareness of what they can offer and how this can be leveraged to deliver client solutions. Run design labs to shape new solutions and ensure the successful creation of the end-to-end solution in partnership with the project team and other subject matter experts where appropriate. Ensure the programme design always meets NKD’s quality standards. Support project management with the creation and management of big programme budgets and timelines. Ensure a commercial approach by partnering with the project and finance team on the regular review and maintenance of the project’s overall health, including the revenue and margin, and make commercial decisions to get things back on track if needed.
• Our future: Build a long and successful future for NKD by providing subject matter expertise and input into new business opportunities and proposals in partnership with our Business Development team. Lead, support and be part of evolving the practice of the Solutions team or wider business, for example, continuous improvement, business growth, capability and skills development, culture teams, operational efficiency, and communication. Identify opportunities to improve and evolve the way our solutions are created, managed and delivered at NKD as we diversify our client portfolio and product offering. Demonstrate an insatiable thirst to better our solutions and your craft by researching and leveraging new ways of working, tools and techniques. Contribute towards our thought leadership by creating and contributing to blogs and case studies.

Expertise: You will have experience in organisational development, learning and development, human resources, and communications. This will be deep and broad, for example, leadership development, coaching, digital and virtual learning, and preferably for both big corporates or innovative learning, media or strategic consulting agencies. Client facing roles, being the expert and managing client relationships seamlessly. Leading or supporting others through change. Changing, agile and fast paced environments, taking a business savvy and pragmatic approach. Leading with natural gravitas, convincing communication and commercial experience working with or for companies of all sizes. Working and delivering through others to create impactful solutions. Large scale and complex project delivery with budget responsibility. Making the world of work better through a passion and curiosity for adult learning and behavioural change. Solving problems creatively, exercising sound commercial and human judgement. Successfully leading, developing, and coaching teams and helping others to succeed. A solid understanding of the commercial aspects of an agency or similar environment. Relevant degree level or evidence of continuous professional development in your area of expertise. Travelling globally and representing your organisation wherever you go.

Our 4C behaviours: The NKD 4C behaviours define who we are and how we work. At NKD we:

• Care passionately: Do whatever it takes to get the job done brilliantly; help and take care of each other; wildly celebrate success.
• Connect easily: Be interested in people; treat everyone with respect; be a friend.
• Inspire confidence: Share expertise generously; practice common sense; own and fix the problem.
• Create incredible work: Think of new ways to do things; find what we do fascinating; be proud of the work we hand over.