Job Description

Description

Position at Essence

About MFG and Essence

Media Futures Group, a collaboration between Essence and MediaCom is part of GroupM and is a global data and measurement-driven agency that blends data science, objective media and captivating experiences to build valuable connections between brands and consumers. Clients include Google, FrieslandCampina, and the Financial Times. The agency is more than 1,100 people strong, manages over $3.2B in media spend and deploys campaigns in 71 markets via its global offices throughout North America, EMEA and APAC.

Visit for more information and follow us on Twitter at @essenceglobal.

About the role

As an APAC Associate Project Director, you will be responsible for leading the project delivery of strategic central workstreams that impact the full campaign lifecycle for one of our largest clients. This will involve developing and overseeing an end-to-end process that starts with defining client business requirements before working with Media Futures Group (MFG) regional practices and teams to develop and roll-out key projects for performance / direct response campaigns.

Your role will require you to be hands on to scope and create project plans across a number of different workstreams, based on building and enhancing performance for our client. The role is high visibility across a number of practices and teams within MFG and will require key stakeholder management skills to ensure collaboration across APAC markets.

You will have significant experience in simplifying complex projects for delivery and managing the clear and timely communication of project status to stakeholders and clients. A very keen eye for detail and a natural communicator and collaborator, you will be driven to achieve project success and develop MFG's capability across APAC.

Reporting of the role

This role reports to the Senior Director of Operations - Central Projects.

Best things about the job

• You will play a pivotal role in managing projects for one of the biggest global clients in WPP.
• You will experience working in a truly dynamic and rapidly changing media industry along with business thinking and broader client / account management
• You will get the opportunity to work with and influence leaders from various verticals to be able to make an impact and enhance ways of working and managing client media performance with innovation.
• Be part of a fun and challenging environment where individual aspirations can be fulfilled

Measures of success
In three months:

• You should have a fair understanding of media processes and systems at Essence.
• You will need to possess a detailed understanding of the central projects as a function and the role it plays in the organisation.
• You would have a good grasp on our technology enablers at both conceptual and operational level.
• You would know the key stakeholders across the APAC region and the Global Essence organisation.
• You will be able to create and manage information and reporting needs for leadership and clients.
• You will have a strong understanding of performance marketing and how this impacts campaign strategy and measurement.

In six months:

• You will start contributing in improving our delivery processes and bringing efficiencies
• You will be able to strengthen relationships with stakeholders and leverage those to get the required outputs and drive initiatives
• You will be able to own management information and reporting for a core projects
• You will be supporting the Brand Projects Leads with direct communication with Clients

In twelve months:

• You would've started to identify new opportunities for projects and driving enhancements to existing processes.
• You will be leading and managing campaign performance level project management activities independently
• You will be able to onboard and train new and existing staff on key project requirements and provide direction for day-to-day work needs.

Some of the things we'd like you to do

Supporting Team Functions

• Ensure consistency in the delivery of all central projects
• Support the Senior Operations Director to:

• Work with Product Leadership and Regional Practice Leads to develop clear scopes of work and commercial proposals for the central team
• Identify the key performance indicators for project success and measure the business impact to both the client and MFG..
• Work with Resource Management to develop resource strategies to optimise financial performance, to deliver work on time and to meet client expectations
• Support the VP of Activation and Performance Client Lead to:

• Managing the data tracking to internal and external stakeholders
• Coordination of the resources on projects for quarterly scoping
• Streamline the processes for analytics projects and improve workflow management
• Analyse the efficiencies between the Hub and local markets.
• Support the Planning team to:

• Project manage the beta testing within the internal and client teams
• Coordination of the various reporting trackers and ensure on time delivery
• Monitor brand campaign scorecards and the reporting
• Coordinate and oversee the creative testing and optimisation projects

Leading the Delivery of Work

• Translate client brief/initiatives and scopes of work into effective project plans, that will ensure we meet client expectations on time and deliver results.
• Ensure project plans are kept up-to-date within our project management platform and shared and understood by the cross-functional team
• Partner with global leads to ensure APAC performance projects are captured and reported, highlighting the key areas of opportunity and further performance updates.
• Coordinate efforts across the cross-functional team, including supporting/ leading daily huddles to maintain context and coordinating conversations and actions to overcome challenges and meet deadlines
• Effectively help plan and manage on-going projects for the Regional Practice Leads, in conjunction with the SVP of Client Services and Senior Operations Director.
• Support the Regional Practice Leads with client and partner management when requested by:

• Sharing status updates and gathering information/context
• Holding them to account for their deliverables/inputs
• Setting up and/or facilitating meetings
• Documenting and sharing meeting minutes and actions
• Look to identify potential issues before they happen, and with the support of the Senior Operations Director and to put plans in place to mitigate them
• Help the team understand the client agreed upon service level agreements, and support them in finding ways to better manage their work to them
• Be a role model and advocate for effective collaboration and communication across the cross-functional team

Driving Project Effectiveness

• Support the Senior Operations Director run team wash-ups, and help the team implement agreed upon changes to improve the way they work together
• Help educate team members on the end-to-end Essence Campaign Delivery Process and direct them towards any supporting Quality Standards
• Help the Senior Operations Director track adherence to Process and Quality Standards, encouraging their use, and helping resolve barriers to their adoption
• Regularly share operational recommendations to improve the way we work, and help implement any necessary improvements within the team

A bit about yourself

• You have ~8-10 years' experience, ideally including time within a media agency and/or from management consulting companies
• If you are applying from a completely different industry/experience/background, please kindly provide us a cover letter / note to let us understand your interests better toward this role
• You have a solid understanding of project management methodologies, and can share how you've used them to deliver complex projects involving cross-functional teams
• You show curiosity in the way businesses operate, and demonstrate an ability to make recommendations on how they can change to improve business effectiveness
• You have a data-driven, analytical mind, able to use it to identify root causes to complex problems
• You can make decisions and resolve problems quickly and effectively
• You are a very organized person, and have strong attention to detail, allowing you to bring structure to otherwise unstructured situation
• You have strong spoken and written communication skills, ensuring your thoughts and needs are heard and understood
• You have well-tuned relationship skills, and you're able to use them to build rapport and influence people at all levels
• You have a can-do attitude, you can multi-task and you remain calm and composed under pressure
• You exude positivity and energy, and you can thrive in a fast-paced and dynamic working environment
• You work best in team environments, and you are a beacon of collaboration

What you can expect from MFG

Essence's mission is to make advertising more valuable to the world. We do this by employing the world's very best talent to solve some of the toughest challenges of today's digital marketing landscape. It's important that we hire people whose values reflect those of our own: genuine, results-focused, daring and insightful. As an Essence employee, we promise you a workplace that invests in your career, cares for you and is fun and engaging. We believe these factors create a workplace where you can be yourself and do amazing work.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, or marital status.