Job Description

Role Overview The Client Services team helps large-scale clients gain agility and find opportunities where others see adversity. The projects team helps clients and their brands gain profitable growth by thriving in an accelerated pace of change where disruption is the norm.

The Senior Director, Client Services APAC is accountable for client services excellence and client satisfaction across (predominantly) key FMCG client/s and brands assigned to him/her. They are a consummate professional in all they do say and write and bring significant respect and gravitas to all situations \xe2\x80\x93 internally and externally. This includes overseeing flawless execution and project management, team development, and growth through existing and new clients. The Senior Director, Client Services APAC collaborates seamlessly with other functions in the office, the region and globally, including Strategy, Design, Insights & Analytics, and Brand Engagement. The key aim of this specialist role is to bring an entrepreneurial and consultative approach to transform the client business to create a shift in the client relationships and operational success throughout the whole account. As part of the team, the Senior Director, Client Services APAC is also a key driving force for growing the regional client portfolio for key FMCG client/s. This includes leading, partnering on and managing new business opportunities and pitches.

Job Duties & Responsibilities Fundamentals

• Embraces, champions and can sell all of Landor & Fitch\xe2\x80\x99s capabilities, including Brand performance, strategy, expression, experience, management and Cultural Transformation.
• Is a specialist in creating excellence along with client partners, identifies, proposes, and delivers all agreed-upon projects, on time, on budget, and on scope.
• Expertise in leading client relationships with the emphasis on driving revenue growth, both organically and as a partner on new business.
• Partners with resource management and other colleagues to coordinate internal and external resources against signed work. Engaging the right network members from Landor & Fitch global and not excluding WPP agency collaborations.
• Ensures and manages flawless project management.
• Ensures all correspondence, materials, presentations and proposals seen by prospective and existing clients are error-free, of highest quality, relevant to the client\xe2\x80\x99s business challenges, and reflective of Landor & Fitch\xe2\x80\x99s approach to Brand Transformation.
• Facilitates multiple internal and client groups; easily moves between consensus building, collaboration, and decision-oriented styles and demonstrates agility across multiple facilitation needs.
• Communicates findings, insights, and recommendations in a clear and compelling manner in written, oral and presentation forms.
• Understands critical nature of and oversees back-up and archiving of key client deliverables, credentials, case histories.
• Recognizes the critical importance of documenting work, and champions and authors case studies.
• Shares, exports and imports best practices and resources with peers within the APAC region and the broader Landor & Fitch network. Collaborates with Client Directors regionally, both informally and formally, to ensure consistent best practices globally.
• Leads and interacts with colleagues and clients in a positive, professional and motivating manner.

People and Team

• Manages project-assigned-teams that could include senior client managers, client managers, and/or client associates.

• Understands team interaction, roles of team members, and leverage, and leads team members to success.

• Champions, embraces, utilizes, and coaches others on how to use Experience Maps, Opportunity Mapping, and other tools to identify business opportunities and solve clients\xe2\x80\x99 business challenges.

• Provides training and support in business development skills so that team members embrace and demonstrate the importance of business development.

• Recognizes under-performing team members and takes applicable action; can help a team member find their way to success.

• Excels in a team environment; is comfortable with accolades going elsewhere.

• Listens to constructive feedback and responds positively.

• Fosters communication and cohesion between internal teams and functions.

• Facilitates the right amount of meetings at the right times; understands the need for team communication without micromanaging.

• Facilitates and ensures a share-of-voice for wider team members across multiple functions and ensures appropriate direct client connections.

• Responsible for individual performance management of direct reports (where applicable), including setting objectives and ongoing check-in for progress.

• Responsible for identifying and supporting ideas, and coaching team members to achieve their assigned roles, that will achieve agreed upon revenue targets and agreed-upon growth.
  

Client Relationships

• Is the central point of communication for all key FMCG client/s, and is accountable for the health and growth of the relationship.

• Is accountable for delivering agreed-upon revenue and growth targets.

• Becomes the Landor & Fitch authority on the client\xe2\x80\x99s business, organizational structure, culture, politics, financial processes, budgets, competitors, business challenges and opportunities and industry trends.

• Is comfortable moving upstream and downstream within the key FMCG client/s org structure; is equally effective partnering with junior-level clients and C-suite team members.

• Becomes the key FMCG client/s most valued partner and source of authority on brand-led business transformation.

• Seeks opportunities to grow the client\xe2\x80\x99s business, and the client\xe2\x80\x99s relationship with Landor & Fitch, through Opportunity Mapping, Experience Maps, tapping into the WPP networks, etc.

• Collaborates with the integrated client team across multiple functions to ensure that all client workstreams are appropriately resourced against the scope and budget of the engagements.

• Maintains a regular flow of information between the client and the team, ensuring milestones are met. Shares accolades with the team and appropriately buffers client negativity.

• Participates in work sessions to identify opportunities, critique designs, and evaluate all deliverables as the engagements progress, always through the filter of the client brief.

• In partnership with Finance, co-leads and oversees client contract and financial negotiations, including negotiation of fees and timings with clients. Addresses and resolves pricing, payment, and scope creep challenges.

• Resolves all work quality challenges by liaising with the appropriate team members.
  

Project / Financial Management

• Champions best-in-class project and financial management for all projects, engagements and growth opportunities
• Coaches and teaches project management and budget management skills to team members and holds them accountable for flawless project management for all workstreams
• Champions the financial process. Partners with Finance to ensure that their team is delivering and tracking tasks, projects and costs effectively, to include job number excellence, time card completion, invoicing, and budget management
• Partners closely with resource manager and / or other colleagues to ensure that resources align to project budgets
• Pays close attention to and is accountable for realization and utilization for his/her team and projects
• Ensures project teams are informed and behaviour demonstrates an understanding of targets, budget allocations, and profitability; establishes individual revenue targets for team members
• Supports Finance Team on finance reporting, invoicing and debt collection
• Partners with Finance to forecast revenue and monthly targets for their clients. Proactively and continually monitors the business and raises challenges in a timely fashion
• Recommends course of action if client revenue targets are moving off target

Competencies for Success

• 15+ years\xe2\x80\x99 experience in branding consultancy, advertising agency or business consultancy, with team and client leadership experience
• Specialist and highly experienced in Consumer Branding with understanding of brand strategy, 2D packaging, retail experiences, digital integration.
• Strategic agility; capable at arriving at insights that will help solve a client\xe2\x80\x99s brand and business challenges.
• Senior collaboration \xe2\x80\x93 Able to identify cost-effective and client-effective partnerships with and across all of Landor & Fitch\xe2\x80\x99s capabilities.
• Conceptual thinker.
• Exceptional communication skills, including presentation and written communication skills.
• Experienced and polished business acumen. Comfortable with C-Suite Executives.
• Demonstrated leadership and relationship building skills \xe2\x80\x93 sophisticated around various personality levels and seniority levels, and proven ability to develop others.
• Proven ability to embrace, address, and solve difficult and challenging situation.
• Comfortable sharing the spotlight.
• Impact and results oriented.
• Decisive, but respectful of and comfortable with ambiguity and changing priorities.
• Voracious hunger \xe2\x80\x93 for new information, for new business, for new ideas.
• Financially savvy \xe2\x80\x93 able to establish financial goals for the business and for team members.
• Highly organized and skillful planner.
• Optimistic and capable of encouraging the same from others.

Our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion We believe diversity brings creativity, which is at the heart of everything we do. We are actively engaging in creating an environment free of discrimination, where our people and their uniqueness can shine and be celebrated. We\xe2\x80\x99re working to set a standard for the industry as a whole, creating a culture of equity and belonging. We may not be perfect, and we know there is work to do, but we regularly check with our teams and Employee Resource Groups on how we are doing, using their insight to frame our thinking and actions, so we can all do better, working as one Landor & Fitch. Landor & Fitch is committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee based on race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, veteran or military status, genetic information, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law.