ZS is a professional services firm that works side by side with companies to help develop and deliver products that drive customer value and company results. From R&D to portfolio strategy, customer insights, marketing and sales strategy, operations and technology, we leverage our deep industry expertise and leading-edge analytics to create solutions that work in the real world. Our most valuable asset is our peopleâ€"a fact that’s reflected in our values-driven organization in which new perspectives are integral and new ideas are celebrated. ZSers are passionately committed to helping companies and their customers thrive in industries ranging from healthcare and life sciences, to high-tech, financial services, travel and transportation, and beyond.
You are passionate about helping clients design and deliver end-to-end impactful brand communications & experiences with creative strategies that support and amplify business strategies. We work closely with our clients from research, development to product launch and growth to deliver optimum product performance. We are looking for a business developer to join our Creative & Design team to support business development with clients, in collaboration with our professional service teams.
You enjoy jumping in and getting your hands dirty and you are excited to be involved at the intersection of our consulting teams, strategic planners, creatives, experience designers to deliver leading edge, meaningful and impactful branding and experiences to our clients. You are an engaged leader, comfortable working with cross-functional teams, from analytical/strategy consultants to creatives. You are organized, time conscious, result oriented with a can-do attitude. You stay patient in resolving problems, and making the right trade-offs. Yet you are clear, transparent, and direct in sharing your perspectives. You are OK disagreeing, yet do it in a way that is fact-based, demonstrates empathy with the other party, and in the end, enables the team to reach a good solution that works for the client, and integrates a strong creative energy.
You proactively seek out problems and issues that clients have, and are excited to bring together a diverse team to tackle them.You are a natural organizer and love bringing together different groups of people with varied interest around one big idea. You are detail oriented and like to see all the items on your list checked off by the end of the day. Results are top of mind. When you commit, you take the project to the end, aiming to surprise the client positively. Yet you keep an eye on the financial success of the project as well as the team engagement, balancing the excitement of the task at hand and treating our teams right.
If this sounds like you, the ZS Creative and Design (C&D) Team could be just the place for you to apply and grow your skills.
Creative&Design@ZS was created five years ago to enrich and evolve our consulting offerings, and is comprised of a diverse team of talented individuals who are on a mission to address the evolving needs of our clients. The C&D team has three areas of focus: Creative art and copywriting, Strategic Planning and Experience Design. As a Business Development leader, you'll be collaborating with members across all three areas, as well as our broader group of management consultants.
CLIENT SERVICE LEAD/CREATIVE & DESIGN
The Business Developer will work with the leader of the C&D team, in conjunction with the leaders of strategic planning, experience design, creative and production teams. You role will be to expand the use of the creative and design team with our key clients beyond the consulting, technology, and operations work we are delivering. We have very broad access to many companies and you will be involved in communicating with clients, and engaging with them to expand the work we do with them.
The Business Developer works within a dynamic, team-oriented environment. This role requires an entrepreneurial spirit to reach out to clients, collaborate with the consulting teams, and has a drive to design approaches, put together the right team, and oversee high value deliverables.
This role will be based in New York, yet collaborating with other teams across different offices (while ZS has offices in 25 cities, the C&D team is represented in New York, London, San Francisco and Pune/India). The focus of your work will be in the US, in the east coast.
We take onboarding new comers to ZS very seriously. The candidate would be supported in the first year by a development coach, a mentor, and a sponsor to ensure the success of the new employee.
Business development skills

• Keen interest in orchestrating the engagements with clients from opportunity identification to delivery and follow-up for creative projects involving our Creative&Design team, as well as broad business consulting teams (7,000+), and interactions with our clients.
• The business development AP will work with the client and our client teams including creatives, strategic planners, experience designers, and the broader consulting team, to identify opportunities, making the bridge from business stategy to brand strategy, experience design and creative execution.
• The business development AP is able to build relationships with ZS client teams and clients. They leverage project successes into follow-on opportunities and unique, bespoke opportunities.
• This position will report to the leader to the Creative&Design team, and will be accountable for business development on targeted accounts.
• The work will be delivered in collaboration with the strategic planners, experience designers, creatives, and the production team as well as the consultants.
• Maintain a positive attitude with the team, setting high standards, and help the team anticipate challenges to stay in control of the variety of situations we expect to face.

Administrative and technical knowledge and skills

• Self-starter: after initial instructions, enjoys working independently, and thinking on his/her feet to find and pursue business opportunities with targeted accounts.
• Experience understanding the client needs, articulate an approach and iterate with the client to reach clarity on the problem, the approach, the deliverables, and the budget.
• Ensure through interaction with the client that he has a positive experience working with you and the team: avoiding surprises, flexibility when required and within reason, high level of responsiveness
• Experience working with delivery teams co-located in different offices (US, EU, or India).
• Carries out tasks with a sense of urgency and is able to juggle multiple projects simultaneously
• Maintain strong internal relationships within the creative and design team as well as with client service team or practices.
• Is involved in workload build up and budget estimations. Coordinate the proposal writing with the different functional teams.
• Ensure the projects are delivered with the expected quality.
• Communicates potential obstacles and flags potential issues in a timely fashion; collaborates with the project teams to reach a viable solution, engage with the client to keep them abreast of progress.
• Knows how to raise issues early enough to find solution ahead of time to deal with challenge productively

Client Relationship Management

• Experience with client-facing interactions as well as collaboration with other internal teams (client teams, practice teams).
• Experience driving business development activities across multiple clients, which results in a growing book of business
• Strong communications skills, face to face as well as remote, to enable professional representation of ZS Associates and discussions on scoping, budget, delivery, quality.
• Develop long time relationships with clients based on a track of successfully delivered projects

Education & Prior Work Experience

• Bachelor's degree required, master / MBA degree a plus
• Minimum of 8-12 years of experience within advertising agency or professional service firm focused branding, communication, creative. Experience in marketing or account management a plus.
• Experience with different industries, including pharmaceutical and different types of customers (HCP, patients, payers, institutions)
• Experience with the PRC process and different PRC platforms
• Experience engaging with procurement teams
• Comfortable with Microsoft Suite, including Excel and PPT

ZS is a global consulting firm. Fluency in English is required; additional fluency in at least one European or Asian language is desirable.
Candidates must possess work authorization for their intended country of employment. An on-line application is required to be considered.
ZS offers a competitive compensation package with salary and bonus incentives, complete medical/dental/life insurance programs and retirement savings benefits. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.
ZS is committed to providing and maintaining a safe workplace. You are required to have received or be willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccination by date of hire to be considered. Proof of vaccination will be required. Religious/medical exemptions can be requested on a limited basis upon hire.
NO AGENCY CALLS, PLEASE.