SVP, Business Director

About Octagon:

Octagon is a global creative agency, with a speciality in sport and entertainment partnerships. With over 800 team members around the world, we work with brands to create big ideas that fans love and want to engage in, because it’s built in and around their passion. Where others see complexity we see possibility, and we believe in pushing authenticity, creativity, and longevity to do great things in the industry that lead the market.

It’s a great space to play – in the world of culture, content, and events – and if you’d like to be a part of it, we would love to hear from you.

Our Values:

Our values: empowerment, intelligence, inclusivity, innovation, and impact, guide our behaviours as people and shape the way that we operate as a team. As a senior member of the organisation, you will find ways to embody these in your own job as well as provide leadership and oversight on how those values come to life in all our staff and how we collectively operate.

About the Role:

We are currently looking for an SVP, Business Director to play a primary role in leading one of our major clients as well as establishing a leadership role for the business across Europe.  You will also have scope and opportunity to extend your expertise to other existing client programs and development of new business opportunities. The role will report to the Client Services Director and would also take part in broader internal planning for talent and the business holistically.  You will work closely with Global Account Leadership and represent Europe on the Regional Leadership Team for the account. You will help evolve and influence our role as a Creative Agency with clients and talent within the business to ensure we are delivering excellence and pushing the boundaries with our thinking and solutions.

You will play a pivotal role in building our brand and reputation within the local market and across the region, representing our organisation internally and externally. Within the agency you will be a trusted figure head, mentor, and all-round Play Maker to inspire those that surround you.

Responsibilities

Market Leadership

• Establish a role on leadership team
• Lead the Regional Account Team internally and externally (flowing down goals & objectives, all key functional information and business updates from the Europe / Leadership Team).
• Make decisions on project priorities and resource allocations and financial planning within the market (in consultation with the CSD and MDs in each market and across the global leadership team for primary account).
• In collaboration with the Global Leadership Team, develop relationships to raise Octagon’s profile with key clients in the markets and region
• Foster a positive work culture based on collaboration, open communication, and respect.
• Lead by example to drive Octagon values in daily management practices.
• Solicit and act on feedback to continuously improve the agency's culture.
• Coach and Counsel members of the team across subject matter expertise, sponsorships, activation, and creative.

Client & Team Senior Lead

• Be the senior POC and point of escalation for internal client team leads while instilling the ‘All in Play’ ways of working & ethos across our day-to-day dealings and delivery of work internally.
• Cultivate and manage relationship with one of Octagon’s major clients in Europe, to become the senior POC, escalation and advisor to them.
• Manage scoping conversations with the client, including proposals/costings, resource planning (internal), and ongoing tracking and reporting.
• Manage multiple projects daily, with a proactive approach to solve client problems & be able to recommend solutions in real-time.
• Strategic development and overall leadership of key client accounts and work streams, advising on the development, coordination, and implementation of plans for promoting the brand in the sponsorship and activation space.

New Business & Finance

• Recognise new business leads & drive business building opportunities with existing clients and broadly within the industry / local market.
• Participate with other regional leads and global leadership to attract multi-regional and global clients
• Oversee the tracking of revenue and billability across regional resources

Team & Client / Creative Service Excellence

• Develop a deep understanding of local market team's needs & objectives, review ways of working across disciplines i.e., Strategy, Planning, Creative & Client Service teams and support internal discussions, sharing of best practice to drive change in process & efficiencies for management of workload as we move into a new structure for the business.
• Ensure process flow for creative and ways of working, timelines, expectations around feedback, value of expertise and offering from the Agency to support growth of services across current & new accounts.

Octagon Europe Marketing / Awareness

• Participate in the proactive development of Octagon’s POV material and thought leadership across the region.
• Contribute to industry and thought leadership where applicable and suggest team members to do so where applicable
• Work together with Comms to support Octagon awareness in the region and markets

Skills and Experience

• 15 + years of experience in client service roles within a creative marketing and sponsorship agency or equivalent brand side experience
• Strong leadership, team management, and client relationship management skills
• Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving, and communication abilities
• Proactive, results-oriented mindset with the ability to manage multiple projects.
• Experience in new business development and pitching

• Experience in partnerships or in sports, gaming, or entertainment
• A passionate and compassionate leader, able to oversee and inspire teams from planning through to execution
• A brilliant communicator, able to articulate ideas, requirements, and expectations across all levels.

Location: London, UK

What’s in it for you?

• A fun, inclusive and high-performance culture
• Hybrid, flexible working environment
• Free access to Headspace to support your overall wellbeing
• Free access to our 24/7 confidential Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Opportunity to work as part of our borderless teams, as part of the global Octagon community

Octagon is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Octagon is committed to building a culture where all employees are seen as equal, are respected and where all opinions are heard. We take pride in our inclusive hiring, as well as our diverse workforce and we welcome applications from all qualified candidates.

Important Note: This job description serves as a guide to the scope and range of activities that may be required of the incumbent and may change at any time according to the needs and priorities of the Company.