Senior Business Director

Job Description

As a Senior Business Director (SBD) you are a senior client management representative of the agency with responsibility for the work you manage through the agency and the group.

The Senior Business Director is a vital role to provide seamless management and protection of the agency's work. You will work with the client, creative and production teams to take our solutions to market with the highest possible standards.

We look to our SBDs to be true leaders and a driving force on our client's business and the heart of the team. In conjunction with your Managing Partner, you will set the course for a healthy client/agency relationship based on mutual respect which allows for unique strategic insights and brave creative work.

This is a unique role with a high-level communication and organization skills required. As your clients will be based in Melbourne and your agency team will be in New Zealand you will be be required to work remotely with team members in New Zealand on a daily basis and face to face with team and clients on the ground in Melbourne.

Responsibilities

• Build relationships with clients to ensure they see you as a trusted and objective partner, critical to their success.
• Lead strategic debate with your client and maintain operational excellence in the day-to-day running of the account, while effectively managing expectations.
• Engage the right people in the business at the right time to develop excellent creative solutions that meet our clients' needs and to elevate the work.
• Lead and mentor exemplary Account Management skills to the Account Managers and Account Co-ordinators within the team.
• Drive a culture of collaboration, curiosity, integrity and creativity within your direct reports and inspire and motivate your team and the people around you.
• Lead the production process - you will be required to oversee and lead your team in the production process taking responsibility for work being produced to an excellent standard, on time, every time.
• Be a problem solver - you will need to be able to problem solve at any and all stages of the process and work issues through to a satisfactory conclusion. And if you're not sure, know when to ask for help.
• You will be a champion of the client's brand, knowing whether the work is on brand or not.
• You'll work alongside your Managing Partner to create the conditions to sell the creative work most effectively.
• You'll be a timeline and budgeting whizz - collaborating with your peers within Colenso to create space to make the best work, while still creating confidence with your clients.
• You will be required to oversee the day-to-day management of all project finances; monitoring, reporting and managing changes throughout the project to ensure budget remains on track.
• You will develop and maintain positive client relationships to ensure they see you as a trusted and objective partner, critical to their success – you know what it takes to make our clients love and trust us.
• Actively seek out ways to grow agency revenue and introduce other areas of the group agency offering.

What we think you'll need:

• Previous agency experience essential.
• 5+ years of agency and marketing experience, and proven ability to juggle multiple jobs whilst maintaining good attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal skills as a team player with experience training others.
• A passion for creativity and doing great work.
• Ability to think beyond execution and to offer solutions rather than problems.
• Resilience and being calm under pressure.
• Be able to thrive in a busy environment.
• Possess strong attention to detail, communication and presentation skills.
• Be well organised, self-starting and able to prioritise work effectively.
• A natural ability to ‘read the room'.
• A natural collaborator and people person; participating fully as an integral member of the team, working co-operatively and collaboratively with the team and wider agency.
• Demonstrates high level of commitment and support to both Colenso and the team.

About Colenso BBDO?

Our mission is to make work no one else in the world can. Our work and our standards have always made the best in the business feel scared. We are recognised as one of the most globally awarded and respected agencies for creativity and effectiveness, creating ideas for brands from America to Australia and everywhere in between.

We exist to destroy the indifference between good brands and culture. We don't believe in selling ads, our focus has always been to use creativity to solve brands' biggest and most complex problems. Creativity, audacity, honesty and mischief are the values that guide everything we do. We believe no-one is as good as all of us, creativity is born from culture, and it's better to be audaciously stupid than sensibly safe.

The agency has recently been awarded Cannes Lions Pacific Agency of the Year 2024, Cannes Lions Pacific Agency of the Decade, Contagious Global Pioneer 2024, the Immortal Award 2024, Global Grand Effie & WARC Winner 2022-23

Why work with us?

We are part of the Clemenger Group - with eight agencies in NZ and 16 in Australia. In turn, the Clemenger Group is part of the creatively awarded global BBDO network.

This means, when you join us, you will be part of a highly regarded global network but working for a 100% locally managed Group that truly values its employees by promoting an inclusive workplace where diversity is embraced. We offer lots of good things from development opportunities and the chance to learn from people at the top of their game, to a staff share scheme, enhanced parental leave payments, discounted health insurance, the ability to work flexibly, an employee assistance programme, massages and cool offices in great locations.