Comms Design Director

About Us 

Initiative unlocks business growth for the world’s most ambitious brands. We believe in the power of media to reshape our industry and orchestrate a brand’s entire consumer experience, by balancing both what unites people and what makes them different.  

When brands unite people in culture, they build Fame, and when brands connect individuals to their unique journeys, they build customer Flow.  

Media responsibility is at the forefront of everything we do, whether it’s creating media plans that reflect the diversity of our communities, promote brand safety, and foster sustainability.  

Our agency celebrates diversity in an inclusive environment where all of our 6,000+ strong talent across 90+ markets feel seen, heard, and valued. Our vision is to create not only a better media company, but also a better media industry, and maybe even a better world.

DISCIPLINE OVERVIEW: COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN 

Design is the discipline and practice of crafting how a brand idea will be delivered through communications across an owned, earned and paid ecosystem in order to achieve a desired behavioral outcome.  

Initiative’s Design team is creating the future of planning.  Borrowing skills from User Experience, Digital, Public Relations and Content, these media professionals are responsible for curating how people connect and participate with brands through culturally rich ideas.  Instead of considering the experience of a brand in components (media / channel planning), Designers think about brand experience in totality (ecosystem planning) ensuring every encounter is useful and impactful.   

The Design team dynamically brings brands to life through their actions. They: 

• Are experts in consumer and communications behavior, and how changes in behaviors are creating new opportunities for connection 

• Lead the creation of the dynamic ecosystem approach to deliver a strategy 

• Work with partners (media, creative, technology, platforms, Specialty Business Units) to curate how a brand should connect within culture  

• Lead the identification of the right audiences to address how to meet business goals, and guide the quantification of connection encounters holistically 
• Champion innovative, forward thinking activities that help brands create value with their audience. 

ROLE OVERVIEW: DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN 

As Director, Design you are at the forefront of bringing the next generation of planning to life.  As the Design leader of your client group, you are responsible for ensuring the adoption and adherence of communications design principles across your client, ensuring markets consistently delivers best in class idea led, culturally empowered communications ecosystems that drive effectiveness. 

With experience gained in detailed media, digital, communications or experience design roles, you are an expert in the EMEA media landscape and what this offers us for ecosystem planning, and how channels and experiences work across paid, owned, earned and shared connections.  You are considered a communications trailblazer amongst your peers & clients. When it comes to managing big projects you are a skilled & experienced conductor of stakeholders. Your experience allows you to think outside the box and if necessary re-design the box altogether. These abilities enable you to orchestrate and oversee the design & produce market leading communication campaigns through ecosystem planning. 

Your experience across clients, categories and audiences means you are brilliant at seeing connection opportunities and ideas immediately within briefs. Your involvement and team guidance ensures brilliant strategy becomes impactful design.  Across your client, you are well versed in the business opportunities and challenges of your clients.  You are up to speed on their audiences and categories, and what this means for consumer behavior.  Working together with the Initiative strategist, and key partner collaborators (clients, brand teams, brand strategists etc.) you are able to provide strong strategic counsel to your design leads on how to execute against a particular brief.   

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Client  

• Responsible for design product excellence across major planning initiatives across designated client base 

• Development of Design Playbooks to provide EMEA design guidance and ideas to EMEA markets 

• Support local EMEA markets on Design as required, in consultation with Business Leadership 
• Oversee client education program around design relevant marketplace trends. 

Internal  

• Responsible for EMEA markets adoption of best in class design approaches and innovation, and adherence to planning process  

• Responsible for EMEA-wide brief deployment and relevant stakeholder engagement (Speciality Business Units, partnerships, partner agencies, media) 

• Lead ideation sessions and curate outcomes 

• Responsible for the development of the communications idea all connections will help unlock 
• Responsible for effective design of communications architecture and ecosystem delivery across Owned, Earned, Shared, Paid (OESP) for your clients.   

Commercial 

• Responsible for integration of Specialty Business Units activities within every relevant brief, in line with business goals 

New Business 

• Responsible for the production of best in class design outcomes on assigned pitches 

Prioritisation:  

• 60% Client 

• 20% Internal 

• 10% Commercial 
• 10% New Business 

Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s):  

• Client 

• Positive improvement in Design product assessment (client base) 

• Work is upheld as best in class within the industry (client base) 
• Measurable client KPI’s met 

Internal 

• Responsible for development of Design craft skills across markets 

• Can d