Associate Director (Healthcare PR)

Full Job Description

Havas SO are a purpose-built healthcare communications agency bringing together a diverse team of creative and communications experts to create more meaningful, S tand-O ut health experiences.

We offer a full spectrum of solutions, services and channels.

No matter the brief, we can draw on the right talent to solve the right challenge. This means bringing patient experts into creative briefs, and advertising minds into PR campaigns. By building teams for specific challenges, we solve briefs in a practical way, with solutions that have patient and society’s well-being at their heart.

We are now recruiting for an Associate Director. The role is permanent, full-time and hybrid with 2-3 days in the office at Kings Cross.

The role

You will be responsible for guiding the account and creative/ shared services teams in optimising the output, quality and value of their work, whilst supporting and encouraging colleagues to identify and grow new business opportunities.

As the senior point of contact for clients, you will be accountable for the planning, execution and measurement of a portfolio of projects and programmes to the client’s satisfaction, whilst ensuring strategically aligned, quality deliverables on time and within budget.

As part of the Leadership Team, you will lead by example displaying leadership qualities and behaviours that will ensure the effective management of resource within the business unit, leading to all demands on the accounts being serviced effectively and resulting in profitability.

The logging and completion of your timesheets which is a fundamental part of your role within the business, supports reviewing workloads and effective resource planning.

Core duties and responsibilities

• Direct and ensure support to the Account & Associate Directors on client or project-related meetings and encourage colleagues to work collaboratively in progressing work. Empower the Account Director & Associate Directors to lead in most project-related work
• Establish and reinforce relationships with key client personnel, primarily communications, patient advocacy, marketing / commercial, medical, and procurement teams
• Proactively advise clients on new issues and the external environment
• Take responsibility for developing, budgeting, managing, and finalising client activity programmes, ensuring these are delivered efficiently and to client objectives
• Focus on securing and retaining business by providing professional, consultative, proactive, and strategic support
• Take responsibility for issues management on the account, using your skills to effectively handle the client and offer reassurance and a positive solution for moving forward
• Instigate and facilitate brainstorms/workshops to develop the strategic, tactical and creative direction of accounts (both with the client and with the wider internal teams)
• As part of the Leadership Team, ensure the effective management of resource within your business offering to help ensure all demands on the accounts are serviced effectively and profitably
• Direct, lead and motivate account teams to fulfil their potential and ensure accounts are managed with a clear structure of roles and responsibilities
• Work alongside the Deputy Management Directors / MDs, to make recommendations on project resourcing and staffing requirements; oversee recruitment of prospective candidates as appropriate
• Ensure account team members take ownership and responsibility for projects
• Direct account team activity to ensure all programme activities are implemented efficiently and deliver in-line with client objectives
• Oversee the development and execution of the business offering specific training and mentoring programme, ensuring specific business needs are addressed within the training of teams and individuals
• Take responsibility and be accountable for securing and retaining business by providing professional, consultative, proactive and strategic support and ideas
• Ensure appropriate cross-selling is managed within accounts to leverage the wider companies expertise and skillset
• Proactively sell agency services that are innovative, visible and profitable, as well as create and develop opportunities for growing business within existing accounts
• Direct, guide and where necessary deliver on new business pitches
• Be aware of wider industry, client competitor strategies and market environment, and use this knowledge to direct the account teams’ work, in consultation with clients
• Lead the preparation and presentation of new business pitches
• Demonstrate an intimate understanding of client products, therapy areas, portfolio and commercial strategy
• Keep up-to-date with issues/events/changes in the external environment that could impact new and existing business opportunities
• Demonstrate an understanding of how the agency strategy cascades into operational delivery plans to strengthen the relationship with our clients
• Partner with other Havas network providers accordingly, to help secure larger business wins
• Direct, guide and support the account team to develop, approve, reconcile and negotiate project budgets and guide colleagues in doing the same.
• Take responsibility for sense-checking all final budgets with the AM/SAM/Account Director before they get sent to clients
• Have an in-depth understanding of the financial status of accounts at all times (with Account Directors) including overall responsibility for internal reporting using the sales sheet
• In conjunction with the Account Leads, ensure input into revenue forecasts with submissions based on sound financial trends and experience
• Oversee and manage account/project resource (based on fee projections), profitability, forecasting and revenue to maximise growth opportunities

You will bring

• Proven experience in an agency environment supporting PR and Patient Advocacy projects
• Demonstrable financial management experience; forecasting, budgeting, and analysis
• Strong healthcare communications experience spanning multiple therapy areas
• Experience in business development in both winning and developing organic new business