Digital Strategy and Solutions Director

Job Description

About Impression

We are Digital Growth Specialists helping ambitious global brands push boundaries. We define and deliver integrated digital strategies that transform our clients from market players to market leaders. As we embark on our 8th year of accelerated growth we’re looking for a Strategy and Solutions Director to help drive the agency forward.

Our agency wouldn’t be what it is today without our incredible people. Our diverse team encompasses expertise across the digital landscape which enables us to accelerate change and results, driving business growth faster. Our collaborative, creative and inclusive culture helps build our reputation as a leading digital employer and we are committed to nurturing and developing people to their full potential.

Recognising that we are a part of something much bigger, we’re on a mission to use business as a force for good. We’re actively committed to creating a positive impact for our people, planet and community.

The Role

The Strategy and Solutions department is responsible for the delivery of insights, media planning, digital measurement and digital transformation delivery at Impression. The department itself is growing quickly from a standing start of one person in Summer 2021, but is widely supported in its growth ambition by the entire business. It is enabled by a suite of digital marketing delivery channel departments, plus Client Success, and back office commercial and operational teams in an agency of over 100 people. For services which represent a growth opportunity for Impression but no internal experience is available, we endeavour to upskill through recruitment, consultancy and partnerships.

This role, of Strategy and Solutions Director, is responsible for the leadership and ultimate delivery of all of the services in the departments’ remit. The ideal candidate should have demonstrable experience of a background in at least some of the following: Media Buying, Digital Media Measurement, Digital Strategy or Digital Marketing Transformation. They are well known, respected experts within their field. Their focus is on the future growth of the company through their service(s) and people. Typically the planning horizon for some of the work completed in this role is beyond the next financial year.

In this role, you will:

• Be accountable for department revenue growth against target
• Be accountable for department gross profit against target
• Have ultimate accountability for the outputs of the department including all agency clients having digital strategies in place
• Inspire and lead the teams within the department(s) to get the best outcomes for both the team and Impression’s clients
• Provide people and service leadership on all things alongside the support of any Heads of their departments
• Grow your personal profile and that of the agency through regular contributions to Impression’s own marketing, specifically through speaking and publishing thought leadership content
• Set and effectively communicate a vision for the departments’ services, operations and people
• Contribute to the pitches of many of our largest sales opportunities, and thereafter play an ‘sponsor’ role to a small number of our largest clients
• Lead the evolution of our service offering alongside the Performance/Media Director
• Champion work completed by the team internally and externally and evangelise the service offering and Impression publicly
• Proactively plan for the future services and structures necessary to deliver them alongside colleagues in other departments
• Liaise with other departments to ensure smooth operational running of teams and client delivery (across SEO, PR, Paid media)
• Create additional internal demand for other Impression services, working with our Client Success team
• Foster a proactive and consultative approach in the teams’ client relationships to assist with theirs and our growth aspirations
• Contribute to Impression’s learning and development programme
• Assist the Directors with new strategic initiatives for clients and the business as and when appropriate

Requirements

We're looking for a candidate with an existing in-depth understanding of the hurdles larger SME and PLC clients come up against when it comes to setting and executing a digital marketing strategy.

To be considered for the Strategy and Solutions Director role at Impression, you will need to meet the following criteria.

Must have:

• Experience in a similar role (ideally agency-side but in-house/brand-side also considered)
• Previous hands on experience in at least two of: SEO, Digital PR, Paid Media, Analytics, Conversion Rate Optimisation
• Very good knowledge of the appropriateness and effectiveness of digital marketing activities including SEO, Digital PR, Paid Media, Conversion Rate Optimisation
• Good understanding of online web analytics, specifically Google Analytics
• Experience in objective setting, setting performance indicators and reporting for a portfolio of multi channel accounts
• Exceptional client management skills and be able to tell us how you deliver great experiences
• Have demonstrable multi-level team management skills
• Be a team player, capable of building relationships across teams at all levels
• Communicate your passion for digital marketing strategy
• Have demonstrable experience managing multiple, sometimes conflicting, deadlines
• Be a natural when it comes to adopting new software and technologies
• Have demonstrable experience in building your own personal profile, in the form of blogging, public speaking, a strong social media presence, etc
• Be a strong communicator, both written and verbally

Nice to have:

• Experience in developing systems and processes to monitor performance across a growing portfolio of accounts
• Experience in applying and consulting on maturity/growth frameworks
• Have experience in incrementality measurement
• Experience managing Google Marketing Platform partnerships
• Experience in designing and delivering commercial training programmes
• Experience coaching and developing junior staff
• Experience in international digital marketing projects
• Experience with marketplaces such as Amazon
• Experience reporting on financial departmental performance actuals vs plan

What makes us different?

We are proud to be recognised by:

- “Flexa 100” Most Flexible Companies to work for

- A Great Place to Work®

- B Lab UK Certified B Corp®

- Our Glassdoor reviews, scoring 4.8/5 by our employees

Alongside our amazing culture, here's what else makes us standout as a great employer:

• Competitive salary – verified by an external salary benchmarking company £75,000+ DOE
• Flexible working options - as per ways of working charter
• Private medical insurance with access to EAP
• Enhanced sick pay - 8 weeks full pay, 8 weeks half pay in 12 month period
• Access to HelloSelf, a virtual therapy platform
• Enhanced parental leave
• 28 days annual leave, plus bank holiday
• Life leave – when something unexpected happens in your life and you need some paid leave
• Pregnancy loss and parental bereavement leave
• Compassionate leave
• Eye-care vouchers
• Opportunity to save on and spread the cost of new tech through Techscheme
• Budget for books, tools and software
• Tea and coffee, drinks fridge and fruit deliveries
• A full social calendar with a budget per person and 1 social event per month
• Summer and Christmas party (off-site)
• Chance to attend national and international conferences
• Top Apple equipment to use at work
• Savings on bikes and accessories through Cyclescheme
• Perkbox membership
• Contributory pension scheme
• The usual agency stuff – office dogs, drinks fridge, ping pong and foosball

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We're listening and we're learning.

We’re committed to embracing diversity and promoting equal opportunities, both within our teams and through the services we provide. But we know we still have work to do. Improving fairness – in our agency and our industry – is something we’re passionate about, and we’re committed to having the conversations, making the changes and helping other businesses to do the same.

We pledge to promote equal opportunities and, as per the Equality Act 2010, will not tolerate discrimination on the grounds of: gender, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, age, disability, caring responsibilities or beliefs. We’ll also make every effort to represent different genders, ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds and sexualities at the events, panels and discussions we run.

Agencies

Strictly no recruitment agencies.