Global Search Account Director

The Role Objective

The Search Account Director role offers a great opportunity for an experienced search specialist to take senior account responsibility within the company's search team, while supporting the Head of Search on various aspects of team management and business growth.  The role is initially 100% focused on a leading bank, looking after the global division of their PPC activity.  Global activity for this client is managed centrally from the company's search team, so the role will require top level strategy setting for coordinating multi-market insights.

In addition, there will be people management remit, managing account managers and acting as a mentor to the wider search team. Over time as we bed this new client in, there will be opportunities to pass responsibilities down on this particular client if the candidate wanted to work on other clients or in other areas.

In particular working alongside fellow UK focused Account Director for same client.

Primary Responsibilities:

Account Management

1. Establish and maintain proactive and effective relationships with key day to day client contacts
2. Maintain phone and email contact with key day to day client contacts
3. Overseeing the efficient running of client and media owner meetings
4. Overseeing relationships with key day to day media owner contacts
5. Overseeing reporting and collation and presentation of post campaign analysis
6. Overseeing the accurate management of search budgets across the search team
7. Overseeing the relationship with all internal media departments to ensure cost effective cross media planning and optimisation of overall media strategies
8. Adept understanding of clients business objectives, background and industry
9. Working closely with the Client Services Director/Digital Strategy Director/Digital Director/Offline Planning Director to ensure first class delivery of effective client strategies that realise client objectives
10. Strong, compelling strategic media planning and buying that delivers against client goals
11. Overseeing and leading where appropriate the informing/education/sell of new media and creative innovation to the client
12. Ensuring consistently high quality outputs and best practise across all managed accounts
13. Adept understanding of all relevant technology solutions, working with the direct team/client to build their knowledge in this area
14. Overseeing and leading where appropriate the implementation of operations and processes relevant to the running of the account

Campaign Management

1. Overseeing the effective use of industry planning tools across the team
2. Overseeing the successful and accurate implementation of digital campaigns
3. Overseeing the successful and accurate trafficking of campaigns
4. Overseeing the successful and accurate completion of campaign reporting
5. Overseeing the successful and accurate completion of campaign analysis and insight
6. Overseeing the successful and accurate implementation of campaign optimisation
7. Overseeing creative delivery is on time and to spec
8. Overseeing integration with dedicated search and offline teams for effective cross media optimisation of campaigns
9. Overseeing campaign booking and reconciliation process, while supporting Head of Search with all account forecasting
10. Overseeing all campaign management duties are accurately completed

People Management

1. Direct line management and development remit of Account Managers
2. Support people management development and process across the whole search team
3. Support Head of Search on team workload management and operational process.
4. Supporting the Head of Search on all resourcing and recruitment needs

Essential Skills, Knowledge and Experience

Key Skills

• Numeracy
• Attention to detail
• Organisational skills
• Team player
• Conscientious
• Dynamic
• Innovative
• Adaptable
• Efficient
• Strong communication skills
• Problem solver
• Self-starter
• Desire to learn, develop and progress
• Good team leadership skills

Experience

• Previous paid search marketing experience
• Proven record of people managing junior search specialists
• Proven record of search campaign implementation and management for high profile clients and brands traffic driving, DR and awareness campaigns
• Experience of managing annual search budgets in excess of £1 million (across all clients)
• Proven record of overseeing management of multiple client accounts, attending and contributing to senior level and strategy focused client meetings
• High level experience of integrated planning across all digital media channels (online display, affiliate marketing and social media)
• Excellent operating knowledge of the technical operations of search marketing management trafficking & tracking, and elements of optimisation and reporting
• Excellent operating knowledge of industry trafficking and reporting tools - DFA, Dart Search and Atlas
• Excellent operating knowledge of Google Analytics and other analytical platforms such as Omniture and WebTrends
• Operational experience of one or more search campaign management tools (Searchignite, Marin, Kenshoo, DC Storm)
• Experience of managing non-core search, bid managed advertising - for example Google Display Network and Facebook ASU activity
• Ability to confidently and clearly present work to senior level client and internal stakeholders, both verbally and in written form.

Knowledge

• An understanding and appreciation of the broader media landscape and its impact on digital, specifically on search marketing
• An understanding and appreciation of the ever changing role search marketing plays as a directional means of facilitating commonplace information gathering and intent based online behaviour
• An understanding and appreciation of planning for the specific impact of individual channel activity on search marketing

Desirable (highly desirable in bold)

• Knowledge or experience of the finance sector. Experience of investment products and options and wealth management as this is a core focus of the global activity.
• Experience of co-ordinating and work with teams in other markets, and setting multi-market search strategy.
• Experience across wider digital disciplines - social media, gaming, emerging technologies etc.
• Intermediate level experience of SEO and integrated search management
• Experience of in house search tool and technology development
• Experience of bespoke integrated search reporting
• Experience of leading mobile search specific strategy and planning