About Us

IPG Mediabrands is the media and marketing solutions division of Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). Mediabrands manages approximately $40 billion in marketing investment globally on behalf of its clients and provides strategic services and solutions across its award-winning, full-service agency networks UM and Initiative and through its innovative marketing specialist companies Kinesso, Magna, Orion, Rapport, Healix, Mediabrands Content Studio and the IPG Media Lab. Mediabrands clients include many of the world’s most recognizable and iconic brands from a broad portfolio of industry sectors. The company employs more than 13,000 marketing experts in more than 130 countries representing the full diversity of humanity. For more information, please visit our website: www.ipgmediabrands.com.

Role Description

The Initiative UK FD occupies a critical leadership position, not only with respect to all aspects of the financial side of the business for the UK & Ireland markets, but also through partnership with the Local, Regional and Global leadership teams. As such this role will be responsible for helping to develop and drive the Initiative UK & Ireland strategy, whilst managing the day-to-day financials of the markets and providing support and guidance to the leadership team.

Initiative UK&I employs media professions across offices in London, Leeds and Dublin. This role will be responsible for primarily managing the finances Initiative whilst also overseeing Reprise and Rapport.

Success in this role will be dependent on several factors:

• The collaborative partnership with the UK&I MediaBrands CFO and Initiative UK & Ireland CEO, providing them with commercial acumen and financial expertise, whilst continuously acting as a true strategic business partner.
• Working in alliance with the Regional and Global Finance management teams, ensuring the business priorities for the various functions are always at the forefront of any decisions that are made.
• Operating effectively within a matrix organisation, influencing and leading, using relational and technical influence, versus positional or hierarchical influence.

The role will be responsible for working with the CFO, Mediabrands UK&I, to ensure that the agency teams are pulling in broadly the same direction; the role will have oversight of the Initiative UK & Ireland P&L, thereby holding leaders accountable for delivery against their targets.

Key Responsibilities

Planning:
 Deliver a budget and strategic financial action plan, establishing realistic but stretching financial and business targets, which ensure the market hits or ideally exceeds target.

 Working with agency leadership to ensure accurate and ambitious full year P&L budgets and forecasts as well as monthly flash forecasts with balanced risk.

 Support the Mediabrands leadership to develop prioritised investment plans to extend and grow the reach, penetration, and perception of brands within the market.

 Assist the leadership teams to identify and build realistic business and investment growth plans with clear ROI and success criteria.

 Preparing and delivering Powerpoint presentations to explain forecasts and budgets to the Mediabrands Executive Leadership Team/EMEA/global stakeholders
Reporting, Forecasting & Analysis:
 Oversee financial reporting & analysis of revenue / costs and actual / forecast analysis, providing ongoing analysis that identifies the opportunities and risks within the business in relation to delivering the financial targets.

 Provide regular reporting updates and insightful related analysis on monthly/ quarterly business performance versus targets and prior year performance.

 Review monthly variance analysis by client, proposing follow-up actions as required.

 Oversee the management of salary and related costs, and general operating costs ensuring that approved ratios are met and that corresponding operating margin targets are maintained.

 Ensure adequate systems and processes are in place to accurately forecast performance monitoring and correcting unacceptable variances with actuals as appropriate.

 Work in close partnership with the leadership teams and Initiative Commercial Finance Business Partner to ensure opportunities are sought to increase revenue and manage costs sensibly.
Operations:
 Work in partnership with the Controllership team to jointly own the balance sheet, ensuring that the appropriate level of risk management is being applied to business decision to mitigate the probability of write-offs. Drive forward accountability within client teams to address issues in a timely manner

 Provide agency leadership with insight on the balance sheet and highlight risks and escalation issues.

Clients, Leadership & Collaboration:
 Working closely with the agency leadership teams as a BLUE stream Commercial Finance Director, owning the agency P&L and working closely with SBUs that service clients. Client profitability analysis and management:
 regularly review client profitability summaries, share with the senior agency teams and work with the business to ensure accounts are profitable.
 Working with client leads and SBUs to cross sell services where relevant to expand client relationships
 Client contract management:
o Finance lead for client commercial negotiations including being a key point of contact for client procurement teams.
o Work with agency leads to ensure that scope is in line with fees.
o Provide/arrange for fee proposals for OOS projects.
o Work with agency lead and legal team to draft contract addendums as required.
o Work with agency lead and legal team to organise operational guidance for large contracts and distribute across the RED/BLUE stream.
o Work with agency lead to extend client relationships where possible.
 New business:
o Organise competitive and commercially viable new business proposals across RED/BLUE stream pitches.
o Finance lead for new business negotiations including being a key point of contact for client procurement teams.
o Work with client, agency lead and legal team to finalise contracts for new clients.
o Work with agency lead and legal team to organise operational guidance for large contracts and distribute across the RED/BLUE stream.

 Ensure adherence and compliance with respect to Company and international accounting standards, Sarbanes Oxley, and Company policies and procedures, by taking prompt and effective actions to address issues or weaknesses identified through audit reports, and other sources of relevant data.

 Act as a mentor to any direct reports, communicate the business priorities, demonstrate the importance of commercial awareness and ensure these thought processes are nurtured within the team.

 Partner with HR to ensure regular salary bench-marking and salary banding reviews take place, with appropriate remedial actions identified and actioned, as well as policing of contract observance and adherence to mobility and other relevant policies.

Desired Skills & Experience

• Senior level of experience in managing commercial operations, preferably within an agency, or media business, in a complex matrix structure.
• Qualified ACA/ACCA/CIMA.
• Hands-on experience of commercial business partnering stakeholders.
• Proven ability to develop and maintain strong professional relationships with colleagues, clients, and vendors, by maintaining an engaged and energetic approach that is built on a high degree of resilience and self-confidence (without ego), and an ability to articulate arguments in a rational, even-handed manner.
• Strategic business insight and understanding.
• Tolerance for ambiguity and the ability to influence within a matrix structure.
• Collaboration, team orientation.
• Influencing & persuasion skills.
• Strong negotiation skills
• Ability to balance the need for strategic thinking with the need to deliver.