Careers at Harvard

The role

This Senior Account Manager position is a particularly key hire for this growing and busy team. Due to the structure, this role will oversee a number of Execs and will report into a Director. You will have a varied client mix, working on a global account whilst playing a key leadership position on some other smaller tech accounts within your team.

Specific responsibilities

Account planning and management

• Act as Consultant to your clients, giving expert, well thought-out feedback
• Support in the creation of strategy documents to develop your clients’ business
• Be able to lead smaller accounts independently (<£5,000)
  • Oversee implementation of account activity to ensure output meets and exceeds agreed KPIs
  • Take responsibility for quality control / proofing of all materials.
• Demonstrate foresight by identifying key planning issues / pressure points and developing possible solutions
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of client’s brand, its attributes and promise and how that is differentiated within its direct competitor set and the wider financial services arena
• Be able competently to sign off junior work on accounts you run (below 5k), including taking a critical approach to the correct use of language for the task
• Identify opportunities for building existing client business and / or new business
• Develop budgets for approval by account director / director
• Assume account director / director’s responsibilities if they are absent or unavailable.

Team responsibility

• On smaller accounts make it your business to motivate and manage your account teams, monitor resource requirements and raise issues or concerns to senior management team
• On larger accounts take ownership of assigned tasks and lead the team on achieving desired results.
• Take a long term view of accounts and make it your business to flag issues / opportunities to develop the account to the relevant lead
• Ensure account teams are working together to optimise performance and build long term client relationships
• Mentor junior members of the team empowering them to take on responsibility and consult on clients
• Ensure you are delegating effectively – to more junior and senior members of the team

Business development

• Identify and develop new business opportunities as appropriate to existing clients
• Contribute to developing case studies of client work for website, credentials presentations etc
• Actively look for opportunities to sell in additional Harvard offerings
• Support in new business pitches

Skills and expertise

• Strong media handling skills, including supporting crisis communications work
• Provide strategic input for all media activity, leading sell in activity on accounts you run and taking ultimate responsibility for achieving KPIs
• Sustain insight into target media and key issues, monitoring for client opportunities
• Develop, and support team in developing, strong, creative campaigns and newsroom ideas
• Ensure all written materials are fully client ready before being submitted to a director for sign off
• Develop and maintain relationships with journalists, suppliers and key stakeholders.
• Support junior team in building their media contacts.
• Be actively involved in building understanding of social media
• Provide creative input into how social media could be leveraged for client activity

Behaviours 

• Demonstrate the Harvard values – social, curious, open, responsible, entrepreneurial and expert
• Contribute to a positive atmosphere in your team
• Provide ad hoc mentoring support to junior members of the team
• Demonstrate excellent understanding of the technology sector
• Demonstrate excellent understanding of the media and digital trends

This is a great opportunity for an Account Manager to take a step up in their career and lead with some key clients and to help with new business wins.

To apply, please send your CV to DOates@VCCPBusiness.com

The Role

We are looking for a motivated, organised, and career-hungry Account Executive. You will be helping to build a new brand so a can-do start-up mentality is a must.

You will support account team in the delivery and development of current client accounts. You will provide support for new business and company marketing activity and understand the markets in which our clients operate. You will be able to develop a broad knowledge of issues and industry sectors with a detailed understanding of clients businesses, services, practices, and people. You will have strong communication and administration skills, both written and verbal, and ability to produce accurate work under extreme pressure. Your strong interpersonal skills and willingness will contribute to the ‘team effort’.

Our Values

• Social – creating strong teams that know how to work together
• Curious – curiosity leads to continuous questioning and learning
• Open – open minds lead to better ideas and relationships
• Responsible – aiming to be a force for good in the way we do business
• Entrepreneurial – everyone behaving as if it was their own business
• Expert – passionate about being a specialist

And your clients will expect you to:

• Be positive at all times, and help them find solutions
• Have or build a good working rapport with key client contacts
• Proactively manage day to day work efficiently, to agreed budgets and timings
• Strive to develop a good understanding of their brand, their business and the products that they market
• Build strong journalist relationships with their key target media

Specific responsibilities

Account role and administration

• For client accounts, being responsible for scheduling team meetings (and making sure they happen), setting up logistics for external meetings, and preparing agendas
• For external meetings, taking notes and preparing accurate contact reports; ensuring distributed to client no later than 24 hours after the meeting
• Compiling, where relevant, comprehensive weekly or monthly account status/activity reports.
• Compiling comprehensive results database of outcomes from client work e.g. press cuttings, seminar attendees, media evaluation etc
• Ensuring all written contact with clients is well thought through, answers the questions posed and is proofed before sending
• Checking action notes and ensuring the account team are aware of agreed actions that require implementation

Skills and expertise

• Maximise coverage opportunities for clients using a variety of content – press releases, bylines, blogs, reports, rapid response
• Producing and maintaining distribution lists and ensuring all contact details are up to date at all times
• Mounting, logging and distributing coverage to clients and compiling accurate coverage reports
• Identifying opportunities for clients and informing the team e.g. comment in response etc
• Drafting of strong and well-thought through written materials, including press releases, briefing documents, and case studies
• Building and maintaining relationships with key journalists inc. regularly meeting with contacts
• Understanding social media networks and keeping abreast of new innovations (and sharing insight)
• Independently researching how social media can be used to drive coverage and build relationships with clients

Business development

• Overseeing and undertaking relevant account focused research inc. proactively consuming a broad range of media (traditional and social), building an understanding of how media outlets operate and sharing insight
• New business research, researching companies, relevant issues, media coverage, sector debate etc to inform new business presentations/ proposals
• Contribute to developing case studies of client work for website, credentials presentations

To apply, please send your CV to DOates@VCCPBusiness.com

Production @ Harvard

Production drives every project forward in a proactive way with full end to end management, keeping the creative / planning / accounts / specialists updated.

We are here to make sure that projects run on time, on budget and with the right people involved. We bring inspiration to the project teams and utilise our skill sets to benefit the agency. We keep a finger on the pulse of new, creative and innovative mediums for telling our clients stories – both physically and digitally. We’re the fixers, the problem solvers, always highlighting solutions to challenges that may arise and working with the right team to make it happen We are there from briefing to delivery to work with both account and creative teams to help produce the best work we can for the agency and our clients.

The role

As a Senior Producer, you will be responsible for turning our ideas into creative activations that deliver lasting change for our clients. We are looking for someone who has a creative streak, combined with attention to detail and a practical problem-solving mind-set to ensure that our creative content matches our clients’ ambitions.

Our scope and capabilities are broad, and you’ll need to be comfortable across film, photography, digital content, print and creative projects and events.

This is a client-facing role requiring effective communication and management across all disciplines and third-party suppliers. You will thrive when faced with new challenges, always explore cutting edge approaches, and strive to improve the way things are done.

You’ll work alongside the agency’s creative directors, client services teams and creative services manager, and will play an influential role helping teams across the whole agency.

Key Responsibilities

• Project delivery: responsible for the successful ownership, management and delivery of production projects across multiple markets, with high-quality project deliverables, on time and on budget. Effectively resource your project to completion. Able to set up, structure and deliver a diverse range of projects. Set up and facilitate internal post-project review sessions and share learnings with relevant parties.
• Production skills: Manage production process, mitigate risk, and anticipate and manage issues as they occur. Good problem-solving skills technically, practically and creatively.
• Supplier management: able to identify appropriate partners. Ensure outsourced projects are delivered on time, within budget and to the highest standards. Negotiate to ensure the most cost-effective solution. Work closely with third parties to ensure they are set up to succeed. Maintain a ‘black book’ of approved suppliers.
• Creative support: inspire and deliver award-winning work, both from yourself and from others who work with you. Influence change through ideas, creativity and the use of interactive media. Learn new skills and stay abreast of technical and digital design developments, and successfully apply them to working practices.
• Budget and financial management: work with project management and creative teams to accurately compile an estimate for an agreed scope of work. Ensure Harvard clients balance value for money with results. Track spend and highlight potential overruns before they occur. Escalate and resolve financial issues as they happen. Ensure the quality and peer review of all documentation and deliverables within the project.
• Building relationships: build strong internal and external relationships. Obtain a high level of internal team and client satisfaction across all projects.

Skills and Experience

• Experience of production supervision, with a track record of successful delivery.
• Experience within the digital/creative industry as a producer including work across web, digital, mobile, moving image, photography, post-production, experiential, and print
• Extensive experience of presenting to clients and excellent communication skills.
• Experience of delivering production projects in an agency environment implementing innovative, interactive and business/consumer-focused solutions.
• Able to build strong relationships and achieve results under challenging circumstances.
• Proven ability to work well under pressure with a high degree of flexibility and fluidity, a focused and positive approach, and comfortable working independently.
• Good business acumen and sound judgement. Entrepreneurial, and collaborative.
• Strong customer service ethos, with high standards of excellence and integrity, and excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to take complex technical solutions and communicate them at an understandable level to clients and agency stakeholders confidently

To apply, please send your CV to DOates@VCCPBusiness.com