Commercial Finance Associate Director

Job Description
EssenceMediacom
EssenceMediacom fuses Essence’s performance, data, analytics and creative technology DNA with MediaCom’s scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise.
EssenceMediacomX
EssenceMediacomX sits within the legacy Essence building on Oxford Street. We still have all our wonderful essentials looking after our amazing clients! Our clients include many exciting brands such as Google, ITV, Airbnb, BT/EE, NBCUniversal and L’Oréal to name a few.
Commercial Associate Director
EssenceMediacom seeks a Commercial Associate Director to work for the growing commercial team supporting our UK clients.
Reporting to the Commercial Director, the role sits in the UK commercial team. This is a key role helping the Commercial Director in managing global, regional, and local stakeholders in EssenceMediacom, GroupM and other group agencies. You will be the commercial lead and point of contact for UK and global clients and will work closely with the Commercial Director, supported by Commercial Managers, to help build profitable long-term client relationships and ensuring EssenceMediacom meets all its contractual obligations to clients.
You’ll need to possess a strong sense of ownership, motivation, and initiative. The role requires excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to be a trusted business partner building strong relationships with our finance and client services teams.
Reporting of the role
This role reports to the UK Commercial Director. This role supports the day-to-day activities of commercial managers and commercial analysts.
Responsibilities of the role
New Business
Lead on UK pitches and collaborate with Global Commercial on Global Pitches.
Collection, consolidation and review of remuneration and other commercial elements for major global, regional and UK commercial pitch proposals.
Support commercial managers with new client transition management ensuring new clients are effectively onboarded in accordance with the agreed commercial terms.
Support Legal & Business Affairs Director with new client contract negotiation.
Work with and support the commercial managers with discussions with key stakeholders throughout the UK agency to prepare commercial proposals for new business and out of scope fee proposals.
Collaborate with heads of Social, Search, Biddable and all specialist units in pricing one-off projects.
Day to day Commercial Support
Work closely with Client Presidents and client leads to help improve margin and profitability at both client and business unit level.
Utilise client profitability to identify potential areas of improvement, supporting client growth plan process.
Review the UK Commercial Terms ensuring it is updated on regular basis and distributed to Exco/key stakeholders.
Support Commercial Director in (re)negotiation of contracts and terms of business which reflect scope of work and ensure profitability.
Collaborate with Resource Management in understanding resource need and ensuring new requests for hire have a justifiable business case for role review meetings.
Review the risk and opportunity register that informs the forecast for potential client wins, increased/ decreased scopes and clients at risk.
Compliance Support:
Working with compliance team responsible for:
Collaborate with the compliance team to ensure compliance with client contracts, the relevant opt-ins are obtained, and that clients are notified as per contract via correct disclosure on the media plans / briefings etc.
Supporting the compliance team in management of contract compliance audits with third party auditors.
Support Commercial Director in dealing with contract compliance / legal disputes and liaising with internal / external advisors.
Review the Red/Green Schedule quarterly to ensure compliance of contracts and relevant opt-ins.
Must Have’s
Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance.
Must be qualified ACCA/CIMA/ACA.
6+ years’ experience, ideally gained in Advertising or Media (related business.
Ideally involved in Pitch work (Planning, Negotiating, Advising & Presenting).
Strong knowledge of accounting principles and their practical application.
Strong analytical orientation. Skills in financial analysis, including review of financial statements and analysis of key business metrics.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills including the ability to interact professionally with all levels of the organisation.
Ability to work independently and simultaneously balance multiple projects and processes.
Ability to help design clear process delivery and to help facilitate effective change.
Functions well under pressure; consistently pay attention to accuracy and quality of work.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite; demonstrated skill with Microsoft Excel performing complex data analysis including Pivot Tables and Macros.
Experience working within a matrix environment supporting multiple business partners.
Demonstrated ability to build strong working relationships and be inclusive of ideas.
Takes initiative to add value beyond initial requests by anticipating future questions/follow-up requests and proactively resolving them.
What you can expect from EssenceMediacom:
This is an exciting opportunity to join a fast-growing, dynamic agency which is doing cutting-edge work for key clients in the digital industry. You will get the opportunity to take on additional responsibilities and to build on your skills and experience all within a fun and rewarding working environment!