Digital COE Lead, Unilever

Company Background

Ours is the story of the eternal upstart and change is in our DNA. We were born with the ambition to change the world through media. Raised in Asia, we are now the world’s most geographically balanced global network spanning US, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Mindshare’s birth in 1997 shifted the focus from media as a pure commodity to media as a change agent.

We were designed to be a global network, balanced in every region, with clients benefitting from both global and local insights. Today 75% of our business is global and our global network and integrated approach is our strength. We are a global media agency network with billings in excess of US$24 billion (source: COMvergence) and our network consists of more than 7,000 employees, in 116 offices across 86 countries. Mindshare is part of GroupM, which oversees the media investment management sector for WPP, the world’s leading communications services group.

As we enter our twenty fourth year, we are entering an era of dramatic change. A change inspired by the opportunities and challenges of building brands in the platform age. We are entering an era where the business of building brands involves marrying the precision of audience data with the empathy of human understanding. It involves filtering the abundance of communication opportunities through a voluntary sieve of ethics and trust. It involves blurring the lines between the lower funnel and upper funnel such that brands get built in all environments and sales conversion opportunities happen at every moment in the journey.

We are searching for a leader who will help us chart this transformation journey for one of our most important global clients, Unilever.

The Role

• Global digital lead overseeing a team of specialists across every digital function- search, programmatic, paid social, ecommerce, data and analytics, audience sciences, innovation and partnerships.
• Key member of Mindshare’s global Unilever leadership team, spearheading our delivery across all digital specialisms
• Mindshare’s data driven marketing voice within WPP, working with WPP’s Unilever team on data-led/focused initiatives marshalling resources across other Group agencies as and when necessary.

Purpose

• Leads the Digital Centre of Excellence team, considered a role model, monitors individual and team effectiveness and recommends improvements to facilitate collaboration
• Identifies and improves communication to bring conflict within the team into the open and facilitate resolution
• Lead the delivery of successful digital solutions at a global and local level, advising, supporting and enabling the deployment of Unilever’s internal digital hubs initiative. Working with stakeholders both internal and external to ensure that this is intrinsic in the how the agency operates.
• Leadership of the network in building and developing strong and scaled capabilities (talent, technology, processes) in each of the respective digital leadership, planning, and execution areas (programmatic, search, social, analytics) and driving that best practice through all client engagements
• Lead enterprise level projects and product development to drive innovation and automation and evolve the processes, systems, and tools in place to support data driven marketing operations.

Skills and Expertise

• Ability to communicate and convey highly complex detailed, technical and analytical issues and processes that enables understanding among client teams and translate the detail behind the data and technology to inform and power adaptive marketing strategies.
• Role requires a can-do attitude, be prepared to roll up their sleeves and productively contribute to the total success of the team. Have an agile approach to all workstreams and be open to extending beyond specific area of leadership as and when required
• Focus on giving structure, prioritization and framework for delivery across wide range of tasks outlined below.
• A degree of regular travel to client locations and other Mindshare offices is necessary (short and long haul)

Responsibilities:

• Overall leadership of vertical expertise in Data/Tech, Search, Performance and Precision Marketing, Ecommerce and services underpinning this delivery [eg: tagging, DCO etc..] in support holistic planning for Mindshare’s network and global Unilever workstreams.
• Drives and exemplifies collaboration and integration with global strategy and specialist teams as well as lead markets and broader network
• Surface and share best practice across the network
• Lead and cultivate the client relationship, through in-person meetings, presentations, and frequent contact – for Unilever we are a true partner and key to this role is establishing trust and partnership with key clients across Unilever global media VPs & Directors leading and influential to the areas outlined above.
• Scope and build with clients commercially viable digital marketing solutions; across verticals retain and nurture high-value, deeply knowledgeable talent
• Work with global strategists to promote a holistic view of media wherever possible, being a sounding board and guiding light on video, audio, and social agnostic strategies in partnership with channel planners and trading specialists across the team
• Collaborate and partner closely with global strategy leadership/directors to ensure that audience-first, adaptive strategies that reach and connect with high value audiences across their journey leveraging data and research are delivered
• Deliver clear guidance on approach to identification of actionable advanced targeting, segmentation and trigger based approaches and decision rules to zero in on a high value audiences
• Contribute to strategic approach to delivering data-driven creative strategy and design and deploy the systems, rules, partnerships, and protocols to execute dynamic creative optimization (DCO) in line with our agency’s POV

• Consult with clients on technology and data requirements to develop and define long and short term roadmap for local practice optimization, client engagement and deliverables therein (including data activation strategy, development of data & precision led playbooks, tech reviews etc…)
• Ongoing mastery of relevant proprietary Mindshare and external Adtech/Martech tools and systems; Help team with questions about syndicated and proprietary fast-moving data sources and research tools to aid in adaptive strategy development and execution
• GDPR & Data management regulation leadership for our Unilever network consulting with Mindshare/GM legal counsel

• Delegate and manage projects as necessary to direct reports, to ensure timely completion of tasks, to grow client visibility of the Mindshare’s proposition with Unilever media, brand and PDC teams, and build the skills of direct reports. See DDM team org chart.
• Ensure ‘one team, one voice’ integration with eCom FTE
• Collaborate with analytics teams to develop and codify approach to outcome-based measurement, instilling a culture of learning, and establishing benchmarks for clear and measurable KPIs

• Devise training to support network and client teams

• Participate in UL leadership meetings [regional and global], sharing progress reports, learnings, and escalating challenges/ issues; willingly partner to help other team practice leads where applicable

What you will have alreadyachievedtobe successful inthis role…

• Lead and developed large digital accounts, digital teams/ departments, etc
• X-Digital channel management, planning, and trading (PPC, SEO, Programmatic, Social)
• Digital strategy/ execution, inc. programmatic, search, etc; POV on future of performance marketing
• Grown business via external opportunities/ new business or internal client relationship development
• Worked with and influenced non-digital teams eg – client leadership, creative agencies, etc
• Worked with and influenced senior clients up to and including CMO levels
• Strong analytical background and commercial acumen
• Deep digital tools/tech know how: Adobe [Unilever DMP partner], Prisma, comScore, Nielsen, Google, DSPs, Social Ad Platforms, DCO, etc.

Note:

Discrimination, oppression and inequities towards people of different race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, abilities, age or any other differences, are unacceptable and have no place in the world or amongst our Mindshare family. We strive for an environment where everyone is treated fairly and respectfully, has equal access to opportunities and resources, whose voice is heard and who can contribute to the organisation’s success.