Associate Director, Performance Marketing

The purpose of this role is to develop best in class strategies and management of all Paid Search activity on assigned clients, to manage and develop the team and serve as a point of escalation as needed.

Job Title:
Associate Director, Performance Marketing

**Job Description**:
About Happy Marketer

Happy Marketer, a Merkle Company, is an award-winning, data-driven digital consulting firm that has been around for 12 years and helps brands maximize their digital marketing investments across the entire customer journey right from awareness to conversion to loyalty. Within the digital realm, our areas of expertise span across digital transformation strategy, programmatic advertising, content marketing, search engine optimisation, social media marketing, user experience & interface, marketing automation & loyalty, analytics & cloud, and digital command centers.

We were acquired in early 2019 by Merkle, the world’s largest Analytics, Performance, and CRM digital agency. Merkle was acquired by Dentsu (previously Dentsu Aegis Network) in 2016, and as such, Happy Marketer is a part of Dentsu.

Across APAC, we have advised and helped brands across industries such as banking, insurance, telecommunications, technology, government, travel & hospitality, airlines, education, food & beverage, retail, luxury. We are the only digital firm in the region with Google Partnerships across Analytics, Google Ads, Programmatic Media, Cloud & Training and likewise, we are certified partners of Adobe, Salesforce, Oracle, Marketo, and Hubspot. As certified, experienced, digital practitioners, Happy Marketer strives to partner with our clients to help advise, train and implement impactful digital solutions that solve real business problems to help them grow profitably.

Happy Marketer was recently identified to be the only Google Partner across Asia to be certified across Google Ads, Google Programmatic Media, Google Marketing Platform (Google Analytics, Firebase, etc) and Google Cloud.

**Responsibilities**:
Client Relationship Management
- Develop and maintain strong client relationships, ensuring a deep understanding of their business.
- Solicit feedback and act as a consultant to enhance client satisfaction.
- Serve as a client visionary, offering valuable perspectives based on a profound grasp of their business, challenges, and opportunities.

Business Growth
- Collaborate with the Digital Strategy Director to identify and pursue business growth opportunities with existing clients.

Campaign Strategy and Execution
- Take responsibility for the end-to-end campaign process, including strategy development, planning, implementation, and post-campaign analysis for assigned brands.
- Define clear objectives and KPIs for campaigns and recommend/develop measurement methodologies.
- Lead contractual negotiations with key media vendors and trading commitments for clients.

Innovation and Best Practices
- Stay informed about emerging opportunities and innovations to present to clients.
- Offer guidance and advice to the team on best practices, innovation, and process improvement.
- Promote the expansion of agency services beyond media planning and buying.

Collaboration
- Work closely with internal specialist resources and group teams.
- Manage and mentor your direct reports.

Managerial Skills
- Lead and supervise planners in creating and maintaining media plan flowcharts and authorizations based on client initiatives.
- Oversee the operational aspects of the business, including digital ad serving, finance operations, and traditional media buying.
- Lead a team while fostering team cohesiveness and individual growth.
- Mentor and inspire junior team members, creating and monitoring their development and growth plans.
- Maintain regular, open communication with team members regarding their career progression.
- Provide job specifications and conduct timely performance appraisals for team members.
- Ensure team members complete relevant training courses.

**Qualifications**:

- Minimum of 5-8 years of client servicing experience in a reputable media agency.
- Expertise in integrated planning, with a strong understanding of digital planning, strategy, and troubleshooting.
- Comfortable handling high-profile accounts, such as luxury, technology, and finance, demonstrating resilience and high emotional intelligence.
- Experience working with various stakeholders, including suppliers, advertising/marketing agencies, media owners, and internal specialist resources.
- Effective communication skills to convey marketing opportunities and sell concepts/solutions to clients and stakeholders.
- Strong working relationship-building abilities within your team.
- Proven initiative, adaptability to changing environments, and the ability to produce high-quality work.
- Sharp strategic and critical thinking, coupled with effective problem-solving skills.
- Track record of driving revenue growth through emerging opportunities and established partnerships