Growth Director

Role Overview:

Growth Director is a senior management role that is responsible for agency growth from new business activities and new agency services.  

The role will report into the Head Of Client Services and it involves managing in-bound opportunities, the new business outreach team & new client onboarding. Knowledge sharing with the Client Services Director will be key in joining up Business Development plans with New Business plans, to form Waste’s overall growth strategy.

A key aspect of this role will be to help solve complex client challenges (at a high level) and articulate the strategies and solutions clearly. As such, they will be working closely and often with our Head Of Strategy in unlocking opportunities and creating unique solutions.

And finally, this is a crucial role in driving the overall Waste vision of supporting clients early in the lifecycle of a game, in some cases in pre-production (working on brand strategy and comms planning), then seeing the brand through early-access/soft launch, into launch then post-launch. This is something we call root-to-branch and is central to the agency vision.

Responsibilities:

• Ownership of the new business strategy
  • Creating and maintaining the new business strategy including identifying potential new clients for Waste based on the agency strategy & roadmap, and defining plans for reaching & building relationships with the identified potential clients
  • Working with the Keywords Studios new business & sales team to identify the best opportunities for Waste
• Attending initial creds / chemistry meetings with potential new clients
• Qualifying opportunities alongside the client services team 
• Overseeing / co-ordinating RFP responses / pitches when necessary
• Working closely with Client Services, Strategy, Delivery, Operations and Finance departments on pricing strategy and new service development
• Working closely with the Strategy department in identifying and converting opportunities
• Working closely with the Head of Strategy in creating unique strategies for our clients
• Preparing process, scope and pricing proposals for the qualified opportunities
• Attending thought leadership and industry events
• Creating a suite of materials to best represent the agency, generate & convert leads and maximise efficiency 
• Working with the wider Keywords Studios teams, including the Service Architecture team on joint responses for larger, multi-agency opportunities 
• Working with the Client Services leadership team on the overall growth strategy and seamless integration of new client wins
• Part of the Waste Council (senior management team)
• Line management responsibilities: Marketing Manager, New Business Manager.
• Keeping up to date with the latest gaming industry trends, news and knowledge, using this to inform the new business approach and inform other members of the team

The successful candidate will have:

• A strong track record building senior-level relationships within the gaming industry, client side or at a marketing agency 
• A very strong understanding of, and passion for, the gaming industry, market trends, typical game marketing lifecycles & projects
• It’s a strategy focused role, therefore experience creating and delivering strategy work is key
• Experience winning new gaming clients and putting together proposals and pitches 
• Experience in financial & scope negotiations, and client contracting (with support from a legal team)
• Experience managing gaming clients & projects in a marketing context, with an understanding of their typical challenges
• Experience or good understanding of the full game game cycle from a marketing perspective
• Ability to create thought-leadership focused on gaming marketing and confidence to talk at events, attend panels etc. to discuss these topics
• Ability to plan and strategise at a C-suite level

You should be:

• An excellent decision-maker that’s able to identify, articulate, and prioritise what’s right for the agency
• Highly proactive in finding opportunities for new business growth
• Able to proactively identify future challenges and risks in the market and address them head-on
• Confident in resolving difficult client or team issues
• Kind, supportive and constructive to your team, helping them coach and develop along their career paths

In return, you’ll get:

• To work with one of the most innovative mobile gaming clients in the world
• Competitive salary
• The option to work between home and the office both now and long term.
• The opportunity to develop your own skills in a fun, supportive environment.
• To work on big game titles in a fast-paced, exciting and ever-growing agency
• To work alongside extremely passionate digital natives, producing world-class work
• Access to training and development at the directors and line managers discretion
• Waste shuts during the Christmas period ranging between 1 and 2 weeks with that time not being taken out of your regular holiday entitlement
• Early-finish Fridays in August & February
• Christmas and summer parties you'll want to post about
• Regular team outings and social events
• Workplace pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Birthdays off
• Volunteer days
• Access to Employee Assistant Programme (EAP)
• Flexible start times
• Group Life Assurance
• Group Income Protection

About Waste

Waste is an independent creative agency founded in 2006. We connect entertainment brands with their fans, to drive creativity, culture and commercial success. A virtuous circle we call ‘Brands powering fans, powering brands’.

Clients include the mobile gaming giant, Supercell (Clash of Clans, Brawl Stars). Our remit is player acquisition and retention, built around community listening and high-speed, high-quality content creation. We also work with the mighty Nintendo, creating TV, OOH and integrated marketing campaigns, for both hardware and software. Other notable clients include Riot Games (League of Legends), Ubisoft, Sega, Verizon Media and most recently Zynga.

In 2020 we were named both “The Drum Content Marketing” and “Digital Industries (DADI)“ Agency of the year. Globally we employ 70+ specialists covering strategy, creative, social, content, experiential, OOH, and TV. We have physical offices in London & LA, and work with brands around the world.

Our approach to everything is shaped by The Waste Way (our company values), and an entrepreneurial spirit. It’s seen us win 100+ awards, including Art Director’s Club, Awwwards, BIMA, D&AD, Clios, Design Week, The Drum, The FWA, Marketing Week Masters, and The Webby Awards. We brew our own craft beer, the Waste Pale Ale, a favourite with clients and partners. And we’ve recently started our own animation production company, This Thing of Ours. We also support the UK based gaming charity, SpecialEffect.

The Waste Way

At Waste, we live by 4 key cultural pillars and expect ALL Waster’s to live up to these principles. This is what Waste was founded on:    

• Be Brave – We look for fresh ways to solve problems and encourage diversity of thought.
• Own Your Shit - We value actions over words and empower Wasters to make things happen.
• Make it Better – We’re always looking for ways to improve our work, agency and ourselves.
• Be Kind – We’re a team. Win together, lose together, learn together.

How Wasters embrace Diversity & Equal Opportunity

Us Wasters are committed to diversity, equality and inclusion. For us diversity and inclusion are not just a tick-boxing activity, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change. A diverse workforce means that we’re able to unlock our ability to innovate, be creative, be better problem solvers and provide an inclusive environment for everyone and we encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.