Apply to become our Business Director

Job description: Business Director

Contract type: Permanent – 4 or 5 days per week

Reporting to: Managing Director, Ian Fannon

Location: Can be predominantly home or office based, but postholder is required to travel to London office most Mondays

Salary: c. £80,000 pro-rata

About Claremont:

Claremont is a leading behaviour change communications agency. We help governments, charities and brands to use behavioural science and co-design to solve real world problems and change lives for the better. We do research, insight, strategy, messaging, creative, delivery and more.

We are picky about who we work with and what causes we champion. We are happy to work with an organisation from any sector and from anywhere in the world, but we only do work that contributes to social good.

Our people really care. We don’t waste time with tiresome virtue signalling but we do have opinions on social justice and we’re committed to using our skills and experience to make a difference.

We believe in the mantra of “nothing about me without me”. Behaviour change communications are more effective when campaigns are planned alongside people not for people. We listen, pay attention to small details and respect the expertise of lived experience.

We believe in fairness and we treat people well. Staff, associates, clients, suppliers. We do our best to live our values in the way we work: flexible working, sensible hours, respect for people’s right to a healthy work-life balance. We aim to foster a supportive, enjoyable work culture where people treat each other like adults and are given enough trust, autonomy and support to do their best work.

We strive for high standards all the time, in all we do. We only share work with clients when it is ready and has been fully considered. We take pride in offering a quality of thinking and delivery that most agencies cannot reach.

We do our best work when we build collaborative relationships with clients. We don’t shroud our work in mystery. We use evidence-based, validated theoretical models and frameworks. We share our workings, we evidence our opinions, we hypothesise, test, learn and adapt.

About the role:

Claremont is a small, high performing core team working in partnership with a wider network of trusted freelance associates and partners. The work we do is fast-paced, rigorous and often focused on knotty problems that we are trying to unpick for our clients and the audiences they are seeking to engage.

The Business Director is a new role for the consultancy, which recognises the need for a role that is predominantly dedicated to long-term strategy, planning, operations, marketing and business development, to support the consultancy’s continued growth and ensure we maintain high quality standards as we evolve. The post offers a brilliant opportunity for an experienced agency director to support our bright, committed team to deliver their best work for clients and to continue building Claremont’s reputation for excellence and innovation in our field.

The postholder will need to collaborate effectively with our core team and wider network, supporting the Managing Director and Senior Management Team in particular in making the right business decisions in a timely way. And while most of your time will be focused on working on the business, there will also be an opportunity to roll your sleeves up and get stuck into motivating and challenging client work on a range of important social issues.

Summary of main duties:

A key role as part of our 5-strong leadership team, who are jointly responsible for the agency’s culture, impact, business development, product innovation, operations, marketing, financial planning and resource management. You will need to support the Managing Director to make key decisions affecting the company, including sensitive and/or confidential matters, and deputise for him in his absence from time to time, eg in leading team meetings, handling HR issues or making business decisions. Please note however this is not a Board-level role (you will not have any legal responsibility as a Director at Companies House).

Responsible for supporting the Managing Director to develop and continuously improve Claremont’s Business Strategy and Plan, ensuring our goals – and the contribution individuals can make to achieving them – are well understood and measurable quarterly targets / KPIs are identified.

Responsible for quarterly business analysis (working alongside the Managing Director, Finance Director and other Directors), including reviewing performance against agreed KPIs, including financial, business development, marketing, resource management and client satisfaction.

Responsible for overseeing the development and execution of Claremont’s marketing strategy, ensuring our positioning and product offering is clear and responsive to market needs and expectations, that we understand our market position vs competitors, that our marketing content and tactics are effective at strengthening our reputation and building our following, and that our CRM is managed well to maximise opportunities from our network.

Responsible for overseeing our Business Development programme, including running a well-managed pipeline and working with the senior team to generate and qualify high quality leads and ensure teams working on bids and proposals are suitably supported.

Responsible for overseeing Claremont’s Mastery and Impact Programme. This includes ensuring we develop and maintain effective processes and systems for knowledge sharing, quality assurance, project management, evaluation and skills development, taking the initiative to identify efficiencies or ways of innovating or adapting our approach.

Responsible for contributing to the continuous development of the agency’s knowledge and expertise in the field of behaviour change communications.

Responsible for working on new business opportunities when required, cultivating a personal network to help generate leads and playing a role in Claremont’s external marketing, including hosting events / presenting at conferences etc.

Responsible for being the senior lead on a limited number of client accounts, overseeing strategy, planning and direction, quality assuring outputs, managing budgets, resolving issues (note we envisage client work representing only approx. 30% of this role).

Responsible for mentoring / coaching other team members and managing the performance of team members, freelancers and partner agencies / suppliers on your client accounts. In time you may be required to line manage staff, though this will not be the case initially.

Priority objectives:

To make a significant contribution to Claremont’s commercial success and social impact, helping to relieve day-to-day duties from the Managing Director and ensure Claremont’s marketing and operations is a well-oiled machine.

To help create the optimum conditions for colleagues to thrive, enjoy their work and achieve the highest possible quality standards in our client service – including developing clear long-term business strategy and plans and ensuring we have the right processes, systems and ways of working to support us to achieve our goals.

To identify and instigate innovative ways for Claremont to develop or sharpen its offer, position itself in a key target sector or cultivate / strengthen ties with existing clients and prospects.

Skills, knowledge and experience required:

Essential:

Extensive experience as a leader in strategic communications roles, with track record of achieving measurable impact in behaviour change on social issues

Demonstrable passion for achieving impact in social change and commitment to the use of co-design / respecting the voice of lived experience

Extensive experience as a leader in a small to medium-sized agency / consultancy, ideally one working on social issues

Experience managing agency / consultancy performance and conducting regular business analysis

Experience overseeing agency / consultancy business development and marketing, including pipeline management

Experience developing business strategies and plans and overseeing continuous development in an agency / consultancy setting

Experience cultivating and responding to new business opportunities, drafting proposals, presenting at pitches etc.

Demonstrable experience cultivating a network, including prospective clients, suppliers and freelancers

Strategic thinker – capable of helping develop Claremont’s positioning and services, as well as advising senior clients with gravitas and confidence

Experience developing strategies and plans for multi-channel campaigns

Experience leading teams to identify behavioural insight and develop evidence-based messaging and creative approaches

Strong leadership skills, with a demonstrable commitment to fairness, treating people well and creating a positive environment in which staff have the autonomy and support to succeed

Strong writing and presentation skills

Experience managing multiple projects and budgets simultaneously

Knowledge of relevant technologies used in the field and an enthusiasm to stay abreast of new technologies and the changing external environment

Desirable:

Understanding and knowledge of the main behavioural science models and frameworks, including COM B and the Behaviour Change Wheel, EAST, MINDSPACE etc.

Experience applying behaviour change models and frameworks, including in relation to systems change

Knowledge of and experience applying Government Communications Service planning and evaluation frameworks (eg OASIS)

How to apply:

Send your CV and a short covering letter outlining how you meet the criteria in the job spec to ian.fannon@claremont.org.uk. Please use the subject line ‘Business Director Application’.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on 22 April. Interviews will take place on 29 April and 7 May.