Associate Director

Recon Search are working with a global, award winning consumer collaboration consultancy, who are looking for an Associate Director.

They are looking for an experienced insight practitioner who believes in building market leading client recommendations based on a deep understanding of consumer psychology and behaviour. You will likely have experience across a range of research methodologies (online qual / quant / co-creation / ethnography) or in other consulting businesses - and you are passionate about building fantastic client relationships. 

This role is ideal if you are motivated to learn the skills to lead and run your own business unit that could eventually lead to a general manager / managing director position. You want to build the culture that enables high performance and results, you are interested in line management and helping people progress in their careers, and you are interested in managing a portfolio of clients that you embed in our business long term.

Reporting into one of our Business Directors, your role is focused in two main areas:

1. Building strong client relationships across ongoing accounts
2. Being the Business Directors no. 2 in the development of a thriving and inclusive team culture

You would have ultimate responsibility for ensuring the success of your 3-4 clients, making sure that were delivering work that meets our clients objectives within scope and budget. You will be responsible for managing the overall account, and you will manage the renewal process (or selling repeat projects for ad hoc clients) - ensuring that we continue to work with each of your clients from one year to the next, building on the work we have already done together.

Role & Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage 3-4 on-going retained client relationships, all of which will be underpinned by an ongoing consumer community
• Work with clients to understand and define key business problems and insight and innovation needs
• Inspire your team to create brilliant approaches for how we could meet clients needs
• Lead and manage fruitful relationships with your clients to ensure they act on our recommendations

• Develop a senior relationship within your key accounts, becoming their strategic partner
• Lead your clients to ensure they renew year on year,
• Line manage Associate Consultants and Consultants
• You will be confident in costing work, writing proposals, and pitching compellingly

Desired Experience & Ethos

• Strong relationship builder.
• Successful problem solving. You have a creative outlook, Yes, and attitude and the ability to bring new thinking to problems with energy and enthusiasm
• Demonstrate gravitas and EQ in all your stakeholder management interactions: you can manage relationships with both senior and junior team members, and bring people of all levels into exploring solutions to given problems and communicating those solutions in a way that ensures buy-in
• Able to balance commercial needs with people needs. You can operate, and deliver, within a fast-paced environment whilst appreciating the individual differences of people and their resourcing constraints
• Super organised. You've developed ways of working to successfully juggle multiple needs at the same time
• Great communicator. You have excellent creative writing and oral communication skills
• Ownership and able to work autonomously and make judgement calls about how projects should run
• Flexibility and adaptability so you can pivot and adapt priorities as projects run their course
• Growth mindset and passion for new ways of working always being on the lookout for how we can add most value to our clients

Our Offer to you

Alongside a competitive starting salary and bonus structure we offer a range of benefits

• Enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave including four months full pay for maternity leave and one-month full pay for paternity leave (and an additional one month if your partner returns to work within one year!)
• Discounted private medical insurance
• Discounted private dental insurance
• Life assurance
• Free Breakfast (when in the office!)
• Summer Celebrations
• Christmas party
• Weekly social gathering in the office
• Flexible working & working from home
• 25 days holiday + our office is closed between Christmas & New Year!
• Commission