The Role
We're delighted to announce that Zenith, a part of Core, are now hiring for a Business Director for maternity cover. Please note this is a fixed term contract for 1 year.
This role assumes responsibility for owning and leading senior client accounts. This role requires strong leadership and project management skills as well as strong business acumen. It also requires collaboration and communication with the wider company, particular the Senior Management Team in each Practice/ Central Team, in order to add value to clients business. The ideal candidates should have strong people management skills as well as having a focus on strategy, innovation, execution, and client service excellence.
Responsibilities / Key Performance Indictors (KPIs)
The role of Business Director sits on the Practice leadership team and acts as the key point of contact for senior clients, Core Practices and Core leadership. Your main responsibilities encompass the strategic direction and commercials of your clients' accounts, in addition to making a significant contribution to the broader company as a whole.
AGENCY PERFORMANCE
* Owning an innovative, executable business plan for your clients
* Be at the forefront of client and industry thinking to deliver innovative client solutions
* Take overall responsibility for audit or target delivery. This includes agreeing timelines with auditors related to supply of data, feedback of data, audit dates, pre-audit meetings, post audit meetings. It also includes managing PRIP scoring and ensuring your team supply accurate and up to date media plans to the auditor at the agreed time periods.
* Always challenging clients for growth
* Galvanise the team to think about media in new ways to impact clients' businesses
* Help establish the Core and Zenith brand ambition with colleagues, clients and all industry partners
* Position yourself as a leader
* Taking responsibility for complete pitch recommendation
* Understanding the commercial and remuneration offers
* Be positioned within the pitch as the Client Lead
* Take responsibility for onboarding any wins
* Connect credibly with client stakeholders at CMO/MD level and ensure own team has strong relationships with their counterparts to deliver a brilliant service. Ensure a broader influence outside of core client marketing function
* Own client relationships, immersing self and team into their business. Know their challenges, objectives, external economic environment, competitors and relevant partner agencies.
* Own the senior interagency relationships across the clients' business.
* Establish strong relationships with senior industry stakeholders to build the Core reputation in the marketplace
* Build an external reputation through PR – thought leadership, interviews, blogs etc
* Lead a significant part of the agency culture or development
COMMERCIAL PERFORMANCE
* Delivering accurate budgets and forecasts
* Managing underperforming revenue streams
* Identifying actions to grow income streams across Core and diversified services
* Management of your team P&L ensuring resource is optimised based on business needs
* Identify broader Core opportunities by including the Core Practices in opportunities
* Actively seek new business opportunities to grow our client base
* Work with the board to ensure a clear growth plan for the next financial year
* Contribute meaningfully to Agency leadership meetings
* Monitoring and managing resource on your team and contributing to the wider team
* Ensuring an accuracy culture is adopted by all team members
* Ensure team members are complying with all established processes
* Champion a professional culture of compliance recognising the impact that strong process and operations has on our performance
* Make sure interactions with Central Teams are running as smoothly as possible, proactively working to resolve issues as required
* Take overall responsibility of implementing the client contract parameters to ensure profitability is maintained and service levels are met
TALENT
MANAGEMENT
* Attract, develop and retain the best talent for Core
* Create an ambitious collaborative team culture that delivers consistently high performance
* Lead and motivate the team to understand the agency objectives and goals
* Set clear direction and provide regular feedback on business performance and new industry thinking
* Set challenging career plans for the Client Director(s), identifying and growing high potentials
* Encourage continuous learning across the whole team, ensuing people are accountable for their own development
* Take personal responsibility for own development, constantly striving to know and learn more
* Demonstrate and encourage an accuracy culture ensuring team members give adequate attention to detail and follow processes as instructed
* Upholds the Core Values in actions and words
Your profile
Experience
* Previous media experience in a similar role, minimum 7 years
* Previous experience managing a team of people
* Highly proficient in all Microsoft Office programs
* Experience project managing large scale, complex media campaigns is essential
* High level of business and financial acumen
Person Specification
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
* Good listener - ability to understand what the client requirements are
* Well presented and confident
* Team player - be solution focused, and responsible for the development and motivation of senior team members
* Have the ability to self-manage and work on ones own initiative
* To be energetic, innovative and creative when communicating with clients and colleagues
* Learn on a continuous basis while also sharing knowledge
* Leadership skills – take the lead role during brainstorming sessions, review new areas of opportunity for the company, generate new ideas for clients and the organisation
* Strong business acumen and a strong understanding and interest in the management and implementation of new revenue streams for the company
* Highly organised individual that can manage multiple teams and their delivery of work
* Strategic thinker - think more strategically about the clients and their business, be able to see where improvements can be made and implement these changes
* Understands and appreciates the benefit of processes and how it links to company success
Why us?
* Flexible and hybrid working, within the Republic of Ireland. This role requires two days in office in our offices in 1 Windmill Lane, Dublin 2.
* 24/7 access to professional development through LinkedIn Learning along with career progression and mentoring
* The opportunity to work across a huge range of clients within so many different categories from sport, retail, food and drink, to alcohol, insurance, banking and so much more
* 21 days annual leave plus a day off on your birthday, company closure days at Christmas and early finish on bank holiday Fridays
* A company culture that promotes work-life balance
* Family-focused benefits including paid maternity and paternity leave as well as maternity phase back program, fertility treatment supports and paid pregnancy loss leave
* Access to mental health and well-being programs including paid health insurance for you and your dependents under 18
* Professional financial advice; employer contributory pension and life assurance
* Make a difference by joining our D&I, CSR, Green, Social or Great Place to Work committees; you'll get an extra days leave for your efforts.
* And lots more …
OUR COMMITMENTS
Our industry relies on creativity and innovation - these are skills that are not bound by gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, membership of the Traveller community, marital or family status, disability, age, socio-economic background, or any other attributes. Core is committed to diversity in its workplace and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations to all applicants. If you need reasonable accommodation for any reason at any part of the interview process, please contact us and let us know the nature of your request and we will do our best to help.
About Us
Core is Ireland's largest marketing communications company with over 400 people working across the key areas of marketing communications - research, data science, strategy, planning, creative development and implementation. We are now a collective of nine practices, working towards a single purpose - to expand the possibilities of what brands can achieve. At Core, we believe that change can move us forward and compel us towards new possibilities. Our wonderful people are at the centre of our success. It is essential that we keep building a high-trust working environment that supports our people and enables them to flourish. There is no magic formula for becoming a great place to work. Instead, it involves working together, through constant change, to match the personal dreams and ambitions of our people with the aspirations of the organisation.
Over the years, we have cemented our position as a great place to work, with 2025 being voted 8 Best Large Workplace in Ireland. Additionally, we are recognised as a Best Workplace for Women, and Best Workplace for Health & Wellbeing. 2025 was our best year yet, and we're excited to have you join us and our continued success.