THE DETAILS:

Job Title: Senior Campaign Manager (x2 positions available)
Department: Client Delivery
Reports to: Head of Campaign Delivery
Responsible for: Potential for line management responsibilities in future
Hours: Full time
Location: Manchester, Northern Quarter. We operate a Hybrid working policy of ideally minimum 3 days in office per week.

THE AGENCY

Ear to the Ground is a global sport, gaming, and entertainment creative agency with a unique model that sets us apart. We are driven by Fan Intelligence®, our global network of 11,000 influential tastemakers and fans. Our real time insight into what fans truly want, enables us to create compelling work that consistently pushes the boundaries of culture.

We pride ourselves on being the agency that listens better than anyone to solve our clients' challenges, maximise their sport, gaming and entertainment partnerships, and ultimately build brands that lead culture. We have long term partnerships with the likes of PlayStation, New Balance and Coca-Cola.

You can learn more about the agency with a short film here.

THE ROLE:

As a Senior Campaign Manager, you are capable of consistently exceptional agency execution, responsible for owning and loving the end to end delivery of mid-level brand campaigns. You will be instrumental in ensuring campaigns are executed on time, within budget, and to the highest creative standards, not just meeting but exceeding the client brief. This role demands an expert organiser with exceptional project management skills, high end client management acumen, and a keen ability to coordinate stakeholders. You'll thrive in navigating the complexities of multi-channel campaign execution, with a strong emphasis on social-first and innovative approaches, embracing new technologies to fuel proactivity and deliver unwavering trust.

You will be capable of supporting our ambition to be famous for creative work that shatters client and industry expectations, driving growth in margin, repeat business, and recommendation.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Campaign Leadership & Delivery:

• Lead the planning, execution, and delivery of integrated campaigns, ensuring every element aligns seamlessly with the client’s objectives, brand strategy and agency best practices.
• Proactively manage timelines, budgets, and resources, solving challenges with agility to keep campaigns on the fast track to success.
• Foster seamless collaboration across creative, production, strategy, and social teams, ensuring a unified vision and exceptional output.
• Champion best practice processes across all projects, working collaboratively to set a consistently high standard throughout the agency.
• Nurture existing client relationships alongside Account Leads, building unwavering confidence in our ability to deliver campaigns that redefine excellence.
• Manage and develop junior team members, including any designated Campaign Executives, inspiring them to achieve their full potential.
• Confidently present groundbreaking creative responses, strategic insights, and innovative concepts to clients, holding your ground with the best marketers in the industry.

• Ensure every client interaction not only meets but exceeds expectations, solidifying our reputation for exceptional service.
• Curate consistent, end to end client relationships, becoming the trusted key point of contact who provides invaluable guidance and builds profound confidence in the agency.
• Collaborate closely with and manage agency partners, production teams, and internal hubs, aligning on campaign vision and execution to maximise impact.
• Measure and track weekly client health, actively logging project risks and client experience actions to strategically guide internal efforts.
• Present compelling campaign updates, insightful reports, and post-campaign analyses to stakeholders, showcasing the tangible impact of our work

Operational & Financial Management:

• Develop detailed project plans, ensuring every milestone and deliverable is met with precision.
• Take ownership of campaign budgets, relentlessly seeking cost efficiencies while uncompromisingly maintaining creative integrity and driving growth in margin.
• Actively identify new opportunities to uplift campaigns commercially, bring client value that contributes directly to repeat business and recommendation.
• Complete rigorous weekly reporting on projects, providing clear insights into performance.
• Proactively identify potential risks and implement innovative solutions to mitigate project roadblocks before they arise.

Creative & Strategic Collaboration:

• Effectively partner with Creative and Strategy to bring together commercial focus with strategic and creative ambition. Active designing-out and prevention of overservicing through conscious and effective project design, while ensuring campaign concepts translate into effective, social first executions that resonate deeply with audiences and lead culture and optimise agency profitability.
• Collaborate closely with the strategy team, integrating cutting edge audience insights and data into campaign planning, always ensuring alignment with client objectives.
• Identify and secure optimum partner agencies that maximise our outputs within budget, relentlessly pushing for the most impactful results.
• Champion creative thinking that extends beyond traditional advertising, embracing innovation relentlessly, with a strong emphasis on social first campaigns.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

Our ideal successful candidate will have: 

• 5+ years of proven experience in campaign/project management within a dynamic creative, advertising, or marketing agency, with a demonstrable track record of contributing to award-winning work (Cannes, Effies ideal).
• A profound understanding of integrated marketing campaigns, with deep expertise in social-first, digital and content production, extending far beyond traditional TVCs or ATL budget management. Experiential experience would be useful in addition to content shoots (but not essential).
• Exceptional leadership and stakeholder management skills, with a proven ability to handle high profile global brand clients and partners, building unwavering trust.
• Proven ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously in a fast paced environment, maintaining consistently exceptional agency execution.
• Strong financial acumen, with extensive experience overseeing campaign budgets and strategic resource planning, directly contributing to margin growth.
• A passion for staying ahead of industry trends and embracing new technologies, fueling proactivity; experience with AI in campaigns is desired (not essential).
• A passion for sport, gaming, and wider culture.
• Exhibit a collaborative spirit and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, consistently contributing to exceptional agency execution.
• The ability to commute to central Manchester.

OUR CULTURE

We are dedicated to making Ear to the Ground an amazing place to work where people grow, develop and thrive. We pride ourselves on our dynamic and exciting culture, excellent support of staff and fantastic benefits package. We have made it our mission to lead the way in being an inspiring, future-thinking, creative agency and are invested in our people because they are the ones that will make that happen.

Some of our benefits include:

• 🕒 Flexible & hybrid working
• 🎉 Birthday off
• 👶 Workplace nursery benefit
• 👩‍👧‍👦 Enhanced maternity & paternity
• 🏥 Private health insurance
• 🤒 Enhanced sick leave
• 🚴‍♂️ Cycle to Work scheme
• 📈 Personal development coaching
• + more!