President Grey

PRESIDENT GREY GERMANY

WHO WE ARE

At Grey, we create Famously Effective ideas – creativity that solves business problems by delivering results and driving value – for the world’s most influential brands. Our core values – creativity, unity, empathy, and service – power the work we do in each of our 40+ studios across six continents. In 2023, we were named a Top 100 Most Loved Workplace, and our agency network ranked in the top ten award winners at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

POSITION OVERVIEW

As the leader of Grey Germany, this role is responsible for developing and executing a long-term strategy to drive financial growth, achieve strategic vision and creative ambition, and deliver outstanding performance.

• Leading the development and execution of Grey Germany's long-term strategy, ensuring alignment with Grey’s Global Executive Leadership Team and WPP objectives
• Delivering financial growth, achieving strategic vision and creative ambition, and meeting all key performance metrics
• Aligning and fostering collaboration between both Grey studios in Germany (Hamburg and Düsseldorf) and additional capabilities in other studios (as relevant) to bring Grey's full 360 capabilities to clients
• Maintaining and implementing WPP, Grey Global, and Grey Germany corporate policies
• Championing an open culture, Famously Effective ideas, and employee engagement, ensuring the creation and maintenance of required capabilities
• Representing the agency and leading all communication and engagements with WPP Germany, employees, clients, government, stakeholders, and the public
• Driving effective client management on all large accounts, leveraging Grey's Famously Effective capabilities and be actively involved in new business
• Transforming Grey Germany into a new-age, modern, future-facing organization, in line with Grey’s overall strategy, and embedding the 'borderless' way of working as the organization's culture and mantra.

KEY TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES (Client, Financial, People and Process)

• Develop and Execute Strategic Plans: Create and implement comprehensive business strategies, aligning with Grey Global and WPP strategic objectives. Drive growth, innovation, and excellence across the agency.
• Lead Creation of Business Strategy: Ensure alignment with Grey Global and WPP strategic objectives. Develop annual plans with the immediate Leadership Team, ensuring clarity and accountability for deliverables.
• Client Relationships and Business Development: Nurture relationships with key clients, becoming a trusted advisor and partner. Identify and pursue new business opportunities, driving revenue growth and expanding our client base. Participate in all commercial negotiations and discussions with strategic clients, taking commercial decisions as appropriate.
• Revenue Growth and Profitability: Drive revenue growth, improve profit margins, and optimise resource utilisation. Develop and manage budgets, forecast accurately, and analyse financial data to inform business decisions.
• External Representation and Industry Thought Leadership: Serve as the agency's primary ambassador, maintaining high corporate citizenship and social responsibility standards. Communicate effectively with clients, employees, government authorities, and other stakeholders; and serve as a positive magnet for press.
• Risk Management and Compliance: Ensure effective internal controls, manage principal risks, and maintain compliance with legislative and regulatory frameworks. Establish appropriate policies and procedures to ensure agency compliance with client contractual requirements, WPP and Grey Global requirements.
• Performance Management and Accountability: Set high-performance standards, provide regular feedback, and ensure clear accountability across the agency. Lead performance management process for the agency, ensuring performance objectives of the agency's Leadership Team and direct reports are aligned with strategic objectives.
• Talent Development and Succession Planning: Develop and implement talent development programs, ensuring a strong pipeline of future leaders. Foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Build and lead a cohesive Agency Leadership Team, providing strategic business leadership for the agency.
• Integration with Global or Regional Strategies: Collaborate with global and regional leadership to align with strategic objectives, share best practices, and drive business growth. Drive 'Borderless' creativity to bring together the best the network can offer.
• Studio Leadership: Develop and execute strategic plans for the studio. Strategize growth with existing clients and lead new business initiatives to win new clients. Cultivate a positive, supportive, and inspiring work environment where team members feel valued, respected, and empowered to thrive.
• Enable Open Culture and Famously Effective Ideas: Create an agency environment that enables genuine collaboration and integrates different agency disciplines, including digital, mobile, social media, and events.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (Accountabilities)

• Financial metrics, including revenues, profitability, growth, staff cost ratios, collections and other financial metrics
• New accounts and larger client portfolios
• Agency-wide team capability development – culture of creativity, talent initiatives, succession planning
• Creative Leadership recognition and awards
• Agency IP and thought leadership
• The success of business transformation initiatives
• Borderless Initiatives

KEY RELATIONSHIPS (External – Clients, Customers, Suppliers, and Internal – in the department, country, region and EMEA)

External: Clients, Government, Industry, WPP, Legal

Internal: Global Executive Leadership team, Other Grey CEOs, Agency Leadership Team (within Germany), Operations teams, Agency workforce.

QUALIFICATIONS, LANGUAGES, EXPERIENCE, KEY SKILLS, EXPERTISE

Qualifications and Experience:

• 10+ years of experience in a leadership role, preferably in a marketing or advertising agency, with a proven track record of high achievement in Germany.
• Proven track record of driving business growth, innovation, and excellence, with a strong understanding of the agency value chain.
• Significant experience in decision-making, financial management (managing P&L, planning, forecasting), and commercial acumen (negotiations with suppliers and clients).
• Strong strategic thinking, leadership, and communication skills, with the ability to build and lead high-performing teams.
• Excellent client relationship and business development skills, with experience working with clients or on the agency side.
• Experience with risk management, compliance, and performance management.

Skills: 

• Sound knowledge of the German landscape, key players, platforms and technology
• Knowledge of German – written and spoken
• Entrepreneurial, innovative, driven to exceed targets and get results
• Strong problem-solving ability, with a constructive attitude towards risk, and able to use resources creatively to maximum effect
• Ability to take challenging decisions and be resilient under pressure
• Strong ‘can-do’ mentality, hands on approach with the drive and initiative to do new things.
• Highly developed business planning, commercial, financial and management skills
• Ability to lead, inspire and motivate with proven track record of managing and growing teams with diverse talents.
• Culturally sensitive
• Proven ability to forge and maintain strong relationships with clients and stakeholders
• Inspiring Leader, high degrees of integrity, visibility and trust
• Excellent interpersonal, influencing, negotiating, written and verbal communication skills

At Grey, we believe that being diverse, equitable and inclusive means we will be a company where ideas reflect, connect to, and impact culture because we are a place where everyone can fully participate in the work of making our ideas creative, famous and therefore effective in the world, where every person is valued for distinctive skills, experiences and perspectives. It is supported by committed leadership, studio values, behaviours, policies and procedures that promote a culture where everyone’s difference is valued.

Grey is a place where who you are - your race, ethnicity, nationality, age, physical and mental abilities, sexual orientation, gender/gender identity, religious beliefs, political beliefs, socioeconomic status, and family status - will not cause a disparity in your experience, but instead energises your creativity and becomes an important and beneficial part of the work you do.