The Perfect Fit

St. Louis Senior Event Producer #19024

Overview:
Our St. Louis Client wants you to lead your Clients to help build connections with their customers, by creating powerful brand experiences that are seamless, innovative, immersive and successful! From strategy, creative, and digital to logistics and event technology, you’ll lead teams that place the Client at the center, helping them connect to people in meaningful and personal ways. As a Sr. Producer, you’ll be responsible for the largest projects for the premier Clients.

Principal Responsibilities:
• Partner with the Client to analyze and identify event goals and the event concepts and strategies to meet those goals.
• Identify, manage and report on budgets, timelines and all other logistics related to the production of the show. Write and deliver proposals, contracts, presentations and reports to Clients, as needed.
• Identify, hire and manage third party vendors and contractors, from the venue, to technology, environmental design, entertainment, catering and support staff.
• Monitor and create timely status updates to all applicable teams, regarding project progress against the proposed plans including budgets, timelines, quality criteria and risk management.
• You will participate in the show set-up, run and load out, which often happens at unusual times or on weekends.
• There is moderate travel, as necessary.

Urgent Need: Associate Creative Director for Our STL Client!

Our St. Louis Client has just contacted Bishop Partners for help with their urgent need for an Associate Creative Director.  Here's the job description.  Please contact Bob asap, telling him of your interest and sending a portfolio.  Thank you!

Job Number: 19013
Associate Creative Director

General Description:
We’re working with our St. Louis Client to recruit an in-house Associate Creative Director with the experience and talent to produce engaging visual communications for both internal and external audiences. Strategy, innovative thinking and compelling creative are the foundation. The ACD is proficient in the concept, design and execution of a diverse range of communications materials, including print and digital collateral, video, internal and external communications materials, meeting presentations and experiential.

You should be a well-rounded art director/designer who thrives on contributing ideas, utilizing your earned knowledge of the most current industry standards and trends. You possess exemplary presentation skills to share concepts and final executions with internal clients at all levels. The ideal candidate also has the ability to comprehend diverse and complex ideas and translate them into simple, clear and cogent visual communications.

Primary Responsibilities:
Develop innovative concepts, create compelling design solutions and follow through to final delivery on a wide variety of B2B and B2C marketing projects
Work with Creative Directors and Copywriters to create attention-getting work for consumer lead generation, retention, and engagement initiatives
Provide graphic design support to field force effectiveness initiatives, including; sales collateral design, presentation design and design of internal training materials
Collaborate effectively with internal marketing managers, strategic planners, and product owners/managers from across the organization.

Having Trouble Hiring Experienced Leaders? Use Strategic Recruiting

If you’re having trouble hiring experienced leaders (at any level), recruiters can help. Employer’s Executive; Do I need a recruiter? How do I find one? There must be differences in recruiters, I’m not sure what they are.

There are lots and lots of recruiters out there. Large firms, “boutiques”, contingency, staffing, contract or part time, retained . . . Who’d be the best recruiter for your firm? What makes one recruiter better than another? How can a recruiter do a better job than my company’s existing talent acquisition team? Do recruiters really add any value?   The common perceptions are; recruiters are expensive, they don’t always succeed, the candidates don’t stick around very long . . . Again, “Who’d be best the best recruiter to work with your firm?”

There are some recruiters who are truly partners with their Clients and are considered to be a valuable “strategic asset”. What makes one recruiter more valuable and “strategic” than another? A truly strategic recruiter adds much more value to the Client than a tactical one. Recruiting strategy is more than filling “open roles”, it’s about contributing to the long-term growth of the client.

First and most importantly, strategic recruiting is about consistent success with the recruiting/hiring process; frequent, predictable success, year over year. Does the recruiter consistently succeed in introducing superior candidates that a Client is (actually) excited to hire? Second, does that candidate consistently perform beyond expectations and earn promotions to increasing responsibility over time? Third, does that candidate stay with the Client for more than a year or two? Does the recruiter become a trusted advisor and partner with access to the Executive Leadership Team? Does that Client continue to use that recruiter for ongoing needs?

New STL Search: Senior Creative Researcher/Strategist

Overview:
Our St. Louis client is seeking a Senior Creative Research Strategist to help take a unique, well established and growing Marketing Research Agency to the next level. Candidates should have at least eight years of strategic advertising experience in either agency Creative or Account Planning (the ideal candidate would have both) or with a research agency specializing in research for marketing or advertising.

Creative Research Strategists are the achievers of insight and facilitators of alignment. Creatively-trained problem solvers,  strategic writers, creative thinkers.  Creative Strategists are responsible for research design, execution, analysis and deliverables for all projects. They develop and optimize research processes, identify and curate research tools and always seek ways to enhance offerings. With both Clients and Respondents, Creative Strategists approach every element of their work with empathy and energy.
Strategists should be capable of accountability for decisions related to design, execution analysis and deliverables on their projects.

All candidates should be willing and able to travel (up to 33% at times, including international travel); be self-motivators that need little supervision and who can handle the demands of the workflow.

Who is the Client?
Our Client is a St. Louis based marketing research agency, founded in 1998 which has evolved to have only large, loyal global clients. They are comprised of (among other roles) creative strategists – people with advertising agency creative, planning and/or research backgrounds, as well as senior level client-side marketing experience, who specialize in:

Recruitment Strategies For Employee Retention

Recruitment strategies for employee retention became an important part of a conversation during a recent lunch, with a Partner/President of a new Client prospect. We had an engaging conversation about each of our businesses and what we each thought was the secret of our success. I appreciate a company principal  who’s willing to open up and have a candid conversation about what’s going well and of course, what’s not. That’s the basis of a strong, successful working relationship!

Later, I sent a note to thank this person for their time and to let them know how much I appreciated hearing what’s going on in their business. I was surprised and thrilled, when I received the response, “I really appreciate your thoughtful approach and desire to match agencies and people for the long-term—that’s not something other people in your industry are talking about.”

I was shocked to hear that, because I assumed that every recruiter would talk about how long their candidates stayed with their clients. I’ve always considered retention to be one of the most critical metrics to measure how well a recruiter performs. I know that my Clients agree with that!

Executive Search is an expensive proposition. The best ways to judge a recruiter’s value is by a) Do they consistently succeed with the search and b) How long do those candidates stay with that Company? Are they consistently promoted into more responsible or productive positions? If the recruiter consistently

Now Hiring, STL Client; Design Director, In-House Creative Leader

We're happy to have once again been hired by one of our regions premier brands for this in-house Design leadership opportunity.  They are feeling a sense of urgency and are interested in interviewing candidates as soon as possible.

General Description:
The key objective of this role is to ensure continuing design excellence – strategic and operational - in brand development across a growing portfolio. This means planning organizing and implementing consistent design principles and production processes to ensure that designs meet all brand consumer and production guardrails and objectives, both internally and externally.  

We’re looking for an experienced design leader to grow our team, while also continuing to be an individual contributor. Be responsible for consistent brand development strategy across diverse, yet “synergistic” elements. You’ll be able to build both great products and a great team.

As Design Director, you’ll provide mentorship and support to the other designers and project team members in your office with one-on-ones and reviews. You’ll also be responsible for presentation of design strategies and resulting executions to internal and external stakeholders, as needed.

Responsibilities will Include:
• Develop innovative concepts, create compelling design solutions and follow through to final delivery, on a wide variety of B2B and B2C marketing projects
• Collaborate with business partners, other directors, designers, copywriters, editors and developers to create unique, compelling, break-through work

Consultative Recruiting Expertise Adds Value

Consultative recruiting expertise adds value when an experienced recruiter meets with a company’s CEO, President, COO or other executive leader, to discuss how that company can accelerate growth. Consultative recruiting is essential for succession planning searches, or confidential searches or any search where a company needs a strategic leader, much more than a “worker”. Are you thinking about creating an “in-house creative capability”, for the first time?

Consultative recruiting is the difference when it comes to making strategic hires that have significant and long term impact on a business. Consultative recruiting is very different from “filling a job opening”, where one simply lines up a Company’s specific needs with a Candidate’s specific skills and experience. The time spent is directly proportionate to the value added.

This is a far cry from posting a job to ZipRecruiter, Indeed or some other niche job board and “hoping for the best”. Recruiters used to call that “Post and Pray”! The premier candidates never even look at job boards. If you try it a couple of times, it’s immediately crystal clear how inefficient it is. You’re lucky if even 15% of respondents are even remotely qualified for the role. Full employment makes hiring even more difficult!

Consultative Recruiting makes all the difference between hiring a “worker” and a committed, caring and ambitious contributor/leader. The worker simply works, the leader contributes and then influences their colleagues to contribute too. They search out additional ways to contribute. Working is easy, leading and consistently truly contributing is not. (Boutique or Specialty Firms have additional value!)

New Search: STL Media Client SaaS Enterprise Sales Manager

General Description:
We’re hiring high performing sales professionals to help us scale our St. Louis Client’s SaaS business in the enterprise space.  Our founders are proven entrepreneurs and customers love our products.  The Enterprise Sales Manager will drive recurring SaaS services revenue via both strategic channel partners and enterprise ‘Fortune 2000’ brands.  

This role is accountable for the creation, development and implementation of the entire sales process lifecycle, which includes (but is not limited to) pipeline development, prospecting, and close ratio metrics. It’s imperative to have an attitude and willingness to build our channel partnership program from the ground up. Approximately 50% of your leads will come from Inbound with approximately 50% of your leads being self-generated.

Principal Responsibilities:
• Build and execute a sales plan based on ABM principles and consultative selling techniques.
• Meet and exceed quarterly and annual sales revenue goals
• Identify key growth opportunities/ initiatives and build and execute a plan around such initiatives (Channel and Enterprise)
• Provide accurate sales forecasts; consistently meet both budget and committed revenue goals.
• Attend shows and other networking opportunities, as designated by management

Marketing Executive Search or Executive Placement or Executive Headhunter? Call Us Whatever You Like . . .

Marketing executive search, executive headhunter or executive placement? Call us what you will . . . But call, because recruiters succeed! Why (or How) do recruiters succeed when the actual Employers when the actual employer can have so much trouble doing the same thing?  The answer is simple . . . Time.

Retained Recruiters are able to spend the time necessary to identify, recruit and hire the top performers in any specialty, at any level and at any place . . .  staying focused and engaged until the search is successfully completed. Employers can’t afford to spend the real amount of time required, even if they have dedicated recruiters on staff.

I’ll also say right now, that a major difference between a contingent executive recruiter and a retained one, is the ability to spend more time, because the retained recruiter is already being compensated. For the purposes of this article, highlighting recruiting success, please understand I’m talking about retained recruiters like Bishop Partners.

The contingent recruiter has to race to get the resume in front of the employer faster, before another recruiter or even the Employer’s own posting identifies a candidate! They simply cannot spend the time necessary to actually develop a relationship with a candidate and understand that candidate’s career vision, values and goals.

Taking the time for that understanding is one of the most critical reasons retained recruiters succeed. (I’m proud to be able to say that Bishop Partners has achieved 100% success with retained searches, over the past 14 years.)

Retained recruiters are able to spend the time necessary, with the Employer/Client to gain a full understanding of that Client’s own vision, values, goals and most important, culture. Recruiters should know and understand the Client’s org chart and/or reporting structure. Knowing the supervisor (or VP) that a candidate reports to will make a difference. I try to get to know a Client’s culture and the job so well, that during some conversations with candidates, I inevitably say “we” . . . rather than “they”.

Digital Media Recruiting: Digital Strategist, Digital Project Manager, Digital Media Director

For at least the last four years, every search we’ve conducted has had “digital media” components.
Digital Media has become the ubiquitous element in advertising and marketing communications. Very little communication happens anymore, without the strategic digital element. While the value of those digital elements continues to grow, so does the demand for skilled digital workers. The experienced experts in every digital specialty are very difficult to hire. Those with the most expertise and experience are fully employed and not actively looking for a new opportunity.

Bishop Partners has over 17 years’ experience as marketing and advertising recruiting and consulting specialists. Over the past five years, that specialty has grown to include digital media. Here are some of the titles of the (specifically) digital media searches we’ve recently completed.

Client Success Manager

Content Strategist/Writer

Sr. Digital Strategist

Digital Media Campaign Analyst-Strategist (three hires)

Social Media Campaign Manager (two hires)

Sr. Digital Media Campaign Manager

Digital Project Manager

VP, Social Media Strategy

Digital media nomenclature and titles are rapidly changing.  New specialized skills are needed as new technologies, tactics and metrics are developed. As digital media grows, so does the need for new expertise.  It’s very difficult for many; many privately held companies to keep pace.  How about your Company?

Bishop Partners routinely consults with CEOs, Partners and Owners of privately held companies to help them identify and prioritize their need to evolve, catch up or even “get started”, to take advantage of the possibilities and efficiencies, of digital marketing communication.

Some of the statistics identifying companies who actually admit that their lack of digital experience is restricting revenue growth is surprising, if not stunning.  Yet, they’re unsure how to take a first step or develop a digital practice expertise, that adds real value (i.e. revenue) for their company.

Social media is taking on a life of its own.  It’s everywhere.  You can look around at any moment and see someone staring at his or her phone or other device.  It’s no longer a matter of “if” a company should get involved, but how.  Whether a B2B service or manufacturer, your customers can (will) be reached by creating a content marketing strategy based on the classic lead generation funnel.  Content engagement is starting to dominate, because it works.  Even better, it can be measured, analyzed and optimized for “real” ROI.

If you’re worried about your company’s next step(s) with digital media, please get in touch.  We can help.