Senior PR and Marketing Account Manager (Europe)

Job Description

The Company

Napier is a well-known, highly respected high-tech PR and marketing agency in Europe. As a successful team with a track record of building brand awareness and accelerating sales for our clients, we are now seeking senior PR and marketing account managers who are looking for their next adventure in the beautiful city of Chichester, just over an hour south of London. This is a chance to gain valuable work experience while making a difference as part of a supportive and energetic European team located near the English South Downs and within easy reach to the rest of Europe. Napier provides innovative and effective campaigns for B2B technology clients from industries including electronics, software, information technology and green energy.

View our full client portfolio here.

Chichester and Sussex

Based on the South Coast, Chichester is extremely well connected with regular trains to Southampton (52-58 minutes), Portsmouth (23-27 minutes), and Brighton (50-60 minutes). Gatwick Airport is also only one hour away by car.

The sandy dunes at the renowned Witterings beach are only 15 minutes away, and its 10 minutes to the beautiful South Downs.

Company Philosophy and Methodology

Our open approach, and continual focus on our clients’ business goals, creates long-term client relationships. Napier is certified to the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) Communications Management Standard (CMS) – the hallmark of PR excellence.

Napier’s core values are:

Respect
Quality
Improvement
Commercial awareness

Experience

The ideal candidate for a Napier senior account manager role has an excellent grounding in a broad range of marketing disciplines and is an expert in at least one field of marketing (generally PR). Senior account managers should understand what is involved in marketing budget planning and be able to qualitatively and quantitatively explain the return on investment for different marketing activities. This experience can only be obtained by working in a marketing environment, preferably with both agency and in-house roles. Minimum experience would be a marketing degree or equivalent and five to eight years working in a PR, communications or marketing role.

The Role

Senior account managers undertake all the activities of account management and also will:

Have marketing insight that enables them to comment on clients’ marketing plans and advise clients of the best strategy and tactics to achieve their marketing objectives, including how to allocate budget across the marketing mix.
Identify ways to increase business within each account and pitch these ideas to the client.
Promote Napier within the industry to editors, media reps and other key figures.
Build excellent relationships with key editors in the client’s sector.
Understand all aspects of marketing, with the ability to interpret.

Essential Skills

Strong understanding across marketing disciplines, with the ability to construct a marketing plan outline based on a given budget and a list of marketing objectives. Senior account managers should make recommendations to clients based on their knowledge and experience and underpin this advice with both facts and opinions.
Strong background in at least one marketing discipline (e.g. PR, advertising, direct marketing, etc.) within either an in-house marketing department or an agency.
Proven track record in all aspects of PR, especially with trade press.
Well organised and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously, including presenting succinct reports of project status on a regular and ad-hoc basis. Senior account managers must be able to estimate time for jobs and ensure that jobs are delivered on budget (in terms of cost and time).
A very effective verbal communicator, able to persuade clients and explain opinions and facts. Senior account managers are also required to be able to sell services and projects to current and potential clients, and to promote Napier broadly within the industries in which they work.
Understanding of the factors that drive the profit and loss of Napier, with the ability to make decisions that optimise the long-term performance of Napier whilst also providing the best services and support to our clients.
Ability to help and advise account managers when asked, providing constructive and helpful information and suggestions. Ability to build strong long-term relationships with clients.
Ability to build strong relationships with editors – demonstrated both by the confidence to contact/call any editor to pitch a story as well as established relationships with a group of editors in at least one industry.
Ability, confidence and credibility to construct and provide advice to senior and top-level marketing staff within clients, backed up by both facts and opinions where necessary.
Good numeric skills, with the ability to budget and manage invoicing in multiple currencies
Proven ability to meet deadlines, even when priorities are changed frequently by the client.

Senior account managers must always work within the company’s systems and procedures, helping to maintain and strengthen them.

Desirable Skills (Ideally has three)

Experience in a broad range of marketing disciplines.
Experience in business-to-business marketing.
Ability to write good technical or compelling marketing copy.
Technical knowledge or interest in computing or electronics.
Proven ability to be successful in a marketing role.
Specific knowledge or understanding of PR.
Understanding of a technology-driven industry.
Foreign language skills – almost any European language is relevant, but French and German are particularly beneficial. Ability to work well with people in other countries.
Track record of managing difficult customers.
Experience of managing and developing major accounts

I’m interested! Sign me up for more info and who do I talk to?

For more info contact Clive Over, Associate Director (Bay Area) at:

Clive@napierb2b.com
+1 415-971-1110

Or Debbie McIntosh, HR Manager (Chichester, UK) at:

Debbiem@napierb2b.com
+44 (0) 1243 520911