Rakuten was founded in 1997 and is the world’s first successful merchant-focused e-commerce marketplace. Rakuten now encompasses over 70 businesses worldwide spanning e-commerce, digital content, communications and fintech that reach more than 1 billion members around the globe. You may have seen our logo as sponsors, on the jerseys of The Golden State Warriors who won the 2017 NBA Championship or FC Barcelona.

Rakuten Advertising is the marketing and advertising arm of Rakuten, focused on helping the world’s leading brands find new customers and maximise the returns from their advertising budgets.

Rakuten Advertising EMEA are looking for a collaborative, thoughtful and capable, Head of Client Services EMEA, who will oversee the Affiliate Client Services divisions across UK, FR, DE and other EMEA locations.

They will be responsible for the growth and retention of the EMEA Affiliate budget, whilst being sympathetic to local market and cultural needs. They will work hand in hand, with their respective local teams and leaders, to develop the right strategy and approach, to deliver on client SLA’s, company profitability and margin goals.

This leader will balance the requirement for centralised processes and best practices, to help scale growth, as well as understanding the needs for localisation, to champion support for local teams. They are a key decision maker and collaborator, across the EMEA organisation, as well as partner for cross-functional department leaders, and across the Rakuten Advertising leadership group.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Experience in Client Success – Understands client strategy, needs and ability to influence at Senior or C-Suite level
• Senior Point of escalation for large Affiliate multi-national and global accounts
• Ability to develop standardised Client experience best practices
• Leads key in client negotiations

People Management

• Cross-market and cultural knowledge, to guide and development key talent and teams
• Develop team goals and structure to enable product and service delivery
• Drives high employee engagement for retention and satisfaction
• Embody the attributes of an open, collaborative, empowering, caring, empathetic and value driven leader
• Clear communication of key objectives to staff to achieve goals, tied to company objectives

Financial & Strategy Planning

• Track and analyse commercial performance against market developments and business objectives; build budgets, revenue forecasts, address issues affecting profitability; ensure relevant information goes to appropriate stakeholders through agreed channels
• Ability to develop standardised Client experience best practices, to increase customer satisfaction and overall NPS
• Develop ongoing SLA framework, to hit company efficiency or margin targets
• Works collaboratively to influence resource allocation with EMEA SVP, and Intl MD, on current and emerging markets, verticals, and products priorities

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities)

• Demonstrated track record of building and leading high performing teams – leverages empathy and analytical abilities to understand way to progress and improve our people organisation
• Experience in setting up Client revenue budgets, forecasting and business planning tools, to analyse and inform areas of growth, risk, and opportunity
• Strong communicator – Ability to understand needs of the team, clients, and business, to balance decision making and key drivers/actions plans
• Will act as a key stakeholder and partner to Commercial Strategy and leadership teams, with an excellent working knowledge of key markets and drivers related to the performance eco-system, to help inform investments and growth opportunities across both EMEA and our Global business

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

• 8-10+ years in leading and developing strong performing teams
• 10+ years in search, affiliate, social, display or attribution account management and/or strategy development
• Self-starter and highly motivated; capable of working independently, yet collaboratively, within a fast-paced environment
• Strong communication skills with the ability to build and maintain good rapport with internal and global teams as well as external vendors and handle situations with confidence, tact, and resourcefulness
• Ability to prioritise, work on and manage multiple projects with rigorous timelines
• Team-oriented person who wants to contribute to the success of the team and company
• Solid understanding of digital Advertising ecosystem and how it fits in to the larger brand strategy
• Ability to support a multi-national team and travel internationally, when required
• Master’s/Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
• Great technology is important, but at the end of the day it’s our people that make our company great. We attract, develop and retain the best talent at every level. And we invest in their progress.

For us, diversity isn’t just something that’s nice to have, it’s essential to our success. Different perspectives bring strength to every team. New voices are welcome. Come grow with us. We promise this: we make talent decisions with speed, honesty and respect. Great things happen when talent and opportunity meet.

This process will include several interviews with the hiring manager and a panel team with a brief which will need to be completed and presented to the panel team.