Program Director, Digital Experience

Company Description

Merkle is a leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company. For over 30 years, Fortune 1,000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with us to build and maximize the value of their customer portfolios.

We are champions for meaningful progress and we strive to be a force for good—for our people, for our clients, for the industry and for our society. We keep our people at the center, creating space for growth, understanding and learning so they can excel. We embed diversity, in our mindset, in our solutions and in our teams to empower an inclusive, equitable and culturally fluent environment. Building this culture within our teams makes us better collaborators with each other and with our clients, driving better outcomes for all. Merkle is an agency of dentsu.

Job Description

The America’s Senior Director, Program Management is accountable for successful sales & delivery of CXM’s client accounts. You will collaborate with sales, client management and project management across dentsu’s creative, media and customer experience management service lines and across CXM’s, Experience and Commerce (experience & commerce, loyalty and messaging) and Data & Technology Strategy practice areas to win and deliver client engagements.

You will partner with the Solutions Team and Practice Area delivery leadership to define the vision and evolve the program management capability within CXM for winning and delivering large scale, multi-disciplinary client engagements. Specifically, you will be responsible for delivery across dentsu’s end-to-end client lifecycle – from RFP response to client sunsetting. This is a remote position, reporting to VP, Program Director.

JOB ROLE:

In the sales process:

• Tailor engagement model frameworks and cross-service line approaches to client contexts for pitch decks, RFP responses and in in-person pitches to prospective clients.
• Craft approach and timeline for engagment model (team structure, process/approach, toolset) definition and pricing for client pitches.
• Partner with finance, client engagement and practice area delivery and operations to model the team and price new client business.
• Design the engagement model for the client engagement – team models & structures, workstreams, processes and toolset.

Upon award of client engagement:

• Partner with service lines, practice areas and clients to refine the engagement model design presented in the sales process and partner with the practice areas, resourcing and talent to stand up the team.
• Work with the team to prepare both client and internal kickoffs.

Delivering the work:

Be the COO and lead program director on client accounts. This could take the form of running the PMO on behalf of the client, being a member of a PMO / TMO for a client or running the holistic program for CXM/dentsu outside of a client’s PMO / TMO structure.

Specifically responsible for:

• Execution Standards
• Tailor PMO / TMO frameworks and approaches to client context and ensuring all parties across dentsu and our client teams understand approaches, templates and communication strategy
• Develop standardized team size scoping methods on the account
• Standardize delivery of the client’s chosen delivery methodology
• Own Delivery Onboarding materials and ensures all project teams have project specific onboarding
• Create and evolve account playbooks

New Business Pursuits (Organic Growth)

• Facilitate pitch and proposal development in partnership with the client leadership team
• Ensure detailed SOWs are developed and approved for all new engagements
• Ensure detailed Change Orders are developed and approved for all project changes
• Partner with account CLG teams to develop and execute account plans

Delivery Excellence

• Ensure all programs are delivered on schedule, on budget, and meet the expectations of the agreed scope
• Ensure all workstreams are communicated to across the account
• Partner with appropriate leads and delivery representation to Identify and lead remediation actions for escalated issues

Qualifications

Qualifications

• At least 15 years experience delivering transformation, complex, global, scaled client engagements with star brands in a professional services environment.
• Experience bringing diverse teams together to deliver stellar digital experience work.
• Program subject matter expert who is an accomplished delivery leader who has experienced global / complex roll-out and knows how to guarantee successful execution of strategic initiatives.
• Experie