Resource Manager

OVERVIEW OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:

At VML as part of the WPP Group, we create connected brands. We resist the usual ways of seeing, doing and thinking harnessing creativity, technology and culture — to reimagine the entire connected consumer experience. Our goal is to create workspace that becomes part of people's lives, to drive value for our clients and, in the best of cases, to impact the world.

The Resource Management function is the connective tissue across the departments. They are passionate about building highly effective teams, and creating an environment where people come to do their best work. Their focus is to ensure the right talent is working on the right project, in service of creating world class experiences for our clients. This is all achieved by balancing the priorities of the business alongside the career aspirations of the creatives, in a very dynamic landscape.

Responsibilities

• Develops relationships with talent at all levels and works as trusted partner to departmental leadership, making staffing recommendations based on skillset and career aspirations, not just availability
• Maintains knowledge of current and upcoming projects across the agency, building strong relationships with client engagement, Operations, Delivery and new business teams
• Has a pulse on the overall health and happiness of the department, ensuring any talent concerns are escalated to leadership through the appropriate channels
• Alerts capability leads & portfolio leads of any potential concerns or issues in meeting key client deliverables due to resourcing and makes recommendations to resolve
• Leads weekly resourcing meetings, to ensure talent is properly utilized and works to resolve any conflicts or balance workloads.
• When internal options have been exhausted, identifies needs for freelance talent, creates the business case to hire and works with TA to secure the proper temporary support.
• Partners with operations to review monthly utilization reports and share insights and action plan with leadership
• Works with the Talent Acquisition & Human Resources teams to on-board department new hires and freelancers
• Works with project management functions to ensure internal resourcing platforms are maintained
• Overall focus on optimizing talent in balance with constant changes to organizational priorities
• Understands and maintains a knowledge database of team skillsets and career ambitions to be able to properly assign resources and retain top talent
• Is actively working to maintain a balance between agency margin goals, employee's ability to do their best work, all while being a profitable organization
• Actively work with department leads and HR to ensure mobility of talent within the agency and network
• Proactively strategize department staffing needs, identifying peaks/valleys, core competency gaps/redundancies based on client forecasts and trends
• Continuously strategizes new ideas for process improvements and better ways to foster a connected and inclusive creative department culture

Required Skills & Experience: SR. MANAGER- RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

• 5+ years of resource management experience in advertising/marketing industry
• Firm grasp of the processes within an agency environment and a love of creating order in the chaos
• Deep understanding of the functional skills and responsibilities of various departmental roles
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills with the ability to motivate and influence across all levels of seniority
• Comfortable working in an environment of constant change and doing so with a positive attitude
• Proactive and confident in prioritizing competing demands in a fast-paced environment