Director Strategic Business Solutions

About Havas Play:

Havas Play helps brands play meaningfully in culture by showing up within the worlds audiences already love - from music, film, and streaming to gaming, fandom, and creator culture. We create customized, partnership‑led experiences that allow brands to move beyond traditional sponsorships and instead earn relevance through moments that feel authentic, participatory, and culturally connected.

At the heart of our approach is a belief that fandom is the multiplier. When brands understand the behaviors, rituals, and communities that power entertainment ecosystems, they can create ideas that travel fluidly across social, content, partnerships, and live experiences. Rather than interrupting culture, we help brands contribute to it - building lasting connection by playing a meaningful role inside the spaces fans already care about most.

Job Overview:

At Havas Play, Strategic Business Solutions is where fandom‑first thinking meets real client need. The team is accountable for end‑to‑end client leadership — pulling work through from challenge to strategy to execution, and ensuring ideas designed for culture are delivered with intention, clarity, and impact.

The Director of Strategic Business Solutions is an experienced account and partnership leader. They own the day‑to‑day health of assigned accounts while beginning to shape broader strategic direction. They operate as the connective tissue between insight and execution — guiding clients through ambiguity, leading complex partnership‑led programs, and ensuring work delivers both cultural relevance and business impact. This role reports to the Head of Strategic Business Solutions.

This role requires someone who is equally comfortable:

• Leading senior client conversations
• Shaping strategic recommendations rooted in fandom behavior, with a focus on Entertainment
• Managing multi‑partner programs from brief through delivery
• Holding a high bar for quality, clarity, and collaboration
• Developing junior team members and setting standards for how the work gets done

This role is the connective tissue between senior strategy and on-the-ground delivery — expected to think commercially, manage complexity, and bring culture intelligence into every client conversation.

Key Responsibilities

Client Leadership

• Lead day‑to‑day client relationships across assigned accounts as the primary strategic point of contact.
• Develop and present strategic recommendations, campaign proposals, and program reviews grounded in cultural insights.
• Identify opportunities to expand client engagement through new entertainment‑led platforms, partnership models, and activation formats.
• Guide clients and teams through ambiguity with clear thinking, strong judgment, and confident leadership.
• Coach and develop team members through clear expectations, regular feedback, and growth‑focused mentorship.

Partnership and Program Management

• Own the strategy and quality of partnership‑led programs from brief development through activation and delivery.
• Lead RFP framing and partner selection by defining the client opportunity, ideal partner profile, and cultural ambition.
• Oversee partner scopes, SOWs, budgets, timelines, and deliverables to ensure programs are executed to intent.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with entertainment partners, rights holders, platforms, and media properties.
• Continuously improve how programs are run by reducing friction, increasing quality, and supporting teams with clearer process.

Fandom Strategy & Product

• Operate as an Entertainment strategist, bringing current cultural insight into client briefs, proposals, and partner conversations.
• Stay fluent in entertainment‑driven fandom behaviors, platform shifts, and cultural moments across music, film, streaming, and creator ecosystems.
• Contribute to the development of new fandom‑based products, tools, or partnership frameworks that can scale across clients.
• Help build Entertainment capability within the team to ensure ideas move confidently from insight to execution.

Commercial & Cross-Functional Growth

• Own budget tracking, scope management, and financial performance across assigned accounts.
• Partner with leadership on forecasting, staffing models, and scope planning.
• Contribute to new business efforts by shaping strategic narrative, positioning, and partnership ecosystems.
• Collaborate closely with Culture Strategy, Media, and Specialist teams to deliver culturally strong and operationally sound programs.

What Success Looks Like:

• Clients view you as a trusted strategic partner, relying on your judgment to guide how their brand shows up within entertainment‑driven culture and fandom ecosystems.
• Programs are thoughtfully designed and well delivered — culturally relevant, operationally sound, and aligned to both brand and business goals.
• Partnership‑led work moves smoothly from brief to activation, with clear ownership, strong collaboration, and minimal friction across teams and partners.
• Junior team members feel supported, coached, and clear on expectations — developing confidence in how they think, lead, and execute.
• You consistently bring Culture and Entertainment fluency into the work — translating fan behaviors, platform dynamics, and cultural moments into actionable strategy.
• Scope, budgets, and timelines are managed responsibly, with a balance of commercial rigor and creative ambition.
• Play’s fandom‑first philosophy is visible not just in the ideas, but in how the work is run and experienced by clients, partners, and teams alike.