In With The New...Continued.

So as many of you know, I make a habit of periodically circulating employment leads throughout my network, either on behalf of recruiters or as a favour to my contacts with direct employers. This is part of my ongoing commitment to active networking and being a connector of people, combined with my long-time personal affinity for HR activities and end-to-end management of an organization’s most important resource - its Talent.

Right now I coincidentally have several interesting positions to share in the early part of New Year 2009. So please take a look here…and feel free to pass any leads along if you know someone who is qualified and would potentially be interested in considering an opportunity.

But do want to be up-front that I am just acting as the middleman and this is definitely not my day job in any way either. Meaning while in some cases I do have a bit more information, for the most part what I have posted on the blog is essentially everything I know about the position, OK?

Happy hunting!

There are openings listed here in Media Operations & Account Management (2 roles), Marketing & Product Management / Project Management (2 roles) as well as Sales & Business Development (2 roles).

***Associate Director - Media Account Management***
An internal promotion has recently created this Toronto-based Sympatico/MSN vacancy, which reports to the Senior Director of Operations and Business Strategy. The Sympatico/MSN Account Management team - headed up by the Media Account Management Associate Director - manages the fulfilment and optimization of online media campaigns while providing performance reporting to clients and the Sympatico/MSN Sales team.

> Highlights of Position Responsibilities
• Provide leadership and management to Canada's top team of Internet Advertising Account Managers
• Partner with Sales to rigorously execute all Campaign Implementation processes while planning/managing against both short- and longer-term (revenue) objectives

> Highlights of Required Experience and Skills
• Degree and 5 years+ of Account Management experience in a communications company or agency
• Online Industry experience is preferred, ideally with demonstrated success in a supervisory role
• Business Growth Planning & Operations Forecasting, Resource Optimization & People Management, Process Design & Implementation along with Achieving KPI Targets - Directly & Via Team Members

> Additional Information
• This is a priority hire for the organization and the successful candidate will be asked to commence employment ASAP
• Bilingualism (English/French) is considered an asset
• Location is in Toronto - 207 Queen's Quay

***Production Manager, Portal Operations***
The Sympatico/MSN portal, a division of Bell Canada is looking for a Content Production Manager who will be responsible for working with a team of Content Managers and the Homepage Editor. This position will be located in Toronto and will report to the Associate Director, Portal Operations.

> Highlights of Position Responsibilities
• Working with a team of Content Managers that are involved in the planning, integration and management of content for channels on the Sympatico/MSN English portal
• Developing and managing an Editorial Calendar
• Tracking and reporting of results to identify opportunities for performance improvement and trends to optimize integration
• Coordinating cross promotion to drive results and meet targets for content and events that have revenue associated with them

> Highlights of Required Experience and Skills
• College diploma in multimedia or a related discipline or equivalent combination of training and experience
• 2-4 years experience managing a team
• 1-2 years experience working in online editorial positions

> Additional Information
• This is a priority hire for the organization and the successful candidate will be asked to commence employment ASAP

***Project Manager, Interactive Television (full-time, contract)***
• Seeking Project Manager - ideally with Broadcast or ITV experience - to guide the launch of an ITV property
• Offering competitive compensation and can anticipate an initial 6-month contract term
• Location is Toronto/GTA
• This is not a “speculative venture” and the employer is known within the space

***International Marketing Manager***
> Highlights of Position Responsibilities
• Develop go-to-market strategies and materials for launching new online publishers, Internet content verticals, and customized Web/Interactive media solutions
• Working with Sales department, develop and execute an annual marketing plan
• Clearly communicate marketing initiatives; ensure messaging is aligned with the company's unique value proposition and global strategy initiatives.
• Research and international Sales team support
> Highlights of Required Experience and Skills
• Bachelor’s degree required, with 1-2 years experience in online advertising, marketing, and/or sales strategy
• Solid analytical and strategic thinking, proven leadership qualities and ability to work well independently as well as with team members
• Organized, results-driven with a track record of successful execution and must possess superb verbal and written communication and presentation skills
• Passionate about Internet and New Media with an understanding of online advertising principles, traffic & engagement metric tracking tools, Web 2.0 technologies, and social networking trends

> Additional Information
• Preference is for bilingual candidates with French-language skills
• Public Relations expertise and experience writing press releases is an asset
• Location is Toronto/GTA

***Online Advertising Sales Executive***
> Highlights of Position Responsibilities
• Sales Hunting - prospecting potential Web Media advertisers and selling online advertising solutions, including face-to-face presentations with interactive media planners/buyers and marketing personnel
• Evangelism - educating marketers on the advantages of online advertising plus convincing marketers to allocate ad budgets to online channels
• Account Management & Admin - following up with existing clients re: ongoing online campaigns; maintaining sales contacts in CRM database (Salesforce.com) and updating sales forecasts

> Highlights of Required Experience and Skills
• Must have college diploma, plus 2+ years of online advertising sales experience
• Must have extensive knowledge of the online advertising industry
• Must be a team player with strong “solutions sales” mindset
• Must demonstrate a history of overachieving against sales quotas and exceeding client expectations

> Additional Information
• Location is Toronto/GTA
• This is a role where true Hunters with polished sales skills and a strong work ethic will thrive and excel
• This role requires some travel to United States markets (approx. 10-20%)
• Base compensation is $60K to $80K; will consider higher for exceptional candidates
• Commissions and bonuses structure for this role provides a realistic opportunity to earn well in excess of $200K annually, OTE

***Director of Business Development***
• Candidates MUST have previous experience selling Web Marketing, eCRM/Loyalty or Acquisition Marketing services
• The employer is a Toronto-based digital marketing agency offering strategic Web Marketing and eCRM services
• Base salary is in the $80-100K range (and possibly higher depending on candidate qualifications) plus commissions & bonuses added to bring the total comp package to around $200K, OTE

Out With The Old, And In With The New.

Happy New Year, all.

My first words of 2009 are in the Out With The Old category. My former employer Primus Canada went through yet another cycle of layoffs last week, which by my count makes several dozen jobs cut since I personally jumped ship about 10 months ago. As in the past, the purging had a direct impact on several friends and colleagues within the Residential Marketing group, along with Outsourced Customer Care, etc.

Heard from one of the remaining insiders that the overall mood is not so good and his feeling was the future looks pretty grim for Primus. No surprising given that some of the people let go this round had been with the organization for 6 years, and another for 9 years…or basically a hundred years in Sionne Time, since I am not personally known for my ability to remain with any company for an extended period.

But I’m sure by applying some obscure EBITDA Math equation, these cuts ended up making sense, at least on paper. Puzzling approach to running a business in my mind. Which makes the observation offered by one of my Primus Canada Alumni Club associates that “With nearly all the mid- and low-level staff gone from the Resi group now who will actually do the work? And why then do they need to keep on two directors, a vice-president and a senior vice-president when there are only around 5 people still left reporting into those guys anyway?” address an interesting point indeed.

One really competent product manager received her layoff news while still at home, on month 10 of her maternity leave. While I learned afterwards that she was at least treated fairly severance-wise I have to say it did disappoint and irritate me anyway. It is a brave new world of employment in the shiny year 2009 when these types of things happen in the workplace but I suppose if one does not like it they can just stop playing, take their ball and go home, right?

Onwards and upwards, into the A Little Of Both (some in/new and some out/old) area. Unless you live under a rock it was pretty difficult to not hear the online media industry announcement that Yahoo! has hired a new CEO. Carol Bartz joins after a celebrated tenure with Autodesk and while I do not know much about her, she does at least address the Mark Cuban requirement that Yahoo! get tough management-wise. I mean, what does it say about a person when she receives a cancer diagnosis in her first week on a new job, takes 30 days off for aggressive treatment - including a mastectomy - returns to working only a month later? Word is the newest Autodesk employee Bartz would arrive early enough to vomit in the company parking lot from the effects of chemotherapy before going into the office. Maybe this anecdote is apocryphal and the work of a clever PR team, but then again maybe it is exactly what really happened. Either way, you can just look it up and decide for yourself.

Oh, and Sue Decker decided that being passed over for the CEO spot and instead reporting into a new boss with a mandate for making aggressive cuts to the Yahoo! business was not how she wanted to spend the few years of her life. Decker’s resignation is of course not surprising but what interests me most is watching to see where she will land and what she will do next. Will she quickly salvage a new gig elsewhere, like Kevin Johnson did after MSFT's failed takeover bid for Yahoo! this past summer? Or will Decker spend time idling on the corporate sidelines with the industry (rightfully?) attributing much of the blame for the recent Yahoo! market cap evaporation to her role as the senior executive primarily responsible for a series of management mis-steps down in Sunnyvale, in tandem with Jerry Yang? Stay tuned as only time will really tell on that score...

Finally, some In With The New. My ongoing fixation with circulating employment leads throughout my personal network has proven successful enough for both candidates and recruiters/employers recently that I currently have several interesting roles worthy of broadcasting. See my next post for these latest opportunities…if you note something appealing and wish to connect an interested, qualified candidate with a prospective employer do get in touch with me so I can arrange that connection ASAP.

Until next time.