Interim Director, Commercial Programmes & Delivery

Be part of the vision; be part of the RIBA.

RIBA is a global professional membership body, and a cultural organisation, driving excellence in architecture.

Salary: Up to £90,000 per annum, based upon experience and location

Location: London/Liverpool/Hybrid working

Hours: 35 hours per week, full-time, 6-month fixed term contract

About the Role

RIBA is currently embarking on an exciting phase of growth and transformation, expanding our markets both domestically and internationally.

To support this ambition, we are looking for a dynamic and seasoned interim to support our commercial strategy and drive revenue growth across a diverse portfolio of products and services, whilst the current postholder is on a 6-month secondment to the Executive board.

This interim leadership role focuses on continuing to drive significant commercial growth and international market expansion, especially in the Gulf and Southeast Asia. The postholder will be responsible for managing a large portfolio of revenue-generating products and services, such as their CPD programme, RIBA Journal and RIBA Publishing, Journal of Architecture, RIBA retail, etc.

The programmes currently generate circa £11 million per annum, income is growing, and ambitious business plans are underway to grow rapidly and significantly.

In addition, the role will oversee the launch of new initiatives such as a competency framework and lifelong learning programs, playing a key role in shaping the future of the organisation.

This contract offers an exciting opportunity to lead change, foster collaboration, and contribute to RIBA's goal of doubling in size over the next decade, ensuring continuous development and improvement across the organisation.

What are we looking for?

• Leading the delivery of high-quality, commercially valuable programmes and products, ensuring accessibility for members, clients, and the public, while focusing on sustainable profitability.
• Leading, and managing a team (5 x direct reports and a much larger team underneath)
• Managing costs to support excellent product and service delivery, driving margin performance, and expanding sales support across the organisation.
• Optimising income-generating areas through strategies such as bundling, upselling, and cross-selling across UK and international markets.
• Implementation of cutting-edge digital technologies and platforms to enhance the digital-first approach, delivering strong commercial value and customer support.
• Identification of business opportunities and partnerships; development, closing, and managing sales and business solutions.
• Ensuring programme delivery excellence, focusing on ROI, customer satisfaction, and to drive digital, print, and in-person learning.
• Development of go-to-market strategies for our client’s products and services, in close collaboration with Communications and Marketing teams to maximize revenue opportunities.

The ideal candidate

The role requires strong experience in commercial strategy and programme management, with a focus on marketing and bringing products to market effectively. The successful candidate will need to collaborate closely with the marketing team, helping implement new channel strategies and drive innovation in alignment with RIBA's ambitious growth targets.

A strong project management capability to develop and implement clear and effective ‘go to market’ strategies, as well as experience of customer service excellence gained in a commercial environment through the creation and implementation of SLAs, are also key to achieving the objectives of this role.

Additionally, we are looking for someone who is:

• An experienced interim.
• Proven experience in a senior commercial role, ideally within a professional body.
• Experienced in both matrix and direct line management of senior roles, through clear objectives and reporting mechanisms to ensure effective leadership.
• Able to effectively interim manage a motivated team - proactively supporting them in their own personal development and career progression.
• Experienced in taking an intrapreneurial approach in the identification, evaluation and launch of business opportunities.
• A strategic thinker who sees opportunities for product growth and commercial optimisation gained in both UK and International markets.
• Experienced in managing a budget of ca £11mln or bigger.
• Able to drive P&L through cost management and margin growth to maximise financial returns whilst maintaining quality at all times.
• Able to represent the organisation at the highest level and effectively deliver partnerships with a range of internal and external stakeholders

Why Join us?

Our Benefits:

RIBA offers an amazing employee benefits package which includes (a) a generous pension scheme with employer contributions (up to 12%), (b) life assurance, (c) annual leave of 27 days plus bank holidays and paid closure of 3 discretionary days between Christmas and New Year. For more details on our benefits click here

Closing date: 4 October 2024
Interviews and start date:

• First interviews will be conducted over ‘teams’ on the 14^th and 18^th October.  There might be a second interview stage, due to the seniority of the post.
• We are looking for the interim to start in November.  Please only apply IF you can either start immediately, start in November, and/or are on a maximum of one month’s notice).

Please note that FJWilson Talent are RIBA’s recruitment partner for this vacancy and are handling the search process and all applicants on RIBA’s behalf.

For a confidential conversation with FJWilson Talent, please contact the FJWilson Talent team on 0203 195 3600 or email our partner at resourcingteam@fjwilson.com

Please note that you must be able to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK.  We are unable to proceed with any candidates who cannot show the relevant documentation so please only apply if you meet these criteria. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship.

RIBA aims to be an inclusive employer, committed to building an authentic and diverse environment where all are encouraged to be themselves. We champion work/life balance and welcome requests for flexible working across our organisation. We value applications from all sections of society and appreciate divergent experience, therefore if you are excited about the role and working with us, yet your experience may not align perfectly with every single skill or competency, we encourage you to apply anyway.  

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