The Garden is one of Canada’s top, independent creative agencies, focused on helping brands build stronger, more emotionally connected relationships with their customers. We believe in the power of brand love and work alongside our clients to help deliver the best possible consumer experiences regardless of the touchpoint.

We pride ourselves on being a people-first company and offer a highly flexible working environment built on trust. This allows our employees to decide for themselves where, when and how they will work most effectively. We also offer our full-time employees unlimited vacation time and a generous benefits package, because we believe that happy and healthy people tend to make nicer things.

Job description

As a Business Lead you will play an integral role with a variety of clients at The Garden, working closely with both the strategic and creative teams to explore and uncover creative solutions to business challenges. However, beyond managing the day-to-day workflow, you will also be tasked with creating a true partnership with your clients, and actively seeking out new opportunities for organic growth.

Business Leads need to become a trusted advisor to each and every one of their clients. In order to do this you must become entrenched in their business, beyond the specific projects that are already underway. And as things continue to grow, a Project Lead will work with you, to assist in managing the day-to-day work flow of each project. You will be responsible for overseeing the Project Leads work and professional development, ensuring that everything meets our two key principles.

You will also be tasked with overall business management of your assigned clients. This includes project planning, resource allocation and overall financial management.

Your Responsibilities (What You Will Do Daily)

• Maintain day-to-day contact with clients to develop and maintain strong relationships

• Fully understand all aspects of the clients’ businesses and their competitive environments

• Actively seek out opportunities for organic growth with existing clients

• Provide on-going status updates of progress and identified opportunities to the VP Client Leadership

• Creative problem solving and sourcing of partners to transform ideas into action plans

• Create project plans, identify resource needs and develop Statements of Work (including applicable fees) for all client projects

• Manage all financials required for each project, including client invoices, vendor payments, expense approvals and budget reconciliations

• Lead and maintain quality assurance for all projects

• Oversee Project Managers throughout all phases of production (if applicable)

• Provide mentorship for Project Managers and identify key opportunities for professional development

• Take an active role in building a positive work environment and culture

Your Assets (What You Bring)

• Minimum 8 years experience working in client services within an advertising, marketing, or creative agency environment

• Superior organizational and time management skills with a strong attention to detail

• Proven ability to forecast project resourcing needs and manage project financials

• Well developed interpersonal and communication skills

• A natural problem solver, proactive in identifying issues and opportunities and recommending actionable solutions

• Creative thinker able to look beyond the traditional and expected solutions to find unique opportunities to deliver the executional requirements

• Collaborative and motivating, helping to inspire the team to produce great work

• Level-headed; calm and composed under pressure, focusing on achieving the end goal

• Highly adaptable; able to seamlessly pivot between high-level strategy and operational details across multiple accounts.

• A genuine interest in current trends, brands, design and the marketing world in general

What The Garden Offers You (Our Benefits)

At The Garden, we invest in your well-being and development:

• Salary : $90k - $110k depending on experience

• Hybrid Work: A perfect balance with days in the office for team connection and days remote for focus work.

• Generous Time Off: Unlimited vacation program + a summer shutdown + the agency is closed during the Holiday season.

• Comprehensive Health: Group insurance plan (life, medication, dental, paramedical, travel...)

• Green Transportation: Discounts on Bike share

At The Garden we believe that diversity drives better-thinking, creativity, and innovation and we are committed to being a culture that includes and values different voices and perspectives. We encourage interested candidates of diverse backgrounds—such as racialized individuals, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and others—to apply to this post. Please send us your CV and cover letter explaining your experience, and what makes you the ideal candidate.

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