David Williams
Business & Operations Director
London United Kingdom
Professional Status
Freelancer
Available
About Me
I am an enthusiastic and passionate business and operations director with a wealth of experience in experiential, live events, and most recently brand advocacy and training.
Throughout my career I have always sought out opportunities to both challenge myself and to learn; most notably I co-founded and acted as Operations Director at Bright, an experiential agency.
My skill set is varied and I consider myself adaptable, versatile, and well versed in client services, training, content, event production and have first-hand experience of setting up and running a small business.
I enjoy working closely with strategists, creatives and producers to create stand out work for the client.
Throughout my career I have always sought out opportunities to both challenge myself and to learn; most notably I co-founded and acted as Operations Director at Bright, an experiential agency.
My skill set is varied and I consider myself adaptable, versatile, and well versed in client services, training, content, event production and have first-hand experience of setting up and running a small business.
I enjoy working closely with strategists, creatives and producers to create stand out work for the client.
Business Director
MKTG International
August 2019
to September 2020
Full-time
- This was an exciting opportunity to broaden my skillset and challenge myself whilst building upon my experience in experiential. MKTG create and execute B2B global brand advocacy and training programs for Apple, Beats, and are in the planning phases with DAZN. I was brought in to lead on both the Apple Enterprise and DAZN programs.
- Apple Enterprise
My role broadly covered the following key areas: - Collaborating with the strategy and content teams to develop a global education and engagement strategy designed to increase adoption of Mac within Apple’s major enterprise accounts
- Working closely with the client and internal training team to create bespoke Mac training content for both live and virtual delivery
- In conjunction with the client's event team and MKTG internal production lead, the development of bespoke event concepts for Apple's key accounts
- DAZN
My role broadly covered the following key areas: - Building on the first round pitch where we set out our solution for an international education and incentive program used to drive advocacy and sales within DAZN’s global retail partnerships
- Development of a 9-month pilot proposal focussed on execution in one market; covering content and training strategy, detailed store visit scheduling, evaluation framework, and detailed costings
- With this being my first agency role since wrapping up Bright it was important for me that it represented both an opportunity to learn but also a chance to bring my experience to the forefront.
I relished the opportunity the collaborate with the internal strategy, content, and training functions within MKTG, and despite the challenges we faced as a small agency we were able to produce fantastic work for our clients.
Freelance Senior Project Manager
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
July 2019
to August 2019
Freelancer
- Working in a freelance capacity, I had the opportunity to gain some experience in the corporate/venue sector
- Supporting the Head of Production in the in-house events team, I worked across a broad range of internal functions
Co-Founder & Operations Director
Bright LDN
January 2014
to March 2019
Full-time
- Bright was an agency that allowed me to do the work that I love in the way that I know it should be done. Not just ethically but also to the highest quality possible.
As co-founder and Operations Director I was dedicated to driving up our standards further and further and making sure that we never stopped innovating our approach, processes and procedures to make sure they were the best in the business.
My role in the business was broad and covered these key areas: - Project delivery & client management
- Financial control (from project budgets to bookkeeping)
- Supporting New Biz functions
- HR & recruitment
- With the founders now seeking new challenges, it made sense to close Bright. I look back with a great sense of pride having built the company from scratch and despite all of the challenges that came with running a small agency, we were still able to deliver some truly outstanding work for our clients.
- Clients: Dyson, Epson, WatchGuard, Elizabeth Arden, CAT, The Unlimited Co
Freelance Account Director
Seen Presents
December 2013
to January 2014
Freelancer
- In a freelance capacity, I had a great opportunity to work with arguably the biggest brand on the planet. Up against a short lead time, I managed a small team in delivering an event celebrating the anniversary of the Nike Tiempo Boot. With multiple facets including a full training session for 50 FOTs (football obsessed teenagers) run by Ashley Cole, plus live Q&A hosted by Rizzle Kicks.
Responsibilities included: - Lead client contact
- Line managing production & creative team
- Budgetary control
- On-site management
- Despite the short lead time, the event was a success but the main area of satisfaction for me was overseeing the build on the live day and overcoming the logistical challenges associated with a multi-site event.
Account Director
Blazinstar Experiential/Electrify
March 2012
to November 2013
Full-time
- Working closely with the GAD I was not only able to learn and develop, but also bring my experience to the table in order to introduce a broad set of processes, in particular financial, and to continue to enhance the agency culture.
Responsibilities included: - All activation department output
- Lead client contact
- Working closely with FD to enhance financial processes internally
- Nurturing media agency relationships
- Nurturing existing client relationships
- Line management and development of 7 junior staff
- This was a time of change within the agency, the workload grew and so did the team, I was instrumental in developing and ultimately leading the activation department as well as delivering a series of high profile projects for our clients; LOVEFiLM, & Symantec and a world first for Jack Daniels.
Senior Account Manager
Blazinstar Experiential
September 2011
to March 2012
Full-time
- An opportunity arose for me to help shape and grow the activation department in a young agency alongside juggling multiple projects for JD Sports and Haagen Dazs.
Responsibilities included: - Lead client contact
- Budgetary control
- Support to the GAD across all accounts and introduction of internal processes
- Line managing a team of 4 junior staff
- Supporting planning in new biz functions
- Alongside successful project delivery, it was the chance to have a positive impact on the agency itself that was both attractive and immensely rewarding.
Account Manager
RPM Ltd
November 2008
to June 2009
Full-time
- The Smirnoff Original Nights program was growing and this provided me with the opportunity to fully own one of the larger events - a Smirnoff Silent Disco. Alongside this challenge came my first opportunity to line manage junior members of staff in delivering the on-trade activity and supporting the rest of the team in delivering both the Silent Disco and the Smirnoff Electric Cabaret events. As the volume and complexity of the work increased I was able to explore and develop a wider skill set including:
- Line managing of junior staff
- Access to more senior clients
- X Agency working (Digital and PR)
- The events series was successful again, but it was my exposure to line management that gave me the most satisfaction and greatest sense of achievement.
Senior Account Executive
RPM Ltd
March 2008
to November 2008
Full-time
- After establishing myself as a key member of the Smirnoff Original Nights Team I was given the opportunity to take on more responsibility, in addition to managing core elements of the larger events (creative, staffing, talent booking, logistics,) I was tasked with the ideation and execution of the supporting on-trade activity across the capital.
This provided me with the opportunity to hone and improve upon the skills I had previously learnt, but also to take on new challenges including: - Full budgetary control of the on-trade activity
- Direct client contact
- Amplification
- I take particular pride in not just the success of the activity, which once again was well received by the consumer and the client, but also in the financial performance of the account itself, being set a profit target and beating it is a strong motivator for me.
Account Executive
RPM Ltd
July 2006
to March 2008
Full-time
- I was brought into the office to work on the Sky Festival and latterly Smirnoff, this was my first opportunity to cut my teeth in an agency environment.
My role was to provide support to the AM & SAM in the day to running of the live projects.
Through this, I had the opportunity to learn and develop core skills including: - Building budgets
- Sourcing, research and managing suppliers
- Effective communication with internal departments
- Briefing in and managing of a process
- Planning (project management)
- My greatest achievement at this time was not only sharing in the success of the projects I worked on but also turning a short term contract into a permanent role
Events Manager
RPM Ltd
September 2005
to July 2007
Freelancer
- I was responsible for the successful running of the live activation on the ground the scope of which included:
- Managing a team of staff to deliver against the set objectives
- Providing regular reporting against the set evaluation metrics
- Responsible for managing any issues/challenges that may arise and leasing with all parties to ensure a smooth and timely resolution is achieved
- Responsible for the supervision of the setup and set down
- I am passionate about many aspects of personal development, both mental and physical and enjoy exploring this in my free time.
- Recently I have developed a strong interest in the FX markets and am currently building up my knowledge and understand with a view to live trading in the near future.
- It might sound like a chore to some, but I enjoy getting hands-on and problem solving as much as I can.
