About Us

M&C Saatchi Performance is a global digital media agency, connecting brands to people. We deliver business growth for our clients through effective, measurable, and evolving digital media strategies

Role Overview

We are looking for an experienced Awards Manager to join our Global Marketing team and lead the creation and management of award submissions across APAC, EMEA and the US.

Reporting to the Global Marketing Lead, this role will own the end-to-end execution of our global awards programme. While the Global Marketing Lead will lead the overall awards strategy and calendar, the Awards Manager will be responsible for day to day hands on delivery of the programme, for example, managing the full submission process, writing entries, coordinating materials, and ensuring deadlines, budgets and approvals are met smoothly.

The successful candidate will be an exceptional content writer and storyteller who can translate complex campaigns and business results into compelling award narratives. To do this effectively, they will need a strong understanding of digital marketing, enabling them to interpret campaign strategies, understand performance metrics and identify the elements that make a campaign award-worthy.

Stakeholder and project management skills are essential. The role requires working closely with account teams, client teams, designers, marketing leads and external vendors, the Awards Manager must ensure our work is presented at the highest standard across the industry's most prestigious awards, ultimately ensuring the win rate increases.

This role requires someone highly organised, calm under pressure and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with multiple tight deadlines. They will need strong judgement, clear communication skills and the ability to manage multiple award programmes simultaneously while maintaining exceptional storytelling quality.

Key Responsibilities

AWARDS STRATEGY & MANAGEMENT

Execute the global awards programme, working closely with the Global Marketing Lead and Account teams to shape the overall awards calendar and priorities.
Lead the full awards lifecycle: from identifying potential entries and aligning them with appropriate categories, to campaign discovery, client interviews, storytelling development, submission management and win tracking.
Maintain and manage the global awards calendar, ensuring deadlines and entry milestones across APAC, EMEA and the US are tracked and delivered.
Own the operational management of award submissions, ensuring entries are completed accurately, on time and in line with award criteria to enable shortlisting and ultimately win.
Manage the awards budget, tracking entry fees, production costs and related expenses, ensuring submissions remain within approved budgets.
Maintain and manage award entry trackers and reporting, monitoring submissions, shortlists and wins across the year and providing regular updates to marketing leadership.
Coordinate logistics for shortlisted entries and award ceremonies, including gala bookings and related event coordination where required.

CONTENT CREATION & STORYTELLING

Write high-quality award entries for both client campaign awards and agency awards, ensuring clarity, impact and strong storytelling.
Conduct interviews with client teams, strategists, creatives and account leads to uncover the strongest story and results behind each campaign.
Apply strong editorial judgement to shape the most compelling narrative and positioning for each submission.
Collaborate with designers and editors to develop supporting creative materials, including case study videos, presentation assets and imagery.
Write video scripts and narrative content for award case study films and supporting assets.

PROJECT & STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT

Manage multiple award submissions simultaneously, coordinating timelines across internal teams, clients and external vendors.
Liaise with client teams and senior stakeholders to gather information, validate results and secure approvals.
Communicate clearly with stakeholders to ensure efficient collaboration and timely delivery of materials in a deadline-driven environment.
Work closely with creative, strategy, account and marketing teams to ensure each submission accurately reflects the work and strategy behind it.
Manage seasonal freelancer requirements, including briefing and overseeing external writers or production vendors.
Coordinate the creation of all supporting award materials and design assets, working closely with the design team.

POST-AWARD PROMOTION & CONTENT REPURPOSING

Lead the promotion of wins and shortlisted work, ensuring they are amplified across the company's marketing channels.
Adapt award submissions into broader marketing content, including website case studies, social media content, internal communications and other storytelling formats that showcase our work and impact.
Develop compelling case studies for the business, using award entries as a foundation where relevant, but also creating new case studies independently where needed to support marketing, business development and brand storytelling.
Work with the marketing team to ensure award content and case studies become long-term storytelling assets that showcase the agency's capabilities, thinking and results.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

At least 7 years of experience in a content marketing, PR, communications or an editorial role, ideally within an agency, marketing or creative environment.
At least 4 years of experience managing award programmes or writing award submissions, with a strong understanding of how major industry awards operate and what judges are looking for.
Excellent writing and storytelling skills, with the ability to turn complex campaigns and results into clear, compelling narratives.
A strong understanding of digital marketing, including campaign strategy, channels and performance metrics.
Experience managing multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
Ability to remain organised, flexible and calm under pressure, particularly during peak awards periods.
Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
Experience collaborating with design and video teams to produce supporting award materials and case study assets.
Experience writing video scripts or case study narratives.
Comfortable working with clients and senior internal stakeholders.
Experience managing external freelancers or production vendors.
Strong organisational skills and attention to detail, particularly around deadlines, approvals, reporting and budgeting.

M+C Saatchi Performance as part of M+C Saatchi Group has pledged its commitment to create a company that values difference, with an inclusive culture. As part of this, M+C Saatchi Group continues to be an Equal Opportunity Employer which does not and shall not discriminate, celebrates diversity and bases all hiring and promotion decisions solely on merit, without regard for any personal characteristics.

All employee information is kept confidential according to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Project Manager/Lead - Awards