Beckie Underwood
Summary
Passionate leader with a strong background in building profitable creative strategies and digital sales. Proven success in developing high-performing teams, enhancing product portfolios, and leading the production of award-winning programmatic advertising for global clients. Imaginative and results-driven, with a deep technical understanding and exceptional problem-solving abilities that consistently deliver impactful creative and commercial outcomes
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
3
3
years of post-secondary education
1
1
Certification
Work history
Head of Creative Operations
Radancy
London, England
11.2022 - Current
- Collaborated with New Business team on c.2 RFP pitches per month, contributing to research, creative resourcing, technical information collation, idea generation, and content development
- Internal product training on Radancy’s flagship products such as “BCX Creative” and “BCX Social”
- Established new workflows, software and processes, provided training across UK, Germany and Netherlands
- Overseeing core team of three Creative Operations Specialists, ensuring seamless execution of creative initiatives, while providing dotted line leadership to extended European Creative team of 24, driving operational efficiency and creative excellence across projects
- Producing wealth of client projects across Programmatic Display, Social Content, Career Sites, Events and Brand Videos.
Senior Director - Studio
Azerion
London
04.2022 - 07.2022
- Restructured an international team of 19 Designers, Developers, Motion Specialists, Project Managers and Technical Managers
- Consolidated products for optimal margin and efficiency across Europe. Reducing products from 60 to under 10 & creative service systems from 12 to under 5
- Produced and implemented new European workflows for creative production, new format requests and quality assurance testing
- Achieved the above within an pre-agreed timeframe - merger redundancy
Head of Studio
Collective / TI Media (Time Inc) / Azerion
London
07.2016 - 03.2022
- Grew Studio share of revenue from 24% to 77% and doubled profitability on 2 flagship products (High Impact Takeover and Revolvers)
- Won and implemented major contract to be exclusive programmatic, creative supplier to Group M's programmatic arm, Xaxis, A career high and contract worth over £6M
- Negotiated contracts and product development with rich media platforms such as Celtra, Sizmek (Amazon) and Flashtalking
- Change Management - Series of company buyouts meant I saw Studio team through a number of restructures and had best staff retention rate in each business
- Wrote thought leadership pieces around Creative Strategy for trade press featuring in The Drum, New Digital Age and Creative Pool
Worked with Marketing team to plan and produce content for Social Media posts, Marketing Videos, Branding and Corporate Website
Head of Production/Project Management
Collective
London
01.2012 - 07.2016
- Oversaw, project managed and led client communications across approx 80 campaigns per month for clients inc Warner Bros, Britvic and BMW
- Drove high standards, quality assurance/debugging, adherence to deadlines and positive end-to-end client journey
- Built new client accounts/relationships upselling and improving existing relationships
- Tracked team output, solved problems and reported Studio profitability and forecasted figures to senior executive team.
Sales Planner
Collective
London
01.2012 - 01.2013
- Worked with Commercial to understand client briefs and challenges
- Product expert for Collective's creative offerings
- Advised sales team on creative strategy and objection handling
- Produced pitch PowerPoint decks for the sales team
Sales - Account Director
Boomerang
London
01.2010 - 01.2012
- Managed OOH/DOOH sales across a patch of media and outdoor agencies including the Omnicom Group and Posterscope
- Increased revenue across sales patch by +60%.
Sales Manager
The Walt Disney Company
London
01.2004 - 01.2010
- Led successful sales pitches, exceeding sales of c.£750K
- Developed integrated and creative cross media solutions including Digital, Casual Gaming, TV and Sponsorship.
Content Coordinator
TUI
London
01.2002 - 01.2004
- Directed content of website and brochures for Italy and Florida
- Liaised with Designers, Photographers, Hoteliers and Legal
- Copywriting, photo editing, CMS management and proofreading.
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Film & English Literature
Middlesex University
London 09.1998 - 05.2001
Skills
- Generating New Revenue Streams
- Team training
- Client Service
- Sales Planning
- Creative strategy development
- Creative team leadership
- Service-orientated
- High-value project management
- Upselling
Websites
Certification
APMG/Agile Project Management Foundation & Practitioner
SEPT 2022 - REMOTE
APMG/Scrum Master
OCT 2022 - REMOTE
Hubspot Academy/Content Marketing
AUG 2022 - REMOTE
Atlassian/Jira & Confluence Fundamentals
JULY 2022 - REMOTE
Accomplishments
- Team awards include:
- RAD Awards - Best Use of Technology 2024
- W3 Awards - Best Career Site 2023
- Most Innovative Media Owner - IPA 2017
- Best Use of Creativity (Asda) - Drum Awards 2016
- Best Branding Campaign (Avios) - Drum Awards 2016
- Best Use of Creativity (Camelot) - Drum Awards 2015
- Best Media Owner - IPA 2022
Timeline
Head of Creative Operations
Radancy
11.2022 - Current
Senior Director - Studio
Azerion
04.2022 - 07.2022
Head of Studio
Collective / TI Media (Time Inc) / Azerion
07.2016 - 03.2022
Sales Planner
Collective
01.2012 - 01.2013
Head of Production/Project Management
Collective
01.2012 - 07.2016
Sales - Account Director
Boomerang
01.2010 - 01.2012
Sales Manager
The Walt Disney Company
01.2004 - 01.2010
Content Coordinator
TUI
01.2002 - 01.2004
Bachelor of Arts - Film & English Literature
Middlesex University
09.1998 - 05.2001