Kate Smith Email & Phone Number

Banbury, Gb

We Are Firestarter are experts in helping leaders and HR specialists ignite and sustain a culture of trust and growth. We believe setting your team up for success is one of the most important purposes a leader has. Creating a sustainable workplace where creativity and productivity thrive enables your team to deliver - and to grow.We help people thrive by understanding the dynamics of their team using Patrick Lencioni’s long-established Five Behaviours® model.We help people connect through creating community-focused growth, igniting a sustainable culture.We help people grow through facilitated workshops, mentoring programs and coaching.

In my role as VP of Employee Experience (Marketing), I was dedicated to achieving excellence through a strategic blend of supportive people practices, process optimization, and performance analytics and insights. I focused on driving essential changes, striving for best practices that propelled our marketing efforts to new heights. Based on a foundation of sustainable change, the two core pillars of the team were:Supportive People Practices:* Cultivating a culture of innovation and collaboration within the marketing team.* Attracting, developing, and retaining top talent to ensure our team's success.* Building a resilient and adaptable workforce ready to embrace marketing challenges.Process Optimization and Excellence:* Streamlining marketing processes to increase efficiency and reduce waste.* Ensuring that our marketing strategies are executed flawlessly and on schedule.* Promoting a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.

My primary focus was on effecting positive change and culture, and ensuring that the team delivered exceptional results. Key areas of responsibility include:Transformational Leadership:* Leading cross-functional teams to drive transformation initiatives.* Orchestrating and managing change to adapt to evolving market dynamics and consumer preferences.Strategy Effectiveness:* Identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) and measurement frameworks to gauge success.* Managing the reporting process to promote transparencyStrategic Vision:* Shaping the long-term strategy and vision for the marketing organization.* Creating transparency and clarity of roles and promoting best practiceAbove all, promoting a culture of connectedness, innovation, and excellence within the marketing department.

Focusing on frameworks that create an inclusive environment and culture that supports and guides colleagues through not just being engaged, but empowered to learn, develop, and deliver consistently high results.Deliverables include Organizational Design, Facilitation of Training, Talent Development, and Mentoring.

As part of a secondment to HR I have been working on a project basis:* Impacting on the employee experience from an onboarding perspective, identifying ways to improve the process and increase the connection to strategy and leadership.*Supporting colleagues returning from maternity leave by establishing a peer-to-peer parents group and providing 1-2-1 coaching* Working in the Talent Management team developing expertise in talent development, career conversations and career development for managers and colleagues

Leading a dispersed field marketing team to deliver qualified leads for sales aligned to the sales plan, managing the lead acceleration process through the sales funnel.

Oxford, United Kingdom

I am responsible for the Europe, Middle East and Africa Institutional Market marketing program. In Library Services at Wiley we focus on making librarians successful. I help by identifying ways to enable the sales team to support our customer conversations better; focus on customer needs and communicate empathetically to that. Lead generation aligned with sales and customer cycles as well as ongoing nurturing and customer engagement are key elements of the team's activites. I lead a team of eight in EMEA to deliver results for customers, sales and colleagues. During this time I also had responsibility for the APAC library marketing team helping the team to transition to a new structure and leader.

Oxford, United Kingdom

I am responsible for the Channel and Customer Marketing for EMEA Institutional market, and the Global B2B Marketing Strategy. I help my team to focus on ensuring the needs of the sales team are met in order to reach sales and marketing alignment nirvana. A fresh focus on the customer and how we can best identify and satisfy their needs is driving our customer engagement and nurture campaigns as well as our lead generation program.

* Market analysis* Market research* Competitor analysis* InnovationI evaluate the market through a robust strategy of primary and secondary research to ascertain genuine market needs. Combined with thorough competitor analysis I use this to identify opportunities where there is a willingness to pay for innovative solutions.I generate business models that are viable based on market research for new products within Health Sciences. I define product requirements that are supported by customer and user feedback. I ensure all aspects of the business plan are robust and evidence-based. This is done by working closely with editorial and development colleagues and both potential and existing customers.

* Team leadership* Management of cross business working groups* Marketing strategy* Marketing analysis* Business retention* Managing complex stakeholder relationships* Winning new business* Digital product developmentI was responsible for all aspects of European marketing operations in the medical division of Wiley-Blackwell. I managed a team of 10 marketing experts (7 direct line reports), two members of the team located in different offices, 1 as a direct report with the responsibility for the global marketing strategies of 124 peer-reviewed journals. Managing complex internal stakeholder relationships across 7 key offices. I compiled and managed a marketing budget of over £1M across a large portfolio of journals and databases. In addition I managed the global marketing strategy and implemented day-to-day tactics for the flagship Urology journal BJU International. The journal is renowned for its innovative approach to meeting market needs, experimenting with new ideas to deliver content and interact with the urology community. As part of this role I worked with technology to feed back user requirements which were mapped out against a website strategy plan developed collaboratively with the external journal team and the client.I was instrumental in winning new business – formulating strategies in response to RFPs in a small bid team, implementing new marketing strategies for society clients on winning of business. Focused on developing a strong differentiation in our approach to marketing to retain existing clients, and nurture client relationships, standardising the implementation of marketing plans across the portfolio of European journals.I was set-up collaborative cross-business initiatives to ensure growth targets were met and best-practices shared.

* Team leadership* Client management* Marketing strategy* Business retentionManaged a team of 4 develop and execute marketing strategies for journals in line with meeting growth targets (usage and revenue). Led the team to provide brand management, marketing strategy, and tactical execution of marketing plans. I encouraged the team to develop innovative solutions to problems, valuing collaboration with editorial colleagues and trying new things. Supported my team in the marketing client relationship aspect for many of our society owned medical titles. Managed BJOG and BJUI two of the company's flagship medical journals.

* Marketing strategy* Marketing execution* Managing client relationshipsResponsible for all marketing and publicity activities worldwide for the leading medical journals and books in the fields of Neurology, Anaesthesia, Psychiatry. Focus was on delivering marketing in an innovative and efficient manner, experimenting with new ways to execute against targets.

* Marketing execution* Product demonstration* Product trainingI was responsible for co-ordinating the communication of complex messages to a global audience of librarians. I developed a marketing strategy to grow business in these markets. I was responsible for the in house dissemination of training and best practice with regard to promoting the online platform for online journals, Blackwell Synergy.

* Marketing strategy* Product management* User testing and requirements* Subcontractor managementProject management: I managed projects targeting non and limited users of the Envirowise programme, including the creation, distribution and promotion of the core product (a CD Rom), This had innovative packaging, crucial in monitoring responses to the campaign.Communications: I developed messages tailored for online and offline communication. I developed the corporate brand guidelines. I edited the quarterly newsletter, (Circulation 42,000).Online marketing: I created the strategic development product plan and the content of the Envirowise website based on user feedback and testing. I gathered technical requirements for development subcontractors based on market needs. I built a roadmap and managed a number of subcontractors to deliver against milestones. Overall I delivered high targets set by the Government.

Postgraduate Certificate, Psychology

Postgraduate Diploma, Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General, Distinction

Executive Education, Transformative Leadership

Level 7, Hrm

Master'S Degree, Coaching And Mentoring

Mba, Business

Professional Diploma In Management, Management

Dipm, Marketing

Bahons, Music

Education record