Business Director

JOB PURPOSE SUMMARY:
To partner with the Heads of Department & Regional Managing Directors of the 20/21 division to drive and realize department objectives, business pipeline and profitability. The Business Manager is responsible for the financial, strategic and administrative integrity of the 20/21 division in Paris. Leading on commercial deals for the Paris Auctions and management responsibilities for the teams.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS (Duties include but are not limited to the following):
Driving Business
- Participate in strategic initiatives to drive business pipeline including areas for opportunity and growth
- Assist in the implementation of the divisions global business plan
- Prepare and deliver all internal and external communications for significant events, including policy, staffing, best practices and any strategic changes as pertain to Auction.
- Implement improvements to operational systems for the department, working closely with regional management to ensure consistent approach across the team (within global reach)
- Provide competitive analysis and insight on market segment
- Articulate and implement needs within external support teams.

Management Responsibilities
- Directly supervise sales team. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training non-specialist employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems. Partner with Head of Department where necessary for managing specialist group.
- Lead, manage and communicate any cultural or management changes necessary to implement the strategic and business plan for the Departments, partnering with Department Head.
- Work with Department Head to identify staffing needs, long term development plans and succession planning.
- Work with Department head and Specialist line managers to conduct performance reviews and set objectives and development plans in line with overall department and corporate objectives.
- Effectively and regularly communicate to ensure organizational clarity around key dates, strategic direction, deadlines, deliverables, roles and responsibilities, and department culture/ behavior.

Financial Responsibilities
- Review all non-standard financial deals and approve as necessary (0%, escalate EH considerations to RMD along with Advance / GRT / 3P GRT requests).
- Prepare and lead on all commercial deals and war room packs for RMD & ICO escalation and reconcile pipeline with Commercial and specific sale teams
- Oversee consignments to ensure they conform to the agreed terms and conditions of sale
- Provide insight and information to Finance Partner to enable weekly pipeline updates, annual budgeting, forecasting, sale P&L and other reporting.
- Monthly review of P&L and transactions with Finance Partner
- Partner with Department Head & Marketing Director on overall marketing plan.
- Work with Finance Partner to ensure that all statistics are available for each sale to enable adequate and accurate debriefings post sale including pre/post sale statistics of competitors
- Provide insight as need for strategic and quarterly reporting
- Maintain profitability through monitoring deal and sale related costs and identifying possible areas for increased margin.

Operational duties
- Maintain relationships with critical business partners to ensure all functions run smoothly through deadlines, sales, pre and post-sale initiatives.
- Facilitate communication between team and support teams as needed to ensure proper support and trouble shoot potential issues.
- Resolve and escalate where necessary any operational issues

Managing Risk
- Manage and assist with client issues and potential settlements, working closely with RMD, Legal, ICO, client accounts as needed
- Communicate all unmitigated risk to RMD and identify areas for improvement.
- Provide business review of non-standard contract negotiations.

Reporting lines
- Post-War & Contemporary Art, Photographs & Design Paris

Heads of Departments continue to report into Specialist Leads with RMD as partner EMEA

Business Manager is partner to Head of Departments in Post-War & Contemporary Art, Photographs & Design in reporting lines for group under Head of Department - Specialist and under
- Impressionist & Modern, Prints Paris

Heads of Departments continue to report into Specialist Leads with RMD as partner EMEA

Remainder of team will continue to report into Head of Department with RMD EMEA as Business partner

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

- Master’s degree in Business Management or equivalent field preferred; or an undergraduate degree with at least 6 years of related work experience.
- Demonstrated proactive, collaborate approach.
- Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
- Knowledge of Outlook, Excel, Word Processing, and Presentation software.
- Ability to create and a