Head of Media Supply Chain Operations

Location:            London

Contract:            Permanent

About Us

Join the place creatives call home!

Fremantle is one of the world’s largest and most successful creators, producers and distributors of Entertainment, Drama & Film and Documentaries.

From critically acclaimed dramas like The Responder, starring Martin Freeman, award winning films including Priscilla and Poor Things, to incredible entertainment and documentaries like Password, Too Hot to Handle, House of Kardashian and the Got Talent and Idols franchises, we make shows with global appeal.

Our Purpose

We aspire to tell stories that connect people around the world. We believe our productions should reflect and celebrate the world we live in and we want to create irresistible entertainment and engage with our audience. To achieve this, we must have people from all backgrounds and cultures working across our teams, and we commit to creating opportunities for talent by being inclusive in all that we do.

About this role

Fremantle operates a large and growing network of production companies and distribution sales offices, with operations in over 40 locations across more than 20 countries.

Our Commercial and International division is responsible for maximizing the commercial value of our content. This includes selling content to international broadcasters and platforms, selling Fremantle formats, publishing content to digital platforms, and setting up and managing all Fremantle direct-to-consumer channels.

The Head of Media Supply Chain Operations is a newly created role and will be responsible for implementing an efficient end-to-end content delivery process across all areas within the Commercial and International division globally. This will include:

• Content acquisition from internal production labels and external partners
• Content storage across a range of physical and digital media
• Content preparation and delivery to a range of endpoints
• Metadata management and delivery

In addition, this role will be responsible for optimizing the interaction with rights management, royalties estimations and platform data reporting.

Each of these areas currently spans multiple teams, both within the Commercial and International division and across our wider business. This role will ensure these existing teams have the information, guidance and tools to deliver the most effective and efficient end-to-end process possible. Where new skillsets or organisational structures are required, this role will identify and recommend any required changes.

This is a global role working with teams based in London and LA. There will be a requirement to spend time in both these locations.

Key Responsibilities

• Work with teams from across all areas of the business - TV Distribution, Digital and Channels - to design a streamlined end-to-end supply chain and associated processes
• Work with technology teams to identify the tools and systems required to effectively deliver the supply chain, and acquire, integrate with or modify them accordingly
• Continuously identify opportunities for process improvements and cost optimization in the supply chain, and advocate for the Commercial division where such processes cross into other parts of the Fremantle business
• Develop a reporting framework and associated KPIs to demonstrate the effectiveness of the end-to-end supply chain, including quality control, time measurement and cost tracking
• Collaborate with relevant teams (sales, acquisitions, rights, royalties, materials operations) to address and resolve any issues in the supply chain
• Identify and assess risks within the supply chain, and develop and implement mitigation strategies

Essential Skills

• Advanced knowledge of modern media workflows, including cloud media processing, deliveries, rights and metadata management. Includes knowledge of the vendor landscape
• Knowledge of content preparation techniques such as ad-break insertion, compliance editing and transcoding
• Ability to interpret individual and organisational needs and translate them into process maps and technical requirements
• Laser focus on our customers, ensuring our processes create the best possible sales experience
• Efficiency-minded, identifying time and cost savings where they exist within our processes
• Understanding of automation technologies and where they could be applied in our business
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive an agenda of efficiency improvement
• Strategic mindset, comfortable with prioritizing competing business requirements and communicating with senior executives across our global business
• Understanding of data collection practices and associated reporting and visualisations
• Ability to build reports in Excel and/or PowerBI
• Comfortable with matrix management across a variety of cultures and geographies

Desirable Skills

• Experience working with or within a large media organisation
• Understanding of content licensing deals, including rights acquisition and sales to linear, streaming and digital platforms
• Understanding of API-led integrations between systems
• Understanding of process mapping techniques and tools such as SAP Signavio
• Demonstrated success in implementing process improvements and cost-saving initiatives
• Experience with Microsoft Power Platform and Microsoft Dynamics 365
• Experience with, or understanding of, generative AI tools such as ChatGPT

Our benefits include: generous company pension, summer Fridays, audience tickets, hybrid working, employee assistance programme, free breakfast and lunch, access to free courses and training, local discounts, cycle to work scheme, season ticket loan, and volunteer days.

If you need any of this information in a different format or would like to suggest a different form of application, please contact careers@fremantle.com

We are part of RTL Group, a global leader across broadcast, content and digital, itself a division of the international media giant Bertelsmann.

For more information, visit www.fremantle.com, or follow us @FremantleHQ and visit our LinkedIn and Facebook pages

Company: FremantleMedia Group Ltd 

Country: United Kingdom 

State/Region: London 

City: London 

Postal Code: W1T 1AL 

Job ID: 267607