THE OPPORTUNITY:

As the UK's leading independent media agency, not only are we passionate about creating impactful media strategies, we’re also dedicated to making a meaningful difference to the people we employ and wider society.

Our people first, purpose driven approach is rooted in our core values, and we are on an exciting journey, fostering a growing workforce which reflects the culturally rich society we live in. We want to continue to build upon our inclusive culture to ensure our employees can bring their authentic selves to work each day.

We are therefore seeking a part time Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Lead, to fulfil a newly created position within our business, leading our efforts in this area. Reporting into the Head of HR, this is an incredible opportunity for someone who is not only passionate about strategic development of such initiatives but is keen to get hands-on with implementation of DEI Initiatives with a collaborative team.

This is a part time, hand on consultancy role, initially for 3 months with a longer-term view for ongoing partnership. Ideally 2-3 days per week, flexible hours, hybrid between home and our central London office.

Role Overview:

This role will have a clear focus on developing and delivering a strategic DEI roadmap that sets clear goals and metrics, ensuring best practice in equitable and inclusive processes across all aspects of the employee lifecycle, from recruitment and retention to training & development, embedding these principles into the organisation’s culture and ways of working.

The DEI Lead will drive integration of DEI principles into business operations by collaborating with key stakeholders, including the support of our leadership team, ESG / Sustainability Lead, HR and Communities (Employee Resource Groups).

This role is about leading initiatives and projects, inspiring and creating change, educating our team, and embedding these crucial practices into our daily operations. The DEI Lead will have the autonomy to innovate, and the support to implement meaningful strategies that not only enhance our workplace, but also our broader community and the work we do for our clients.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

DEI Projects:

• Develop our DEI metrics & goals and deliver our comprehensive roadmap to achieve them, focusing on recruitment, retention and training & development.

• Ensure all processes, policies and practices throughout the employee lifecycle are equitable and inclusive, creating an environment where all employees feel valued and have equal opportunities to join and thrive.

• Review, improve and implement best practice processes and initiatives that will enable us to achieve our DEI ambitions, ensuring these principles are reflective of our company values and embedded into our culture and adopted as ways of working.

• Enhance our recruitment practices to attract a diverse pool of talent at all levels, working closely with our HR and departmental leaders to implement bias-reducing strategies and inclusive hiring practices.

• Lead training and development programs on DEI best practices, that educate, empower and engage our team and their managers, fostering an environment where every employee can flourish and be their authentic self at work.

• Overall ownership of planning and delivering our calendar of educational events surrounding key cultural moments, though our Together We Stand open forum, with the support of our Communities (ERGs), HR and wider team.

• Develop and embed DEI within our media planning and buying practices, in collaboration with our Head of Planning and Client Leadership team, to ensure clients and teams are considering a broad demographic and further improving the effectiveness of campaigns.

Reporting & Communication:

• Measure, report, demonstrate impact and communicate the progress of our DEI efforts regularly, leveraging data to inform decision-making, up to Board level.

• Work with the HR and Marketing teams to a) internally, develop and share communications around events and activity, create resources, content and workshops, and b) communicate Medialab’s position externally to our client partners and the wider industry.

• Engage with all levels of the organisation to embed DEI into our day-to-day activities, ensuring these principles are at the heart of what we do.

• Develop relationships with industry bodies and 3rd party specialists to support and inform our activity.

• Facilitate and support the development of our DEI Communities (ERGs), providing them with the resources and platform to thrive and contribute to Medialab’s inclusive culture.

• Stay abreast of relevant legislation, industry trends and developments to ensure we remain proactive and compliant.

Required Skills & Experience:

• Demonstrated leadership in DEI, with a track record of developing and implementing successful programs that create real change.

• Proven track record of working withing the DEI space, with a clear understanding of how to create and embed best practice and create a culture of equity and belonging.

• Solid experience in leading DEI projects, demonstrating examples of implementation and management of similar initiatives in previous roles.

• Preferably experience working within a marketing, media or tech industry setting, but not essential.

• Strategic thinker with analytical capabilities to turn insights into action.

• Exceptional project management and leadership skills, with the ability to translate strategic vision into actionable plans and tangible outcomes.

• Hands on and action orientated, keen to get stuck into the day to day and implementation of projects, bringing people along with you.

• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to inspire, engage and collaborate effectively with a diverse range of senior stakeholders up to board level, internal teams, suppliers, and external stakeholders.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM US:

Working at Medialab comes with lots of perks including all the usual things you would expect, such as a competitive salary package, pension, season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, weekly social events and big summer / end of year parties.

On top of that, we offer extra incentives which make life at Medialab even more rewarding:

• 25 days holiday, (including office closure between Christmas and New Year)
• Birthday day off
• Mental Health Awareness Day off
• Holiday buying scheme
• Hybrid working between office and home.
• Flexi-hours
• Work abroad scheme.
• Private Medical Insurance
• Health Cash Plan
• Life Assurance
• Discounted Gym Membership
• Retail discounts
• Quarterly reviews to enhance career progression.
• Continuous professional development and training - CPD Platinum accreditation by the IPA
• Internal mentoring programme
• Membership to Bloom and bespoke mentorship for female talent
• A long weekend/week away at Medialab’s expense for long service
• Charity volunteering days fully paid.
• Free access to Health and Wellbeing Apps.
• Free professional counselling. Access to Mental Health Allies (1 in 15 employees are trained in Mental Health First Aid).
• Enhanced parental leave pay for new parents

WHO WE ARE:

Medialab is the UK’s leading independent media agency, and one of the fastest growing. We’re a media agency that’s made differently. Purpose-led, data-driven, founder-run and proudly independent.

Our independence means we can focus 100% on doing the right thing to secure success for our clients and our brilliant people. We work with a wide variety of clients including SunLife, Standard Life, Laithwaites Wine, EMMA, Save the Children, Mind, Guide Dogs, Alzheimer’s Society, RNLI and Clearscore.

We’re a diverse team of 150 people (and growing), based near Oxford Circus. Our people-first, purpose-driven culture has been key to our success. We commit to creating a more sustainable future through our partnership with FuturePlus, and foster a diverse and inclusive culture, though a number of DEI Communities to drive real change. We offer a supportive environment for working parents, carers, those who are (peri)menopausal and anyone else who needs it, and flexible working opportunities to all, from day one.

Our entrepreneurial spirit means success is rewarded and there are no limits to what you can achieve, which our employees agree with, by supporting our place in Campaign’s ‘Best Places to work’ for 5 years in a row, and we recently won Silver in Campaign’s Agency of the Year Awards.