Sinking Ship Seeks Captain, Promises Hazard Pay In High Six Figures

So what if the unemployment rate is up? Two job-listing-related posts in one morning = happy times are here again, baby! Valleywag has unearthed a Sony BMG-posted job listing for an executive vice president of its digital ventures, a job that comes with a $700,000 annual paycheck. (And free CDs! Don’t forget the free CDs.) But after eight months of searching, the company still hasn’t found an appropriate candidate. What type of people are they looking for, do you ask?

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Prospective candidates will be seasoned “business development” oriented executive who does not necessarily come from the music business, but could. He/She will more likely be an executive from the more broad-based entertainment and media field, but with an appreciation for the unique characteristics of the music industry. The successful candidate should be a strong negotiator with an acute sense of strategy and strong business acumen. He/she should be a strong “closer” in terms of getting deals done and take a pragmatic approach of what can be done.

Specifically candidates will have the following:

* Outstanding negotiation skills; * Ability to develop and continually refine a vision and to identify strategies, tactics, and the resources required to achieve that vision; * Strong leadership and management skills which include a hands-on style and the ability to build alliances; * Solid experience in business and relationship development on a global basis; the ability to forge new relationships in the broad-based entertainment and media sector; * Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to enhance the organization’s culture; * Highly capable of independently handling complex negotiation situations. Strong “closer” in terms of getting deals done and take a pragmatic approach of what can be done. * Demonstrated “change management” experience.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPETENCIES Prospective candidates will be passionate, business development oriented executives who can articulate both the vision and market position in a clear and compelling way. Strong leadership characteristics are a must. He/She needs to be able to quickly grasp financial models and capable of rapidly and thoughtfully drawing conclusions about the viability of different alternative business models. With excellent judgment of people and the strategic opportunities, the candidate will have built and crafted an organization to achieve significant revenue goals while focusing on the efficient and effective operation of the business. The ideal candidate must be a focused, proactive and collaborative leader, who can refine and extend the Company’s vision.

* Be a strong contributor to the overall strategy in further developing the music business model. * Be mindful of the longer implications of changing the company’s business models but also strongly focused on optimizing the short term. * Have a keen eye to find money on opportunities at hand. * Be an intelligent, decisive, quick, forward-thinking, strategic and tactical executive; bring exceptional business acumen, common sense, wisdom and insight; * Have the proven ability to work across an organization at all levels with technical, creative and executive team members; have excellent diplomatic and political skills to build collaborative working relationships across a wide array of constituents. * Have strong interpersonal skills, good judge of character and great at building lasting and productive relationships. * Be a strong motivator for the business development team and have a high energy level to drive things forward. * Be realistic and not over-promise, yet drive, communicate and believe in a bigger vision. Most importantly, the successful candidate will have an unquestioned level of personal and professional integrity, as well as an intuitive understanding of and unbridled enthusiasm for the challenges and rewards arising from this unique opportunity.

i think I saw that same “skill set” in an ad for a temp agency a few years back. (“Strong verbal and written communication skills?” Does that even need to be said at this point?)I guess finding a job does get a lot easier once you get up to executive-restroom levels!

Also of note: “Experience in the professional culture of a major consulting firm or investment bank would be a plus though again is not required.” Which I think means that they should take out the word “necessarily” from that first sentence about candidates’ past experience not really needing to be from the music side of things.

$700K salary can’t get Sony BMG a digital exec [Valleywag]