Account Director

Publicis Groupe; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - GBP 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A global media and communications agency is seeking an experienced Account Director to lead client operations in the Greater London area. This role involves managing client relationships, ensuring high standards in media planning, and driving performance strategies. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in translating business objectives into effective media strategies and managing large budgets. Benefits include flexible working options, wellbeing days, and family-friendly policies.

Benefits

Pension

Private Medical

Life Assurance

Income Protection Plans

Reflection Days

Family Friendly Policies

Flexible Working

Birthday Day Off

Qualifications

• Significant experience in translating business objectives into media strategies.
• Strong focus on driving measurable commercial outcomes.
• Experience managing large budgets and complex performance frameworks.
• Ability to use data to optimize performance continuously.

Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day operations of client accounts.
• Ensure high standards in media planning and strategic execution.
• Identify opportunities to enhance client performance.
• Guide and develop junior team members.

Skills

Media planning

Client management

Strategic execution

Data analysis

Biddable media

Budget management

Job description

With a history that dates back over 80 years, Starcom is a global communications planning and media leader. We are an agency still grounded in our founding principle that people are at the centre of all we do. Each day, we apply this belief to harness the transformative power of data and technology to inspire and move people and business forward. With more than 7,000 employees in over 100 offices around the world, we are the flagship Publicis Media agency that uses our ‘Power of One’ business model, with teams that span multiple disciplines across clients such as Aldi, P&G, Primark, Samsung, Stellantis, and Visa.

We place a huge focus on our People, and have driven flagship D&I and L&D programmes within Publicis Media; our goal is to help every individual reach their fullest potential, and we encourage everyone to make “Brave Plays” in how they approach their work and their own career development. As a result, we have an exceptionally energised and committed talent base, all of us proud of our welcoming and supportive culture, as evidenced by our recognition as one of Campaign’s Best Places to Work for five years in a row, Media Week's Agency of the Year 2025 and one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2025.

Overview

What will you be doing?

The Account Director (AD) is responsible for leading the day-to-day operations of client accounts, ensuring high standards are achieved in media planning, client management, and strategic execution. ADs move beyond campaign-level thinking to take a strategic view of the client’s overall business and agency relationship.

Responsibilities

• Lead immediate teams and provide clear direction to specialists and clients. Confidently lead client meetings and ensure a structured approach
• Lead the end-to-end planning process, ensuring a strong strategic foundation for all work
• Identify opportunities to evolve the client’s performance and mid-funnel strands
• Identify innovation and interesting uses of data and tech to advance the client’s digital maturity
• Understand and implement Starcom’s Movement Planning and Connected ID solutions bringing this into core media responses
• Partner closely with channel specialists, strategy, and analytics teams to deliver cohesive, high-impact plans
• Guide and develop junior team members, setting high standards and fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture

Qualifications

In order to be successful in this role, you’ll have significant experience in:

• Translating business and sales objectives into clear performance media strategies, budgets and channel roles
• Driving measurable commercial outcomes through biddable media, with a strong focus on growth, efficiency and ROI
• Managing large budgets and complex performance frameworks with confidence and accountability
• Using data, testing and learning to continuously optimise performance and identify growth opportunities
• Partnering with analytics and activation teams to ensure robust measurement, reporting and insight
• Leading senior client relationships, acting as a trusted advisor and challenging briefs when needed

Additional information

Starcom has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees. In addition to the classics, Pension, Life Assurance, Private Medical and Income Protection Plans we also offer:

• WORK YOUR WORLD opportunity to work anywhere in the world, where there is a Publicis office, for up to 6 weeks a year
• REFLECTION DAYS—Two additional days of paid leave to step away from your usual day-to-day work and create time to focus on your well‑being and self‑care
• HELP@HAND BENEFITS 24/7 helpline to support you on a personal and professional level. Access to remote GPs, mental health support and CBT. Wellbeing content and lifestyle coaching
• FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES We provide 26 weeks of full pay for the following family milestones: Maternity, Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental Leave
• FLEXIBLE WORKING, BANK HOLIDAY SWAP & BIRTHDAY DAY OFF You are entitled to an additional day off for your birthday, from your first day of employment
• GREAT LOCAL DISCOUNTS This includes membership discounts with Soho Friends, local restaurants and retailers in Westfield White City and Television Centre

Full details of our benefits will be shared when you join us!

Publicis Groupe operates a hybrid working pattern with full time employees being office-based three days during the working week.

We are supportive of all candidates and are committed to providing a fair assessment process. If you have any circumstances (such as neurodiversity, physical or mental impairments or a medical condition) that may affect your assessment, please inform your Talent Acquisition Partner. We will discuss possible adjustments to ensure fairness. Rest assured, disclosing this information will not impact your treatment in our process.

Please make sure you check out the Publicis Career Page which showcases our Inclusive Benefits and our EAG’s (Employee Action Groups).