Programme jobs in United Kingdom

Company 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.

The Programme Manager is central to ensuring the smooth operation, governance and delivery of a complex integrated programme spanning multiple European markets.

Working closely with the Business Director and capability leads, you will establish and embed robust programme management standards, oversee cross-functional delivery, and proactively identify and resolve operational challenges.

While a background in media planning or activation is not essential, you must be comfortable navigating integrated marketing ecosystems and quickly understanding how different capabilities interconnect.

This is a role with real accountability and influence — requiring confidence, structure and a strong delivery mindset.

• Own and lead programme-level governance, including milestone planning, status reporting, and risk & dependency tracking
• Develop and maintain integrated project roadmaps across regional and market-level activity
• Manage RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies), proactively resolving or escalating where required
• Co-host decision-making workshops and steering sessions to drive alignment and pace

• Establish, standardise and continuously improve operating processes, SOPs and templates
• Partner with capability leads to build scalable, repeatable ways of working
• Lead retrospectives and optimisation initiatives to enhance efficiency, quality and speed

• Act as the connective tissue between Media, Measurement, Social & Influencer, Shopper Marketing, and Data & Tech teams
• Ensure clear handoffs, aligned timelines and shared accountability across workstreams
• Translate strategic priorities into clear operational plans with defined owners and delivery milestones

• Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders and agency leadership
• Facilitate working sessions, status meetings and steering committees
• Prepare and present clear, concise programme updates and recommendations

• Own and optimise project and workflow management tools (e.g. Monday.com, Asana, Smartsheet, Jira, MS Project)
• Develop transparent delivery reporting covering milestones, risks and SLA performance
• Support adoption of new tools, dashboards and operational frameworks

Qualifications

• Good experience in programme or project management within an integrated marketing, media, digital or transformation environment
• Proven success managing complex, multi-market, multi-stakeholder projects
• Strong understanding of project governance frameworks and operational best practice
• High proficiency with project management tools (Monday.com, Asana, Smartsheet, Jira, Miro, etc.)
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, including experience working with senior leaders
• Highly organised, proactive and confident managing competing priorities
• Comfortable facilitating workshops and operating in ambiguity
• Experience within a global, highly matrixed organisation
• Demonstrated success delivering high-value projects (€1m+)
• Strong Excel and PowerPoint skills

• Experience working within production or integrated marketing ecosystems
• Familiarity with marketing measurement approaches (MMM, experimentation, learning agendas)
• Experience supporting operating model or transformation initiatives
• Formal project or programme management qualification (PRINCE2, PMP, Agile or similar)

Additional information

Starcom has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees. In addition to the classics, Pension, Life Assurance, Private Medical and IncomeProtectionPlans 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 BENEFITS24/7 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 POLICIESWe 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 OFFYou are entitled to an additional day off for your birthday, from your first day of employment.
• GREAT LOCAL DISCOUNTSThis 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 EAGs (Employee Action Groups).