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.
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 broader view of the client’s overall business and agency relationship, focusing on delivering industry-leading work and fostering high-performing teams. They play a pivotal role in ensuring high-quality outputs, embedding best practices, team leadership and leading planning discussions with clients and internal teams.
Responsibilities
- Client Leadership & Relationship Management - Act as a trusted advisor to mid-to-senior level clients, leading conversations with confidence, anticipating challenges, and providing proactive, solutions-focused guidance.
- Strategic Planning Leadership - Lead the end-to-end planning process, ensuring all work is insight-led, strategically grounded, and delivers full-funnel media recommendations aligned to business objectives.
- Insight & Audience Development - Generate actionable audience and performance insights using data sources and reporting to shape planning direction and identify growth opportunities.
- Commercial & Financial Accountability - Maintain financial accuracy across accounts, support forecasting and growth plans, ensure contract compliance, and identify revenue opportunities.
- Storytelling & Communication Excellence - Translate media strategy into compelling narratives, delivering clear, confident presentations and written outputs.
- Channel & Media Expertise - Demonstrate strong cross-channel knowledge (digital and traditional), applying media theory, measurement frameworks, and performance tracking to drive outcomes.
- Quality Control & Governance - Ensure high standards of output, catching errors, maintaining compliance, and protecting revenue.
- Team Leadership & Development - Lead and inspire the immediate team, set clear direction, foster a high-performance culture, and support the growth of junior team members.
- Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement - Review and refine ways of working, champion best practices, and drive adoption of planning frameworks and tools.
Qualifications
What are we looking for?
- Proven experience leading end-to-end, full-funnel media planning.
- Strong client leadership skills, with the ability to build trusted senior relationships.
- Strategic and insight-driven thinker, confident turning data into clear planning direction.
- Excellent storytelling and presentation skills.
- Broad cross-channel media expertise (digital and traditional), including measurement and performance frameworks.
- Commercially astute, with experience managing budgets, forecasting, and compliance.
- Strong team leadership capability, driving quality, accountability, and development.
- Proactive, solutions-focused mindset with a track record of identifying growth opportunities.
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 Planswe 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).
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