Business Director - Communications Consultancy

Publicis Middle East; Dubai; On-site; AED 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Publicis Groupe, in Dubai, seeks an experienced Business Director to lead a portfolio of key client accounts and drive growth. You will own senior client relationships and oversee strategic, operational and delivery aspects across Publicis Groupe capabilities.

You will collaborate with the Business Lead and agency teams to translate client priorities into strategic and creative opportunities, while guiding multi-discipline campaigns to deliver measurable impact.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 12 years’ experience within the communications, advertising, media or marketing industry.

Responsibilities

• Build trusted relationships with senior clients and key decision-makers.
• Take ownership of client satisfaction, account performance and revenue growth.
• Understand clients’ business priorities and translate them into strategic and creative opportunities.
• Identify organic growth and new business opportunities across the client portfolio.
• Develop proposals that bring together capabilities from across Publicis Groupe.
• Establish an annual strategic roadmap that supports each client’s business and consumer journey.
• Lead senior client conversations in partnership with the Business Lead.
• Oversee end-to-end delivery of integrated brand, digital, social and data-driven campaigns.
• Translate business needs into clear strategic and creative briefs.
• Secure client alignment on the agency’s direction and execution.
• Ensure work is delivered to the highest standard, on time and within scope.
• Maintain oversight of account quality, commercial performance and operational efficiency.
• Encourage collaboration across clients, disciplines and industries to unlock partnerships and growth.
• Apply strategic, creative and analytical thinking to challenge briefs and develop innovative solutions.
• Anticipate emerging consumer, category and market trends.
• Identify opportunities to create a competitive advantage for clients.
• Promote an always-on innovation mindset across account teams and agency partners.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Management, Business Administration, Digital Technologies or a related discipline.

Job description

We are looking for an experienced Business Director to lead a portfolio of key client accounts. You will own senior client relationships, drive account growth and oversee the strategic, operational and delivery aspects of the business. Working closely with the Business Lead, senior leadership and agency teams across strategy, creative and production, you will bring together relevant capabilities from across Publicis Groupe to deliver integrated solutions and measurable business impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Build trusted relationships with senior clients and key decision-makers.
• Take ownership of client satisfaction, account performance and revenue growth.
• Understand clients’ business priorities and translate them into clear strategic and creative opportunities.
• Identify organic growth and new business opportunities across the client portfolio.
• Develop proposals that bring together capabilities from across Publicis Groupe, including media, data, technology and digital transformation.
• Establish an annual strategic roadmap that supports each client’s business and consumer journey.

Strategic & Integrated Delivery

• Lead senior client conversations in partnership with the Business Lead.
• Oversee the end-to-end delivery of integrated brand, digital, social and data-driven campaigns.
• Translate business needs into clear strategic and creative briefs.
• Secure client alignment on the agency’s strategic direction, recommendations and execution.
• Ensure work is delivered to the highest standard, on time and within the agreed scope.
• Maintain oversight of account quality, commercial performance and operational efficiency.
• Encourage collaboration across clients, disciplines and industries to unlock strategic partnerships and growth.

Innovation & Commercial Thinking

• Apply strategic, creative and analytical thinking to challenge briefs and develop innovative solutions.
• Anticipate emerging consumer, category and market trends.
• Identify opportunities to create a competitive advantage for clients.
• Promote an always-on innovation mindset across account teams and agency partners.
• Make confident decisions and navigate complex business challenges, even when information is limited.
• Lead, inspire and mentor a multidisciplinary account team.
• Set a clear vision and create accountability across the team.
• Support the career development of team members and build strong succession plans.
• Encourage collaboration, ownership and high performance.
• Manage challenges constructively and take responsibility for resolving client and internal issues.
• Use compelling storytelling to influence and inspire internal and external stakeholders.
• Champion the agency’s culture, values and Power of One approach.

Experience & Qualifications

• Minimum of 12 years’ experience within the communications, advertising, media or marketing industry.
• Proven experience leading major automotive accounts or brands is essential.
• Native Arabic fluency is essential
• Strong track record across brand, digital, social and data-driven marketing.
• Extensive experience managing senior client relationships in a leadership capacity.
• Previous responsibility for leading and developing a team of at least 6–8 people.
• Excellent understanding of the end-to-end communications ecosystem, including digital, data and technology.
• Demonstrated experience planning, managing and activating integrated, multichannel campaigns.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience driving account growth and identifying new business opportunities.
• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Management, Business Administration, Digital Technologies or a related discipline.