Digital Activation Director (Search/Social/Programmatic)

Starcom Australia; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wholeself program

Flexible office environment

Access to Marcel AI Platform

Learning & Development programs

Career Conversations program

Diversity & Inclusion committees

Leave benefits including Birthday and

6 weeks remote_work

Job summary

Starcom Australia, part of Publicis Groupe, is seeking an Activation Director to lead the activation craft across client engagements, ensuring ROI and outcomes from media investment through quality execution, governance and delivery.

You will guide senior clients, develop market-leading activation strategies, and coach the activation team to deliver performance, ethics and innovation across Search, Social and Programmatic.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in activation disciplines, including Search & Social and/or Programmatic.
• Strong understanding of the Australian media landscape and how market dynamics influence activation outcomes.
• Ability to translate performance data and market trends into actionable activation strategy and client recommendations.
• Proven ability to lead, inspire and develop high performing teams through coaching, training, growth planning and career conversations.
• Strong stakeholder influence and ability to manage upwards and across leadership teams.
• Commercial and financial acumen including forecasting, invoicing accuracy, governance, audit requirements and KPI delivery.
• High competence in operational workflow oversight, quality control and process improvement across activation delivery.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills to articulate complex strategies and insights to clients, partners and internal stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior thought leadership and activation expertise, guiding clients through new opportunities in the evolving media landscape.
• Develop and deliver formal presentations on market landscape trends, insights and activation innovations.
• Build exceptionally strong relationships with senior clients and establish effective operating rhythms and ways of working.
• Act as a primary escalation point for client and media related issues, ensuring timely resolution while maintaining strong relationships
• Identify opportunities to leverage broader agency capabilities to solve client challenges and deepen partnership
• Lead and inspire the activation team, setting standards for delivery excellence, operational discipline and craft reputation across the agency.
• Manage, coach and nurture the Activation team, supporting skill development, accountability and career growth.
• Develop best in class playbooks, operating standards, and market-leading first-party tools that improve activation quality and efficiency.
• Provide market overview summaries and bring industry-leading thinking into activation recommendations and operational practices.
• Lead strategic initiatives that refine benchmarking processes using internal and external tools to maximise client outcomes.
• Identify and integrate new activation capabilities and products to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
• Be accountable for delivery of client contractual and commercial KPIs, including audit requirements and documented learnings/recommendations.
• Lead (or oversee) negotiation frameworks, investment strategies and annual media deal inputs where relevant to activation outcomes and value delivery.
• Oversee the process for media audit reporting and contract KPI tracking, maintaining strong stakeholder relationships with auditors/procurement as required.
• Lead monthly forecasting alignment with client leadership to ensure delivery against commitments and commercial performance.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with media vendors/platform partners and ensure clear briefing/feedback practices

Skills

Activation expertise

Media activation

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Forecasting

Client relationships

Job description

As part of Publicis Groupe, we unleash the power of creativity, data, and media to deliver personalized experiences at scale. We have one of the most robust data sets in the industry and world-class marketplace connections and buying scale. You can’t escape it.

Our moment is as complex as it’s ever been. An era of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it that’s always whizzing, scrolling, streaming by. And it’s not slowing down.

Yet instead of staying connected — moving people with real human insight — marketers feel even more disconnected. Frantically optimizing with only the next few minutes in mind. Trying to solve this ever-evolving puzzle with a short-term focus.

Instead of pioneering an ever-expanding universe . .

. . And all the creative solutions that await us.

At Starcom, it’s never scared us when the kaleidoscope of marketing added another shiny mirror. We’ve seen this as an opportunity since Leo Burnett first reached his hands to the stars. To move the brands we support every day by truly knowing the real people who support them. Responsibly unlocking possibilities across new channels, new technologies, new data opportunities, and beyond.

It’s our opportunity to pioneer the next new world for your business. And to prove that media . . is always the message. We know the next ten years will look a lot different. So will the ten after that. That’s where our expertise comes in to explore and decipher it all alongside you. Our people help you navigate what’s next, moving your business forward to the future by moving your customers forward today.

These days it’s no longer what you shout from the mountaintops. It takes true insight to move people at the human level — in a powerful, lasting way.

Because how you move people moves your business for good

About the role:

The Activation Director leads the activation craft for the agency and client teams, ensuring the best possible ROI and outcomes from clients’ media investment through high quality execution, optimisation, governance and commercial delivery. This role holds end to end accountability for workflow, quality control, and delivery excellence across activation disciplines (including Search & Social and Programmatic), ensuring campaigns meet or exceed agreed benchmarks/KPIs and contractual obligations. The Activation Director partners closely with agency leadership, planning disciplines and product partners (e.g., PMX) to deliver leading solutions, provide thought leadership, and drive innovation, efficiency and capability uplift across the agency.

Your scope will include:

• Provide senior thought leadership and activation expertise, guiding clients through new opportunities in the evolving media landscape.
• Develop and deliver formal presentations on market landscape trends, insights and activation innovations.
• Build exceptionally strong relationships with senior clients and establish effective operating rhythms and ways of working.
• Act as a primary escalation point for client and media related issues, ensuring timely resolution while maintaining strong relationships
• Identify opportunities to leverage broader agency capabilities (e.g., tech/analytics/experience) to solve client challenges and deepen partnership
• Lead and inspire the activation team, setting standards for delivery excellence, operational discipline and craft reputation across the agency.
• Manage, coach and nurture the Activation team, supporting skill development, accountability and career growth.
• Develop best in class playbooks, operating standards, and market-leading first-party tools that improve activation quality and efficiency.
• Provide market overview summaries and bring industry-leading thinking into activation recommendations and operational practices.
• Lead strategic initiatives that refine benchmarking processes (rate/value and performance) using internal and external tools to maximise client outcomes.
• Identify and integrate new activation capabilities and products (including Internal Propriety product integration where relevant) to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
• Be accountable for delivery of client contractual and commercial KPIs, including audit requirements and documented learnings/recommendations.
• Lead (or oversee) negotiation frameworks, investment strategies and annual media deal inputs where relevant to activation outcomes and value delivery.
• Oversee the process for media audit reporting and contract KPI tracking, maintaining strong stakeholder relationships with auditors/procurement as required.
• Lead monthly forecasting alignment with client leadership (e.g., CSD) to ensure delivery against commitments and commercial performance.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with media vendors/platform partners and ensure clear briefing/feedback practices

What you’ll bring:

Deep expertise in activation disciplines, including Search & Social and/or Programmatic trading & background in Activation

Strong understanding of the Australian media landscape and how market dynamics influence activation outcomes

Ability to translate performance data and market trends into actionable activation strategy and client recommendations.

Proven ability to lead, inspire and develop high performing teams through coaching, training, growth planning and career conversations.

Strong stakeholder influence and ability to manage upwards and across leadership teams.

Commercial and financial acumen including forecasting, invoicing accuracy, governance, audit requirements and KPI delivery.

High competence in operational workflow oversight, quality control and process improvement across activation delivery.

Exceptional communication and presentation skills to articulate complex strategies and insights to clients, partners and internal stakeholders.

Strong relationship management across clients, media/platform partners and internal teams, including senior external stakeholder

#LI-DS1

Additional Information

Publicis Groupe benefits: Be a part of the Publicis Groupe family, recent winner of the Employer of Choice Awards and one of the world's most progressive and dynamic modern communications businesses. You can learn more about us at www.publicisgroupeanz.com.

Enjoy all the perks that come with our network offering:

• A comprehensive Wholeself program supporting physical, mindful, and financial wellbeing.
• A creative, lively, and rewarding office environment where people love working with each other, supported by our Publicis Liberté flexibility approach — "working your way with us."
• Access to our Global AI Platform Marcel, connecting Publicis Groupe employees with opportunities for career mobility and collaboration across our global network.
• Extensive Learning & Development opportunities including more than 15,000 learning programs via our online learning platform, Marcel Classes.
• A culture of open feedback and support to reach your goals through our Career Conversations program.
• A committed Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion strategy driven through our Viva Women, Égalité, enABLE, EmbRACE, and Écologique committees.
• Leave benefits including Birthday Leave, Flexible Public Holidays, and an additional 5 days of leave after 2 years of service.
• Work Your World program enabling employees the flexibility to work from anywhere in the world for up to 6 weeks per year.
• Parental leave policy with up to 18 weeks based on tenure, paid primary carer leave, secondary carer swap, and Cub Care leave.
• Access to counsellors, psychologists, and professionals through Sonder, an all‑one digital wellbeing technology platform designed to support psychological, medical & safety needs.
• A workplace that stands together to provide a more open, supportive, and recovery‑forward culture for all employees with life‑threatening illnesses. Read more about our Working With Cancer Pledge: https://workingwithcancerpledge.com/
• Proud partners of Diversity Council Australia, Pride in Diversity, Family Friendly Workplaces, Supply Nation, and the Australian Disability Network.

If you don't tick every box in this ad, please don't rule yourself out. Research suggests that women and other people in underrepresented groups tend to only apply if they meet every requirement. We focus on hiring people who share our values of inclusion, collaboration, adaptability, fearlessness, and integrity rather than ticking boxes — so if this role resonates with you, please apply.

Diversity. Inclusion. Equity. More than just words; these are part of our DNA. At Publicis Groupe, we are committed to the inclusion and recognition of all people regardless of race, age, culture, ability, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, and religious affiliation. We believe that to deliver the best solutions to our clients, our people need to reflect the diverse communities in which our clients operate. We value diversity and the skills, knowledge, and experience that difference brings to our culture and solutions.

Uniqueness is powerful; without it, we wouldn't be where we are today. So be you — we like it that way.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for people with disability or those that require additional support throughout the application process. If you need any assistance or adjustments, please contact us via recruitmentpublicisgroupe.com; your personal information will be kept confidential.