DE&I Strategy Director

Starcom; Toronto; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading media agency in Toronto seeks a DE&I Strategy Director to guide multicultural planning and activation. This role involves developing inclusive media strategies, collaborating with teams, and ensuring ethical use of audience data. Ideal candidates are visionary strategists with strong digital expertise and a passion for diversity and inclusion.

Qualifications

• 8–10+ years of experience in communications or brand strategy.
• Strong expertise in digital platforms and data-driven marketing.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead inclusive media strategies for diverse audiences.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to embed DE&I insights into planning.

Skills

Multicultural Planning

Digital Strategy

Collaboration

Communication

Job description

Company description

Starcom is a part of Publicis Media within Publicis Groupe, one of the world’s leading communications groups. Our team spans across our Windsor, Toronto and Montreal offices. We truly love the world of Media and Advertising. We see the planning and buying process as art. However, it is an art that is always best when backed by the science of empirical data.

One of our core tenants of media planning and buying is thathuman experiences drive impact through tangible results. Not only do we seek to deeply understand our clients’ business and what truly motivates consumers, but we seek to design experiences that drive meaningful consumer actions our clients care about –Move People, Move Business.

You will be joining a well recognised agency with credentials:

• Great Places to Work certified two years in a row
• Only communications company to be ranked in LinkedIn’s Top 25 Great Places to Work
• 2022 Media Agency of the Year
• 2023 Media Agency of the Year finalist

As part of Publicis Media Canada we are proud to be Great Places to Work certified and recognized with Best Workplaces for Today’s Youth. We provide continuing opportunities for career growth by fostering a diverse work environment that respects and supports individual contributions and opinions.

Overview

As a DE&I Strategy Director, you will own the DE&I practice and guide 360 Multicultural planning and activation.

You are a visionary strategist, entrepreneurial business builder, and collaborative leader who can light up a room, embedding DE&I into the heart of our strategic work and surfacing Multicultural Campaigns in the fabric of culture. Reporting to the Vice President of Strategy, you’ll work alongside and guide two DE&I Media Planners

You will be responsible for developing and selling through Starcom and Publicis Media solutions to our roster of clients.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead inclusive, culturally attuned media strategies that authentically connect with diverse audiences
• Identify emerging multicultural media partners, data sources, and platforms to expand campaign effectiveness
• Collaborate cross-functionally to embed DE&I insights into broader strategic planning and creative ideation
• Facilitate strategic workshops and discussions that bring cultural intelligence and stakeholder alignment to the forefront
• Present media recommendations to clients with clarity and impact, guiding them through the strategic rationale
• Act as a strategic partner to internal teams, offering guidance on inclusive practices and multicultural planning approaches
• Contribute to agency-wide DE&I education by sharing tools, frameworks, and best practices that elevate cultural competency
• Ensure that all media strategies prioritize ethical use of audience data and privacy compliance

Qualifications

• An expert in the multicultural planning and strategy space — already has expertise and knowledge of the multicultural specific domains of publisher ecosystem, audience data solutions, and influencer
• A builder and doer — entrepreneurial, proactive, and eager to figure things out. You are eager to discover new vendors and partners.
• A connector — skilled at weaving strategy, culture, data, and creativity into powerful, actionable plans.
• A collaborative leader — passionate about working with and elevating teams, even when not managing them directly.
• A cultural navigator — deeply aware of the nuances across diverse communities.
• A digital strategist — experienced with audience segmentation, targeting, programmatic platforms, and social ecosystems. Your foundations in digital are strong.
• A dynamic facilitator — experienced in designing and running workshops that align diverse groups and drive action.
• A champion of privacy and ethics — understands data privacy, audience signals, and the importance of building trust.
• A trainer — ability to train and elevate Starcom more broadly on the subject-matter-expertise of DE&I, diverse histories with cultural depth, and Multicultural planning.
• A communicator - Oral & written communications directly with clients and the selling through of media plans through presentation.

What you bring:

• 8–10+ years of experience in communications or brand strategy, with DE&I, media, or cultural marketing exposure.
• Strong expertise in digital platforms, audience segmentation, and data-driven marketing.
• Experience designing and facilitating workshops with clients and stakeholders with comfort driving the conversation.
• Experience working with diverse audiences and multicultural marketing.
• Proven success collaborating with cross-functional teams.
• Excellent client-facing, presentation, and facilitation skills.
• Comfort working in a fast-moving, evolving environment — you thrive in the unknown.

Additional information

Starcom is an equal opportunity employer with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. We create and nurture a vibrant work environment that celebrates, values and leverages all aspects of diversity and inclusiveness, attracts world-class talent and serves as the industry benchmark for best practices.We encourage applications from all qualified individuals and will provide appropriate accommodation for candidates with disabilities or accessibility needs throughout the recruitment process, upon request. Please contact our recruiter for any questions, accommodations or specific requests.We thankall candidates for their interest in Starcom however, only those candidatesselected for an interview will be contacted