Operations Associate Director

Publicis Groupe UK; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading media company is seeking an Operations Associate Director in London to manage the transition of newly won clients. This role will involve overseeing the entire transition process, from onboarding to media strategy execution. The ideal candidate will have proven experience in media transitions and operations, strong project management skills, and the ability to work cross-functionally. Hybrid work pattern with excellent employee benefits including flexible working and wellness support.

Benefits

WORK YOUR WORLD opportunity

Reflection Days

HELP@HAND Benefits

Family Friendly Policies

Flexible Working

Great Local Discounts

Qualifications

• Proven experience in managing media transitions and operations.
• Strong understanding of media planning, buying, and digital marketing technologies.
• Excellent project management and organisational skills.
• Ability to work cross-functional and manage multiple stakeholders.
• Proficiency in financial processes, contracts, and remuneration structures.
• Strong communication and negotiation skills.
• Experience in talent management, training, and onboarding.

Responsibilities

• Assemble core team, set up shared resources, schedule client kick-off.
• Work with legal and client team to finalise AOR, MSA, SOW, and KPIs.
• Establish billing, payment, and authorisation processes.
• Work with Talent Acquisition to track hiring and onboarding.
• Manage handovers, review documentation, transition campaigns.
• Align on media workflow practices and reporting.
• Audit tech stack and define data needs.
• Ensure platform access and align on billing profiles.
• Define workflows and conduct training programs.
• Work closely with operations team to ensure smooth processes.

Skills

Media transitions and operations

Media planning and buying

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Financial processes and contracts

Communication and negotiation

Talent management and onboarding

Job description

Overview

As the Operations Associate Director you will be responsible for managing the end-to-end transition of newly won clients to Publicis Media. This role involves working closely with the appointed Client team and practice leads ie Legal, Finance, HR to oversee all aspects of the transition process, including onboarding from the incumbent, commercial agreements, financial setup, media strategy, planning, talent acquisition and operational frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Transition Management - Assemble core team, set up shared resources, schedule client kick-off and track transition performance.
• Commercial & Legal - Work with legal and client team to finalise AOR, MSA, SOW, and remuneration KPIs.
• Financial Setup - Establish billing, payment, and authorisation processes, define currency agreements, and provide a finance playbook.
• Talent Management - Work with Talent Acquisition to ensure team structure, DEI goals, track hiring, and onboarding occur and are reported on in a timely manner.
• Incumbent Transition - Manage handovers, review documentation, transition campaigns, and confirm project ownership timelines.
• Media Strategy & Planning - Align on workflow practices such as Prisma first, templates, approvals etc
• Digital & Data Integration - Work with Investment teams to audit tech stack, define data needs, set up ad tech access, and implement reporting frameworks.
• Programmatic & Paid Media Execution - Ensure platform access and align on billing profiles making sure set up is accurate
• Operations & Training - Define workflows, establish knowledge-sharing, confirm system access, and execute training programs across PO Tracker, CapSure and Meteor
• Taxonomy and Automated Reporting - Assess taxonomy dictionary, align with client, establish data governance, implement automated reporting and train team.
• Operations Team Support - Work closely with the operations team to ensure smooth processes in the first three to six months, troubleshoot workflow issues, and step in where needed.

Qualifications

To be successful in this role you will need:

• Proven experience in managing media transitions and operations
• Strong understanding of media planning, buying, and digital marketing technologies
• Excellent project management and organisational skills
• Ability to work cross-functional and manage multiple stakeholders
• Proficiency in financial processes, contracts, and remuneration structures
• Strong communication and negotiation skills
• Experience in talent management, training, and onboarding

Additional information

Spark has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees. In addition to the classics, Pension, Life Assurance, Private Medical and Income Protection Plans 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 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 EAGs (Employee Action Groups).