Associate Director, Client Operations

Publicis Collective; Birmingham, Northern (MI, KY); Hybrid; USD 97,000 - 133,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental

Vision

401k

Paid time off

Job summary

Publicis Collective is seeking an Associate Director to lead the Client Operations team on a major account. You will drive budgets and compliance processes, oversee billing, accruals, data QA, and forecasting, and guide a team of Supervisors and Senior Associates in a fast-paced environment.

You will partner with Analytics, Strategy, and Investment to deliver precise financials and ensure client satisfaction while upholding agency policies and governance.

Qualifications

• 5+ years experience in Financials, project management, and/or Budgets & Compliance.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially PowerPoint and Excel (filters, pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, charts).
• Experience with MediaTools, Prisma, and MediaOcean.
• Strong quantitative/analytical skills and ability to multi-task in a fast-paced agency environment.

Responsibilities

• Work with Director to define team roles and priorities across projects.
• Manage workload of Supervisors and Senior Associates to meet timelines and billing procedures.
• Validate work quality and guide career development for team members.
• Maintain relationships with agency contacts, system users, and clients.
• Lead monthly billing, financial reporting, and audit/compliance processes.
• Collaborate with Analytics, Strategy and Investment on client requests.
• Act as primary internal point of contact for Budgets & Compliance questions.

Skills

Financials

Project management

Budgets & Compliance

Microsoft Office

Analytical thinking

Tools

MediaTools

MediaOcean

Prisma

Excel (Pivot, VLOOKUP)

Job description

Company description

As the traditional marketing funnel collapses and fragmentation increases, clients rely on Publicis Collective to connect media, data, technology, and teams by what matters most - business outcomes. We’re a full-service media agency where nearly half our experts focus on data, research, analytics, technology, or strategy. At Publicis Collective, 100% of our 2,200 global practitioners can access advanced insights and scale media with precision through our proprietary OS, powering marketing that drives measurable business performance and transformation.

Overview

At Publicis Collective, we know tomorrow’s challenges won’t be solved by today’s solutions. It’s why we support our teams with the resources and tools they need to continue redefining the future of marketing. It’s also why clients rely on us to lead the way in connecting media, data, technology, and teams by what matters most - business outcomes.

Publicis Collective’s consultative practitioners are catalysts for business growth and innovation, we’re more than media experts. We are an incubator for high-performing talent and a launchpad for ideas that push the boundaries of what’s possible.

As part of the global Publicis Media network, we’re backed by the power, scale, and benefits of Publicis Groupe, one of the largest and most celebrated marketing and communications platforms on the planet.

How are we different? There are three core values at the center of our approach that help us stay ahead - curious, open, and driven.

Curious -A deep curiosity compels us to go beyond the brief to deliver exceptional outcomes.

Open -We value diverse perspectives and new ways of working.

Driven -We are ambitious, rigorous,self-disciplined, and resilient in our pursuit of excellence.

If you're a collaborative and enterprising practitioner with a passion for media and a desire to make a real impact, we want to hear from you.

Let's shape the future together.

The Client Operations departmentmanages client-specific operational tasks across practice area within the agency, working closely with Strategy, Investment, HR, Finance, Invoice Reconciliation, and Agency Administration & Compliance. We centralize and standardize fundamental work required across all pieces of business, as well as bring tactical and detail-oriented work streams together to find smarter, faster ways of working. We create a space for those whose strengths include being highly organized problem-solvers. We help differentiate Collective from our competitors and provide a critical foundation for the agency.

The Associate Director, Client Operations will be part of a growing Client Operations team on a well-known client. This position has tremendous learning potential and provides the opportunity to work on a high-energy, highly visible account.

The Associate Director is responsible for training and developing individuals on the necessary media systems and relative processes within Budgets & Compliance to drive company and client goals. This includes the ability to work on high profile client business while successfully owning tasks related to forecasting, accruing, data QAs and overseeing the processing of client billing. They are masters in the use of current media systems and have complete understanding of overall processes, policies, and procedures related to Budgets & Compliance. This individual has experience and proven success in this area to qualify for this position.

Responsibilities

• Work with Director on team roles and responsibilities, prioritizing key projects across the team, and with special requests or projects as needed
• Manage Supervisor and Sr. Associate’s workload; ensuring all tasks are completed within required timelines and client-specific billing procedures work within system expectations to meet client needs
• Confirm accuracy of work completed by Supervisor/ Sr. Associates
• Lead Supervisor and Sr. Associate’s career development via teaching tasks and coaching skills
• Maintain positive relationships with agency contacts, system contacts, and clients
• Lead and steward key processes such as monthly billing and financials reporting, which involve multiple agency teams
• Periodically check emails to respond to urgent issues after close of business
• Create, enforce, and refine processes related to billing verification, financially reporting, and audit compliance
• Lead team responsible delivering various financial documents such as authorizations, billing & budget files, and ordered vs approved reporting
• Assist with global reporting, if needed by client
• Attend Agency system trainings/meetings (i.e. MediaOcean, MediaTools, etc.)
• Participate in system enhancement testing and training
• Collaborate with Analytics, Strategy and Investment peers on account-specific requests
• Handle high-profile or sensitive client requests
• Act as the point of contact for the internal brand teams for all Budgets & Compliance related questions to ensure consistency and accuracy across the brands

Qualifications

• 5+ years previous experience in Financials, project management, and/or Budgets & Compliance
• Proficiency in making progress/completing work, even with overlapping deadlines
• Strong Microsoft Office suite skills, particularly PPT and Excel (where filtering, pivoting, vlookups, and charts/graphs building are key)
• Experienced in MediaTools, Prisma, and MediaOcean
• Quantitative and analytical skills, combined with openness to a role that requires a mix of art and science.
• Ability to work independently, troubleshoot and determine efficient next steps to improve processes across all teams
• Eager to be a leader when working with other agency teams
• Experience developing and presenting your thoughts and ideas
• Flexible and able to adapt to change in a fast-paced and constantly changing environment
• Someone who thrives on a team and can also meet tight deadlines on independent assignments
• A team motivator who inspires a competent and engaged team, ensuring a culture of success
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and proficient in time management
• A proactive critical thinker with the ability to juggle multiple priorities, problem solve, and optimize processes to improve efficiencies
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, capable of fostering collaboration across teams
• Driven by a passion for learning, innovation, and delivering excellence in client service

Additional information

Our Publicis Groupe motto “Viva La Différence” means we’re better together, and we believe that our differences make us stronger. It means we honor and celebrate all identities, across all facets of intersectionality, and it underpins all that we do as an organization. We are focused on fostering belonging and creating equitable & inclusive experiences for all talent.

Publicis Groupe provides robust and inclusive benefit programs and policies to support the evolving and diverse needs of our talent and enable every person to grow and thrive. Our benefits package includes medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401K, as well as parental and family care leave, family forming assistance, tuition reimbursement, and flexible time off.

If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact [e-mail].

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Compensation Range: USD $97,375.00 - USD $133,300.00/Annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 11/2/2026.