Director, Agency Operations & Technology

Publicis Groupe Holdings B.V; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 149,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

Publicis Groupe seeks a senior operations and technology leader to drive how work is done on a major account. You will guide project management, set the tech and operations roadmap, and run the intake function turning requests into prioritized, well-scoped work.

You will oversee a team of PM leaders and ops/tech professionals, partner with senior leadership, and own platform adoption and major migrations across AI and automation initiatives.

Qualifications

• Leads and develops PM/ops/tech team, sets standards and staffing.
• Owns technology and operations roadmap, prioritization and investment.
• Drives adoption and major transitions across platforms and migrations.

Responsibilities

• Run intake governance with clear criteria, SLAs, and portfolio reporting to leadership.
• Lead enterprise AI/automation pilots and determine scalable operating models.
• Manage the technology/operations budget, vendor spend, and forecasting with Finance.

Skills

People leadership

Budget management

Agency operations

Technology fluency

Governance

AI & automation

Tools

Figma

Ziflow

AEM Cloud

Rackspace

Job description

Company description

A global creative constellation built for what’s next—uniting the human vision of the Leo Burnett network with the innovation of Publicis Worldwide.

Leo is HI × AI: Human Insight, Human Ideas, Human Impact—supercharged by the data and technology to move faster, go further, and deliver everywhere.

Leo brings together 15,000+ people across 90 countries, combining global scale with creative firepower to drive outsized impact for brands.

About the Role

We\'re looking for a senior operations and technology leader to drive how our work gets done on one of our longest standing accounts. As Director, you\'ll lead project management, set the technology and operations roadmap, and run the intake function that turns requests into prioritized, well-scoped work.

You\'ll lead a team of PM leaders and operations and technology professionals, partner closely with the SVP, Agency Operations, and serve as the accountable owner for platform adoption, major migrations, and emerging technology, including AI and automation, across the account.

What You\’ll Do

• Lead and develop a team. Manage project managers, operations and technology team members, support hiring decisions, performance management, talent development, and succession. Set PM standards, staffing, and resourcing.


• Own the technology and operations roadmap. Propose priorities, sequencing, and investment recommendations, and present them to agency and client leadership.


• Drive adoption and major transitions. Lead the rollout of platforms such as Figma and Ziflow, and deliver migrations such as AEM Cloud and the Rackspace sunset on time, on budget, and with risk managed.


• Run intake and orchestration. Own how client requests are assessed, prioritized, scoped, and routed, with clear criteria, service levels, and governance, and report on portfolio health to leadership.


• Lead transformation. Evaluate AI, automation, and workflow opportunities, run pilots, and decide which ones scale into repeatable operating models.


• Manage the numbers. Own the technology and operations budget, vendor and platform spend, and forecasting in partnership with Finance and Procurement.


• Be a trusted executive partner. Be viewed as an escalation point for complex operational and technology matters across agency and client teams.

What You\’ll Bring

• 10+ years of agency operations and project or program management experience, ideally in a complex, integrated account environment.


• Proven people leader who has built, developed, and managed teams, including managers.


• Experience owning a budget or operating model and leading an enterprise-scale transformation or platform migration.


• Technical fluency: you can translate, challenge, and operationalize technology without being the engineer in the room.


• Strong governance instincts and the ability to bring structure and clarity to ambiguous requests.


• A credible advisor to senior agency, client, and technology leaders who can lead executive conversations independently.


• Skilled at influencing across Creative, Production, Technology, and Business Leadership without owning every resource.


• Curious about AI, workflow automation, and the evolving agency operating model, with the judgment to balance innovation with practical execution.

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 $149,340.00 - USD $214,620.00/Annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. This role may also be eligible for bonus or incentive compensation. 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 1/1/2027.