Managing Partner
Publicis Groupe Africa
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Job summary
Publicis Groupe Africa is seeking a Managing Partner to lead the client partnership, shape the strategic direction, and drive growth across the agency’s portfolio. You will unite creative, data, technology and operations to deliver superior client value and measurable outcomes.
You will build senior client relationships, lead a high‑performing team, and translate client priorities into integrated, future‑fit solutions across data, AI, media and experience.
Responsibilities
- Own and articulate the strategic direction and ambition for the client/Publicis partnership.
- Translate the client's business priorities into an integrated agency agenda.
- Ensure Publicis understands the client's business, customers, competitive environment and strategic objectives.
- Partner with senior client leadership on immediate priorities and longer‑term opportunities.
- Ensure Publicis proactively identifies opportunities rather than simply responding to briefs.
- Lead the evolution of the relationship from service provider to strategic growth partner.
- Establish clear priorities for the Publicis leadership team and ensure decisions translate into measurable outcomes.
- Balance immediate delivery requirements with longer‑term growth, innovation and transformation.
Job description
Publicis Groupe Africa
Posted today
Publicis Groupe Africa is a leading marketing, communications, and business transformation network operating across 36 African countries, combining creativity, technology, and local insight to deliver integrated client solutions. Publicis Groupe Africa is part of Publicis Groupe, the second-largest communications group globally, founded in 1926. The African network operates as a partnership of 44 communications agencies with offices spanning 36 countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, and many others. Its headquarters are in Johannesburg and Cape Town, providing a central hub for continental operations. Telecommunications is one of the most dynamic categories in the market that sits at the intersection of technology, culture, connectivity, customer experience and everyday life. This role offers the opportunity to work with a leading telecommunications client and help shape the next generation of its agency partnership. We are building a connected, future-fit model that brings together creativity, intelligence, data, technology, AI and world-class execution around the customer. It is an opportunity for ambitious leaders to influence the work, the operating model and the capabilities we build — creating a partnership designed not only for today's challenges, but for what comes next.
Telecommunications is one of the most dynamic categories in the market that sits at the intersection of technology, culture, connectivity, customer experience and everyday life. This role offers the opportunity to work with a leading telecommunications client and help shape the next generation of its agency partnership.
The Managing Partner is the senior business and client leader responsible for the overall success, growth and evolution of the Publicis/client partnership. The role owns the strategic direction of the business, senior client relationships, quality of the agency product, growth and commercial performance, integration of Publicis Groupe capabilities, and the development of a future‑fit partnership that continually creates greater value for the client. The Managing Partner will ensure Publicis operates as a true strategic business partner - moving beyond traditional agency delivery to bring together creativity, data, media, technology, production, customer experience, AI and transformation capabilities around the client's business priorities. A critical part of the mandate is to lead the evolution of the partnership into a future‑fit, integrated operating model, ensuring that global and Groupe capabilities are translated into practical, locally relevant value for the client. The Managing Partner is ultimately accountable for ensuring that the partnership delivers: Business impact and strategic value. Outstanding creative and strategic work. Commercial growth and sustainable profitability. Strong senior client relationships. Integrated Groupe capability. Future‑fit technology and AI adoption. A high‑performing team and culture.
- Own and articulate the strategic direction and ambition for the client/Publicis partnership.
- Translate the client's business priorities into an integrated agency agenda.
- Ensure Publicis understands the client's business, customers, competitive environment and strategic objectives.
- Partner with senior client leadership on immediate priorities and longer‑term opportunities.
- Ensure Publicis proactively identifies opportunities rather than simply responding to briefs.
- Lead the evolution of the relationship from service provider to strategic growth partner.
- Establish clear priorities for the Publicis leadership team and ensure decisions translate into measurable outcomes.
- Balance immediate delivery requirements with longer‑term growth, innovation and transformation.
- Own and develop senior strategic relationships across the client organisation.
- Build trusted relationships with executive and senior client stakeholders.
- Develop a deep understanding of priorities, expectations and challenges across client business units.
- Act as the senior escalation point for the partnership.
- Maintain high standards of strategic, creative and delivery excellence.
- Ensure client feedback is actively addressed and translated into improvement.
- Identify relationship, commercial or delivery risks early and ensure corrective action.
- Create greater alignment and integration across client stakeholders and Publicis teams.
- Build trust, access and strategic influence at senior levels.
- Own the growth agenda for the client partnership.
- Identify opportunities to grow existing scopes, services and capabilities.
- Proactively identify unmet client business needs and develop relevant solutions.
- Bring the best of Publicis Groupe capabilities into the relationship.
- Lead or support strategic growth proposals, pitches and cross‑sell opportunities.
- Expand the partnership into relevant areas including data, customer experience, commerce, digital transformation, media, content, production, technology, AI, automation and personalisation.
- Develop commercially sound propositions around new opportunities.
- Ensure growth is sustainable, relevant and aligned to the client's strategic priorities.
- Focus on increasing the value of the relationship, not only the volume of work.
- Act as the senior integrator across Publicis Groupe capabilities servicing the client.
- Bring together creative, media, production, technology, data, strategy, digital, PR, activation and other relevant capabilities.
- Ensure the client experiences Publicis as one connected partner rather than multiple agencies or disciplines.
- Clarify ownership and accountability across Groupe entities.
- Remove organisational barriers that prevent integration.
- Establish effective leadership and decision‑making forums.
- Resolve competing priorities or ownership issues across agencies.
- Drive collaboration around client business problems rather than agency structures.
- Ensure the most appropriate Groupe capability is deployed against each opportunity.
- AI, technology and future‑fit capability are core leadership responsibilities of the Managing Partner, not separate technical workstreams.
- Understand the strategic implications of AI and emerging technology for the client's marketing ecosystem.
- Identify where AI can improve effectiveness, speed, personalisation, quality, decision‑making and efficiency.
- Ensure Publicis proactively brings relevant AI‑led opportunities to the client.
- Champion responsible adoption of AI across the partnership.
- Support the development of AI‑enabled products, services, content and workflows.
- Ensure leaders and teams continually develop their AI and technology literacy.
- Connect the client with relevant Publicis Groupe technology, data and AI capabilities.
- Encourage experimentation while maintaining appropriate governance, security and human oversight.
- Ensure technology and AI initiatives are linked to measurable business and operational value.
- Keep the partnership abreast of global developments in marketing technology, customer experience, automation and AI.
- Provide executive sponsorship for the implementation and adoption of client and Groupe platforms that enable the future operating model.
- Ensure technology platforms become strategic enablers rather than additional administrative layers.
- Align senior stakeholders around the future operating model and expected benefits.
- Connect local client requirements with global and Groupe capabilities.
- Remove barriers to implementation and adoption.
- Champion the behavioural and organisational changes required to embed new ways of working.
- Ensure platforms improve collaboration, visibility, integration, speed and effectiveness.
- Support clear integration and role definition across client workflow systems, Publicis workflow tools, asset‑management platforms and other relevant technologies.
- Ensure the partnership continually extracts greater value from the broader technology ecosystem.
- Provide executive sponsorship and strategic direction while day‑to‑day platform implementation is led through the operations function.
- Lead the broader transformation agenda for the client partnership.
- Define the ambition for the future Publicis/client operating model.
- Sponsor transition from current ways of working into the future‑state model.
- Ensure business continuity while transformation takes place.
- Align senior stakeholders behind required changes.
- Challenge legacy processes and behaviours that no longer create value.
- Encourage collaboration across previously siloed teams and disciplines.
- Create an environment where continuous improvement is expected.
- Ensure transformation results in tangible improvements to performance, quality and client experience.
- Build organisational readiness for evolving technology, AI and new ways of working.
- Own the overall standard of the agency product delivered to the client.
- Establish and maintain high strategic and creative standards.
- Ensure work is aligned to the client's business and brand objectives.
- Create the conditions for ambitious, effective and culturally relevant work.
- Partner closely with Strategy, Creative, Media, Data and Technology leadership.
- Champion integrated thinking from the beginning of the process.
- Ensure digital, data, technology and customer‑experience thinking is embedded in the product.
- Protect quality while improving speed and efficiency.
- Encourage work with strong effectiveness and awards potential.
- Ensure performance learnings are fed back into strategy, creative development and future planning.
- The Managing Partner owns the overall commercial health and sustainable growth of the client business in partnership with Finance and Operations.
- Own revenue planning, forecasting and growth targets.
- Maintain oversight of scope, fee structures and client commercial agreements.
- Lead or support senior client commercial negotiations.
- Monitor margin, profitability and operating‑cost performance.
- Ensure appropriate investment and resource decisions.
- Identify commercial risks and opportunities early.
- Ensure new opportunities are supported by viable commercial models.
- Balance client value, quality, growth and agency profitability.
- Work closely with Finance and Operations to ensure accurate commercial visibility and corrective action where required.
- Build and lead a high‑performing senior client leadership team.
- Attract, retain and grow exceptional talent.
- Ensure the right leadership and specialist capability exists across the
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