Biddable Associate Director

With a history that dates back over 80 years, Starcom is a global communications planning and media leader. We are an agency still grounded in our founding principle that people are at the centre of all we do. Each day, we apply this belief to harness the transformative power of data and technology to inspire and move people and business forward. With more than 7,000 employees in over 100 offices around the world, we are the flagship Publicis Media agency that uses our 'Power of One' business model, with teams that span multiple disciplines across clients such as Aldi, P&G, Primark, Samsung, Stellantis, and Visa.

We place a huge focus on our People, and have driven flagship D&I and L&D programmes within Publicis Media; our goal is to help every individual reach their fullest potential, and we encourage everyone to make "Brave Plays" in how they approach their work and their own career development. As a result, we have an exceptionally energised and committed talent base, all of us proud of our welcoming and supportive culture, as evidenced by our recognition as one of Campaign's Best Places to Work for five years in a row, Media Week's Agency of the Year 2025 and one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2025.

APEX Digital is Publicis Media's Biddable Centre of Excellence, where trading excellence meets data-driven strategy to deliver Guaranteed Outcomes for some of the world's most ambitious brands. We operate across the full marketing funnel, driving measurable performance and sustainable growth at scale. We're looking for a Biddable Lead to play a pivotal role across Paid Social and Programmatic, with an initial focus on Paid Social activation, innovation, and leadership. This is a high-impact position working across a broad portfolio of APEX clients spanning Starcom, Zenith, Spark, and Digitas. If you thrive in a fast-moving environment where performance, people leadership, and product innovation intersect - this is your stage.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the Biddable engagement strategy across agency hubs, with an initial focus on Paid Social delivery and innovation.
• Manage and develop a team of Biddable Account Managers, ensuring high-quality, consistent client delivery.
• Own performance, pacing and profitability across your client portfolio.
• Own the Paid Social training and upskilling programme, ensuring the team is fully competent and confident across Social platforms.
• Act as the senior point of contact for agency stakeholders, providing strategic guidance and escalation support.
• Champion the APEX value proposition and Paid Social best practice across agencies and clients.
• Build strong internal, agency and platform partnerships, embedding a culture of optimisation and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

• Extensive hands-on experience in Paid Social, with Meta and TikTok essential; experience across DSP platforms desirable (DV360, The Trade Desk, Amazon DSP).
• Strong understanding of biddable media KPIs, optimisation levers, measurement frameworks and attribution methodologies.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate data into clear, actionable insights.
• Confident and credible communicator, able to present performance, insights and recommendations clearly to clients and senior stakeholders.
• Proven experience managing, mentoring and developing teams, fostering a supportive, high-performance culture.
• Strong Excel proficiency, with experience using data to manage pacing, performance and commercial outcomes.
• A genuine interest in the digital marketing landscape, with curiosity for emerging biddable technologies, platforms and automation opportunities.

Additional information:

Starcom 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.