Associate Director

Company description

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.

Overview

We are hiring an Associate Director to join Starcom and play a leading role across three brilliant automotive brands: Maserati, Peugeot and Leapmotor. You’ll take genuine day-to-day ownership of the Maserati relationship, while bringing your planning expertise to major work across Peugeot and Leapmotor. It’s an opportunity to combine client leadership, strategic thinking and brilliant media craft, with the support of a wider integrated team around you.

Responsibilities

What you'll be doing:

• Lead the day-to-day Maserati client relationship, becoming a trusted planning partner and turning business priorities into clear, connected media recommendations.
• Shape UK media and communications planning across brand, audience, channel and commercial considerations, while connecting local priorities with Global and EMEA direction.
• Own briefs from challenge through to delivery, bringing together strategy, performance, investment, data, digital and creative expertise.
• Drive smooth, high-quality campaign delivery, including reporting, finance, insights and proactive recommendations.
• Play an active role across Peugeot and Leapmotor, contributing to strategic briefs, campaign development and planning for two distinctive brands.
• Support and develop colleagues, providing clear direction while helping create collaborative, effective ways of working across the wider team.
• Bring fresh thinking to the client relationship, identifying relevant opportunities across media, partnerships, content, data and technology while keeping commercial outcomes in view.

Qualifications

Skills we're looking for:

• Strong media or communications planning experience, with experience leading client-facing projects and campaigns.
• A good understanding of the media landscape, including how digital, performance and traditional channels can work together.
• Clear, thoughtful communication skills, with the ability to lead client conversations, present recommendations and offer a constructive point of view.
• Strong planning and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise effectively and maintain high-quality output.
• The ability to turn business challenges into practical solutions, from clear briefs through to strategic recommendations and delivery plans.
• A collaborative approach, comfortable bringing together different perspectives across media, data, technology and creative teams.
• Commercial awareness and curiosity, paired with sound judgement and a proactive approach to solving problems. Automotive or luxury experience would be useful, but it is not essential.

Additional information

Starcom offers a wide range of benefits to support our employees. Full details are shared when you join, but highlights include core benefits such as Pension, Life Assurance, and Private Medical cover, alongside enhanced policies like Reflection Days and Shared Parental Leave. You’ll also have access to a range of additional initiatives, including:

Please check out the Publicis Career Page which showcases our Inclusive Benefits and our EAG’s (Employee Action Groups).

Publicis Groupe works primarily from the office or our clients' office four days per week.

At Starcom, we are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, and do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, disability, age, citizenship, relationship status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic.

We are committed to providing a fair, accessible, and inclusive recruitment process. If you have any access needs - for example, related to disability, neurodivergence, or a health condition - please let us know. We’ll work with you to ensure the process works for you. Sharing this information will never impact your application.

Guided by our values, we listen with empathy, uplift each other, take responsibility, and embrace change - building a culture where everyone feels seen, respected, and genuinely included.

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