Commerce & Retail Media Strategy Director (6-month FTC)

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.

Job Description

What will you be doing? As our Commerce & Retail Strategy Director, you will be strengthening brand and product discoverability across retail, commerce, marketplace, and retail media environments - where consumer decisions are made and where AI systems may source or validate product information. This role is first and foremost a commerce and retail media position. We are looking for practitioners with strong experience across retail media, marketplaces, digital shelf, retailer search, ecommerce activation, shopper marketing, or omnichannel commerce. Experience with GEO/AEO or AI-driven discovery is advantageous but not required, as this capability can be developed on the job.

Responsibilities

• Identify commerce and retail environments most relevant to each segment, including retailer.com, marketplaces, retail media networks, and product detail page ecosystems.
• Evaluate how product content, retail taxonomy, reviews, availability, ratings, and merchandising may influence search, AI answer visibility, and consumer conversion.
• Partner with commerce, retail media, SEO, and brand teams to recommend practical changes that improve product discoverability and downstream performance.
• Translate GEO/AEO needs into commerce actions, such as improved PDP content, structured product information, retailer search optimization, marketplace presence, and retail media alignment.
• Identify where teams have control versus where retailer or partner coordination is required.
• Support activation planning across top priority retailers and marketplaces.
• Help connect AI/search visibility learnings to commerce performance and retail media planning.
• Develop retailer-specific strategies across retailer search, digital shelf, retail media and marketplace environments, ensuring brands are discoverable and conversion-ready where consumers shop.
• Partner with retail media, ecommerce, category management and shopper marketing teams to drive execution across key retail partners and commerce channels.

Qualifications

What are we looking for?

• Demonstrated experience in commerce, retail media, ecommerce, digital shelf, marketplace management, shopper marketing or omnichannel activation.
• Hands‑on experience working with retailer ecosystems, retail media networks, retailer search, marketplace platforms, ecommerce activation or digital shelf optimisation.
• Understanding of retailer search, PDP optimization, marketplace content, retail media activation, and conversion drivers.
• Ability to work across brands, retail partners, and internal commerce/media teams.
• Experience with platforms such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, Kroger, Instacart, Chewy, PetSmart, or similar preferred.
• Comfortable translating strategic AEO/GEO needs into practical commerce activation steps.
• Experience within FMCG/CPG, retail, consumer health, consumer electronics, petcare, lifestyle or similar consumer‑focused categories strongly preferred.
• Experience with Amazon, retailer.com environments, retail media networks and digital shelf content optimisation is highly desirable.
• Candidates whose experience is primarily focused on SEO, GEO, content strategy or organic search should also be able to demonstrate meaningful hands‑on commerce, retail media, marketplace or retailer search experience.

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.

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.