Digital Business Director in London

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.

The client is Mars, a recent client win for Starcom, the account is set to be incredibly dynamic to deliver on performance objectives of awareness, traffic and DTC to its consumer audience. Activity runs across Social, Search and Programmatic channels across the EU and Central Eurasia region. The role of the Business Director is a key leadership role that offers the ability to run a team of 10+ people across paid media, strategy and analytics. This individual will work on leading strategy and performance across EMEA. You will be reporting into a Digital Lead, manage account directors based in London and oversee a team of Account Managers and Executives based both in UK and our India office.

Responsibilities

• Manage a team of 10+ people across multiple disciplines to deliver world class media strategies and performance for Mars.
• Build strong relationships with the client and your team to foster a collaborative relationship between Mars, Publicis UK and Local teams.
• Ensure that the work is of a consistent high quality, and that the team is delivering integrated media responses.
• Work closely and build strong relationships with the global team and ensure global principles are followed and applied in the ECE region.
• Implement global tools and processes, as well as reporting requirements.
• Create leading strategies and media plans with your team that meet client objectives.
• Be a source of knowledge on all things media for your clients and your team.
• Present confidently and knowledgeably to senior clients about key developments in the media ecosystem.
• Speak deeply about digital and how to use it to deliver key client objectives; be able to go into the weeds on digital when necessary.
• Drive digital thought leadership for the client and the team.

Qualifications

• We are looking for an experienced Digital professional, to lead the overall relationship from client servicing, strategy, performance planning and technology innovation to team management.
• Knowledge of Programmatic and biddable is required.
• The ideal candidate will have a passion for the digital industry and technology and an interest in client business.
• They will be able to cultivate senior client and internal relationships and act as a role model for people, displaying excellence in client servicing and performance planning process and rigor.
• Minimum 6 years Programmatic (preferred) or Paid Social/Paid Search related experience.
• Deep understanding of the digital media landscape, as well as the overall media landscape.
• Experience managing multi-market strategy and execution.
• Agency experience running a team of 10+ members.
• Understanding of data-based marketing and the changes that has on the media planning process.
• Ability to present to all levels clients as well as global and regional clients and internal stakeholders.
• The ideal candidate will be able to inspire the team and clients with their knowledge and passion for media.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

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.

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.