Group Account Director at Publicis Groupe · Johannesb…

Company Description

Starcom is the human experience company: we create experiences people love and actions brands need. Within the Absa portfolio, this means translating client priorities, commercial commitments, ATL and digital media activity, campaign schedules, creative dependencies, billing requirements, performance marketing objectives and performance reporting into a disciplined, high-confidence operating rhythm.The Group Account Director is the senior portfolio lead responsible for turning that rhythm into consistent delivery. The role sits between strategic client leadership and the operational engine of the account: guiding the team, strengthening the work, managing the relationship, protecting the commercial position and ensuring that the portfolio runs on time, in budget and to the expected quality standard, with a meaningful emphasis on performance-led growth and ABM marketing effectiveness.This is not a passive account-management role.

Overview

1. Portfolio leadership and client stewardship• Lead the assigned Absa portfolio as the senior day-to-day agency lead, ensuring client priorities are translated into clear media actions, deliverables and decisions.• Build trusted relationships with marketing managers, media managers, senior marketing stakeholders and agency partners, while keeping the Client partner appropriately informed of risks, opportunities and relationship health.• Provide strategic media direction rather than simply taking orders, ensuring the team challenges unclear briefs, strengthens recommendations and adds value at every stage of the work, including performance-marketing and ABM opportunities where relevant.• Maintain a clear portfolio view across briefs, campaign activity, budgets, timelines, reporting, performance, resourcing and commercial commitments.• Represent Starcom and Publicis Media with confidence, presence and professionalism in client, partner agency and internal leadership forums.

2. Strategic direction and quality of output• Guide strategists, planners and specialists to deliver sharp, data-led recommendations that connect client objectives to audience insight, media choices, investment decisions and measurable business outcomes, with particular rigor around performance marketing and ABM-led growth strategies.• Review and sign off strategic outputs, media recommendations, flow plans, business reviews, optimisation narratives and post-campaign learnings before they reach senior stakeholders.• Ensure the portfolio is using available Starcom, Publicis Media, research, analytics and platform tools to improve the quality of decision-making, campaign optimisation and account-based marketing effectiveness.• Drive a strong standard of written and presentation output, ensuring work is clear, commercially grounded, visually professional and fit for senior client audiences.• Actively identify growth opportunities, market shifts, competitor movement, consumer trends and media-owner partnerships that could unlock stronger results for the portfolio.

3. Account operations and workflow management• Own the operating rhythm of the assigned Business Unit, including internal status meetings, client WIPs, action trackers, escalation logs, contact reports and agreed Ways of Working.• Ensure each brief is converted into clear actions with owners, deadlines, required inputs, dependencies, budget references and next steps.• Proactively identify operational roadblocks, unclear approvals, late assets, booking issues, billing risks, reporting gaps and workload pressure before they become client-facing issues.• Work closely with project management, operations, planning, buying, Ad Operations and reporting teams to ensure the account runs in the most frictionless manner possible.• Maintain disciplined follow-through across all recurring deliverables, including monthly reporting, investment tracking, status documents, financial updates and senior management requirements.

4. Media schedule, campaign delivery and performance management• Ensure ATL and digital planners produce accurate schedules, implementation plans and consolidated flow plans that reflect approved strategy, budgets, KPIs and timing requirements, with clear performance-marketing and ABM objectives where applicable.• Maintain alignment between client approvals, media schedules, digital plans, buying commitments, AdOps inputs, taxonomy, creative matrices and live campaign delivery.• Track campaign readiness ahead of go-live, including plan approval, asset receipt, tags, trafficking, QA, proof of flighting, launch confirmation and reporting requirements.• Monitor pacing, delivery, performance and spend signals with the planning, campaign management and reporting teams to prevent under-spend, over-spend and missed optimisation opportunities, while driving in-flight performance improvements against agreed ABM and conversion goals.• Ensure optimisation recommendations are captured, actioned, reported back to client and shared with creative or partner agencies where media performance could be improved through creative or experience changes.

5. Financial management, billing and commercial control• Own financial hygiene across the relevant Business unit, ensuring budgets are properly managed, spend is reconciled, and financial losses are mitigated through early visibility and disciplined follow-up.• Ensure PO trackers, billing trackers, spend trackers, billing packs, revised CEs, invoices, actualisation inputs and flow plans are accurate, updated and completed on time.• Use age reports and finance updates to keep client payment status visible and ensure account payable queries are resolved timeously.• Track under-spends, over-spends, cancellations, scope changes, budget movements and write-off risks, escalating material exposure with clear context and recommended solutions.• Work with the Managing Director and finance leads on revenue forecasts, investment forecasts, client contract requirements, remuneration inputs and commercial risk management.

6. Team leadership, capability and culture• Lead, motivate and support the portfolio team, creating a high-performance environment where priorities are clear, expectations are understood and follow-through is non-negotiable.• Manage workload, prioritisation, leave, timesheets, performance conversations and career development for direct reports within the portfolio.• Provide regular feedback on team health, motivation, capacity, top performers, under-performance risks and capability gaps to the client partner or relevant leadership stakeholders.• Create a culture of structured collaboration, low-ego problem solving, skills transfer and accountability across strategy, planning, buying, AdOps, reporting and finance teams.• Partner with Publicis Media digital, operations and leadership teams to identify and arrange relevant training, then hold the team accountable for attendance, application and quality uplift.

7. Reporting, insights and senior visibility• Ensure senior client and internal stakeholders receive accurate, timely and useful reporting across media investment, campaign delivery, competitive activity, performance, ABM effectiveness, billing and portfolio health.• Lead or oversee the delivery of weekly and monthly flow plans, discount tracking, partner commitment tracking, competitive spend reports, investment forecasts, write-off reports and team updates.• Drive the timely completion of business reviews, QBRs, post-campaign reports, close-out reports and insight decks, ensuring commentary links back to business objectives, media objectives, ABM priorities and KPIs.• Maintain strong data hygiene across taxonomy, naming conventions, tracking structures, reporting inputs and campaign documentation.• Package complex performance and operational information into clear implications, decisions and recommended next actions for clients and senior internal leaders.

8. Partner agency, media-owner and Publicis integration• Work collaboratively with creative, PR, media-owner and Publicis Power of One partners to ensure actions, dependencies, assets, approvals and delivery risks are visible and well managed.• Constructively flag creative gaps, asset issues, timing risks or experience weaknesses that may compromise media execution or performance.• Build productive relationships with media owners and investment teams to unlock relevant partnerships, value opportunities, buying efficiencies and creative media ideas.• Collaborate with the Publicis Media Buying, Research, Analytics, Data Science, Digital, Ad Operations and Reporting teams to bring the best available capability into the portfolio.• Support the creation of case studies and award entries that showcase high-impact work, measurable results and strong client-agency partnership.

Responsibilities

• 5 to 8+ years’ experience in a media agency, integrated agency or complex account management environment, with evidence of leading multi-disciplinary delivery.• Experience in digital marketing, with strong exposure to performance marketing, optimisation, lead-generation or conversion campaigns, and account-based marketing approaches.• Strong experience managing client portfolios, campaign delivery, media planning workflows, stakeholder relationships and commercial account requirements.• Experience working with strategists, planners, buyers, AdOps, reporting analysts, finance teams, media owners, creative agencies and senior client stakeholders.• Financial management experience, including billing packs, invoices, actualisation, PO trackers, spend tracking, forecasts and budget reconciliation.• Experience on a financial services account or large matrixed client would be advantageous.• Experience managing direct reports, team priorities, performance feedback, leave, timesheets and capability development.

Qualifications

• Marketing, media, communications, business, project management or related degree, diploma or certificate preferred.• Relevant media, digital operations, analytics, project management or platform certifications would be advantageous.

Additional Information

Indicative direct reports• Media strategists: 1+• Media planners: 2+• Reporting analysts: 1+• Campaign managers and traffic controllers remain functionally aligned to the Ad Operations lead, with day-to-day coordination through the portfolio operating rhythm.• The GAD manages relevant leave, timesheets, prioritisation, performance reviews, career conversations and workload expectations for direct reports.

Role fit statementThis role is ideal for a confident account leader who enjoys creating control, clarity and momentum across a complex portfolio. The successful candidate will be commercially responsible, strategically sharp, operationally disciplined and comfortable leading people through pressure. Success is not measured by how much the GAD personally carries, but by how consistently the portfolio performs, how clearly the team knows what to do next, and how confidently the client experiences the agency as a proactive, trusted partner.