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 center 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, Starcom partners with the world's leading marketers and brands, including Bank of America, Best Buy, Kellogg Company, McDonald's, Novartis, Samsung, Visa and more.

Overview

The Associate Director will be part of the US Client Operations Team, and will help lead the emerging operational needs for Publicis Constellation Groupe (PCG). This role is part of a growing Client Operations team on a high profile, fast paced account, and will lead and support Business Operations across the greater team and between agencies.

Support Publicis Constellation Groupe (PCG) operationally in project management, integrating multiple parties within the Publicis agencies, inter-agency agreements, inter-agency billing, process improvements, systems management, general reporting and data manipulation. The ideal candidate has an analytic mindset, very proactive problem solving skills, and the ability to organize and track multiple projects simultaneously. He/she should be pro-active, resourceful, a creative problem solver, agile, and have the ability to adapt to a fast paced and constantly changing environment. Many operational details of the emerging PCG practice is without a roadmap, so he/she should thrive in tackling complex projects and 'be comfortable in the chaos'.

Responsibilities

Macro Tasks:

• Project management

• Process improvements

• Best practice sharing

• Quality assurance

• Reporting & Compliance

• Supervise 1-4 Sr. Associates

Daily Tasks:

• Work hand-in-hand with Associate Director and above on team roles and responsibilities, and prioritizing key projects across the team

• Manage Sr. Associate(s) workload

• Interface and build bridges with Business leadership and support in a constantly changing environment

• Lead large-scale projects and cross-functional teams, including projects outside of assigned responsibilities

• Track key project milestones, anticipate challenges, and raise the appropriate flags to ensure timely execution of deliverables

• Accurately track large volumes of data with a high level of detail and coordination

• Drive compliance and champion change management of new ways of working across teams

• Manage timely status updates with multiple internal and external stakeholders

• Ensure timeliness and accuracy with ability to problem-solve as complexities arise

• Balance need for consistency and streamlined practices with continual client changes and ad hoc requests

• Create training materials to document processes and instill best practices across teams

• Provide feedback for process improvement and lessons learned as related to assigned tasks

• Exercise discretion when presented with sensitive and/or confidential information (e.g. financial information, personnel information, etc.)

• Manage Samsung US paid media billing process from beginning to end (including utilizing Client's proprietary platform), including but not limited to:

• Track Authorizations to Buy, EO#s and client approved budgets (in Client's proprietary platform)

• Preparing billing and budget documents

• Answering internal & client questions related to media billing and budgets

• Tracking client payments and managing A/R

• Oversee the compiling of proof of performance documentation for media invoices

• Ensure compliance for tasks such as:

• Managing client-specific billing procedures

• Product codes and other systems work

• Ensure accuracy of data pulls from various systems (e.g. Guideline Planning, MBOX)

• Compile forecasting analysis and reporting of paid media spend and revenue

• Assist in billing audit needs, when applicable

• Assist in scope of work management and tracking, and become fully versed in very complex scope and contractual arrangements

• Manage billing process for pass through costs and agency fees

• Track scope of work documents, EO#s and client approved budgets in Smartsheet trackers and in client's proprietary platform

• Work closely with PCG Finance team to track and manage agency fee invoices, proof of performance documentation and client communication

• Compile forecasting analysis and reporting of paid media spend and revenue

• Participate in and/or lead team meetings

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree, preferably with a concentration in Finance, Business, Advertising, Marketing, Communications, or related

• Ideal candidate has media or advertising agency experience and understands the inner workings of the agency model

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in operations or paid media

• Be a positive driving force for the larger team

• Agile and nimble; 'comfortable in the chaos' of a large, constantly-changing account with many divisions and separate clients within the organization

• Able to balance numerous, simultaneous work streams

• Ability to wrangle multiple parties that does not necessarily report to them and enforce deadlines, etc.

• Process-minded with strong organizational and workflow expertise

• Aligned with taking the time to teach others how to do something vs. doing it for them

• Consistently demonstrates a desire to learn through proactivity and initiative

• Demonstrated critical thinking and problem-solving abilities

• Extremely organized, detail-oriented, obsessed with accuracy and good with time management.

• Good at building relationships - a creative problem solver, a customer service expert, a great team player.

• An individual who equally cares about his/her own career as well as the Sup/Associates

• A strong communicator - able to write clearly, speak professionally, and translate data analysis into insights that can be acted upon by strategists, planners, and buyers alike.

• Someone who likes to thrive in a team yet can also meet tight deadlines on independent assignments.

• Experienced Microsoft Office skills (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint); comfort with Excel Pivot tables and formulas is a plus

• A team player who enjoys learning, and is willing to lean in to new opportunities...with a smile.

Additional information

The Power of One starts with our people! To do powerful things, we offer powerful resources. Our best-in-class wellness and benefits offerings include:

• Paid Family Care for parents and caregivers for 12 weeks or more

• Monetary assistance and support for Adoption, Surrogacy and Fertility

• Monetary assistance and support for pet adoption

• Employee Assistance Programs and Health/Wellness/Comfort reimbursements to help you invest in your future and work/life balance

• Tuition Assistance

• Paid time off that includes Flexible Time off Vacation, Annual Sick Days, Volunteer Days, Holiday and Identity days, and more

• Matching Gifts programs

• Flexible working arrangements

• 'Work Your World' Program encouraging employees to work from anywhere Publicis Groupe has an office for up to 6 weeks a year (based upon eligibility)

• Business Resource Groups that support multiple affinities and alliances

The benefits offerings listed are available to eligible U.S. Based employees, are reviewed on an annual basis, and are governed by the terms of the applicable plan documents.

We also offer medical and voluntary benefits to our freelancers and temporary employees. Voluntary benefit options include supplemental medical insurance, transportation, and parking benefits, legal benefits, pet insurance, and auto and home insurance.

You must be actively employed for 90 consecutive calendar days in order to be eligible for Publicis medical and voluntary benefits. You will also be eligible to participate in the Publicis 401(k) Plan after you complete 1,000 work hours in a consecutive 12-month period.

Starcom is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our employment decisions are made without regard to actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability, medical condition as defined by applicable state law, genetic information, marital status, military service and veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws and ordinances.

If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact USMSTACompliance@publicis.com.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Compensation Range: $<> - $<> <>. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. Temporary roles may also qualify for participation in our 401(k) plan after eligibility criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be <>.