Group Account Director

Company description

Herd MSL represents one of Australia’s largest and most awarded group of agencies. Part of Publicis Groupe ANZ and global PR network MSL, Herd MSL has more than 21 years in the market and has achieved multiple agency and campaign wins and Cannes Awards for creativity – including PRIA’s 2022 Agency Team of the Year.

We work with an impressive portfolio of clients ranging from established multinational technology companies and leading consumer and corporate brands to innovative industry leaders and state and federal government departments.

At Herd MSL, we encourage our people to work in a way that provides balance, and we pride ourselves in fostering a behavior-led approach to flexibility. We are fun and fast-paced and thrive in a learning-based culture.

Overview

Group Account Director – Government Campaigns Lead (PR & Communications)

Location: Sydney/Canberra/Melbourne

The opportunity

Herd MSL is expanding our Government Campaigns team and is looking for an experienced senior communications leader to help drive its next phase of growth, bringing strategic counsel and communications expertise to some of Australia’s most significant public information and behaviour-change campaigns.

As Herd MSL’s senior PR lead within an integrated campaign village, you’ll champion the role of earned communications and ensure our thinking is embedded across the broader campaign approach, working alongside specialists in creative, First Nations engagement, multicultural communications and research.

You’ll set the strategic direction for the Herd MSL team, provide confident counsel to senior clients and partners, and lead a team of dedicated PR and communications professionals to deliver work that is ambitious, effective and of the highest quality.

You’ll need to be a strong integrator and collaborator, able to represent Herd MSL’s perspective while bringing different disciplines together around a shared campaign ambition. You’ll combine strategic thinking with strategic execution and be equally comfortable navigating complex policy and stakeholder environments.

Above all, this is an opportunity to build and lead something significant for Herd MSL, bolstering our government campaigns capability, developing a high-performing team and demonstrating the impact PR and earned communications can have when they are embedded at the heart of truly integrated campaigns.

The role

Reporting to the General Manager, you’ll lead the agency's Government practice.

You’ll be expected to simplify complexity without losing nuance, identify the communications opportunities within complex briefs and ensure PR plays a meaningful and integrated role in achieving campaign objectives.

You will be responsible for:

Campaign strategy & leadership

• Lead the development and execution of PR and communications strategies for Federal Government campaigns.
• Translate complex government policy, programs and issues into clear, compelling narratives for media, stakeholders and the Australian public.
• Shape earned-led communications strategies that cut through and contribute meaningfully to broader campaign objectives.
• Identify opportunities across earned media, content, stakeholder engagement and community outreach.
• Develop integrated approaches that complement creative, digital, research, First Nations and multicultural campaign activity.
• Provide confident counsel to senior clients and constructively challenge briefs to ensure communications activity is effective, audience-focused and grounded in insight.

Team & agency leadership

• Lead, coach and develop a team of PR and communications professionals, supporting growth, confidence and accountability.
• Establish clear ways of working and create an environment where people can deliver their best work.
• Play a hands-on role in mentoring team members, building capability and supporting professional development.
• Manage capacity, workflow and resourcing to ensure consistent quality across campaign outputs.
• Be a collaborative leader who brings others along, both within the PR team and across the wider campaign village.
• Drive sustainable growth and commercial performance.
• Contribute to Herd MSL’s culture by living our values: Show Up Fearless, Stay Curious, Be Kind and Go Home Proud.

Client & stakeholder leadership

• Build trusted relationships with clients, agency partners and key stakeholders.
• Act as a senior strategic lead with responsibility for the quality, outcomes and relationships across the PR workstream.
• Provide confident senior counsel across complex communications, policy and stakeholder challenges.
• Manage complex briefs, competing priorities and stakeholder expectations with a calm, solutions-focused leadership style.
• Navigate government communications approvals, procurement requirements and accountability processes.
• Be curious, proactive and comfortable with ambiguity in a fast-moving environment.

Strategy & delivery

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of PR and communications activity across government campaigns.
• Shape earned media strategy, media relations, messaging, content, stakeholder engagement and public information initiatives.
• Ensure campaigns are delivered on time, on budget and to Herd MSL’s quality standards.
• Use research, insights and evaluation to continually strengthen campaign effectiveness.
• Identify opportunities to innovate and demonstrate the role PR and earned communications can play within integrated government campaigns.
• Maintain high standards of writing, narrative development and media relations across the team.

Commercial management

• Take responsibility for the commercial and financial management of the Government practice.
• Have ultimate oversight of budgets, forecasting, profitability, team utilisation and resource allocation.
• Ensure work is appropriately scoped and delivered efficiently.
• Balance quality, client expectations and commercial outcomes.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen processes, resourcing and ways of working.

Ideally, you’ll bring:

• 12+ years’ experience in PR, communications or integrated campaigns.
• Demonstrated experience delivering Federal or State Government communications campaigns, either within government or agency-side.
• Strong understanding of public information, awareness and behaviour-change campaigns.
• Experience navigating government, policy, regulatory or issues-rich environments.
• Confident senior client counsel and the ability to build trusted relationships.
• A deep understanding of the Australian media landscape.
• Strong writing and narrative skills, with the ability to simplify complexity without losing nuance.
• Proven experience leading, mentoring and developing high-performing teams.
• Sound commercial and financial management capability.
• A collaborative approach and the ability to work across creative, research and specialist communications disciplines.
• A calm, solutions-focused leadership style under pressure.
• The confidence to be curious, proactive and comfortable with ambiguity.

What this role is not

This is not a government relations or lobbying position.

The focus is public communications, integrated PR strategy and campaign delivery. We’re looking for someone who understands government and complex stakeholder environments, but brings the instincts, creativity, commercial mindset and earned-media thinking of a senior agency communications leader.

Why join Herd MSL?

Herd MSL is part of Publicis Groupe ANZ and the global MSL network, with more than 25 years in the Australian market and experience spanning leading consumer and corporate brands, technology companies and state and federal government departments.

You’ll have the opportunity to help build our government campaigns capability within an established communications agency, working alongside specialists across creative, First Nations engagement, multicultural communications and research.

You’ll have genuine autonomy to shape the PR discipline, build and develop a team, and deliver campaigns with significant national reach and public impact.

Additional information

Publicis Groupe benefits: Be a part of the Publicis Groupe family, recent winner of the Employer of Choice Awards and one of the world's most progressive and dynamic modern communications businesses. You can learn more about us at www.publicisgroupeanz.com.

Enjoy all the perks that come with our network offering:

• A comprehensive Wholeself program supporting physical, mindful, and financial wellbeing.
• A creative, lively, and rewarding office environment where people love working with each other, supported by our Publicis Liberté flexibility approach — "working your way with us."
• Access to our Global AI Platform Marcel, connecting Publicis Groupe employees with opportunities for career mobility and collaboration across our global network.
• Extensive Learning & Development opportunities including more than 15,000 learning programs via our online learning platform, Marcel Classes.
• A culture of open feedback and support to reach your goals through our Career Conversations program.
• A committed Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion strategy driven through our Viva Women, Égalité, enABLE, EmbRACE, and Écologique committees.
• Leave benefits including Birthday Leave, Flexible Public Holidays, and an additional 5 days of leave after 2 years of service.
• Work Your World program enabling employees the flexibility to work from anywhere in the world for up to 6 weeks per year.
• Parental leave policy with up to 18 weeks based on tenure, paid primary carer leave, secondary carer swap, and Cub Care leave.
• Access to counsellors, psychologists, and professionals through Sonder, an all-in-one digital wellbeing technology platform designed to support psychological, medical & safety needs.
• A workplace that stands together to provide a more open, supportive, and recovery-forward culture for all employees with life-threatening illnesses. Read more about our Working With Cancer Pledge: https://workingwithcancerpledge.com/
• Proud partners of Diversity Council Australia, Pride in Diversity, Family Friendly Workplaces, Supply Nation, and the Australian Disability Network.

If you don't tick every box in this ad, please don't rule yourself out. Research suggests that women and other people in underrepresented groups tend to only apply if they meet every requirement. We focus on hiring people who share our values of inclusion, collaboration, adaptability, fearlessness, and integrity rather than ticking boxes — so if this role resonates with you, please apply.

Diversity. Inclusion. Equity. More than just words; these are part of our DNA. At Publicis Groupe, we are committed to the inclusion and recognition of all people regardless of race, age, culture, ability, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, and religious affiliation. We believe that to deliver the best solutions to our clients, our people need to reflect the diverse communities in which our clients operate. We value diversity and the skills, knowledge, and experience that difference brings to our culture and solutions.

Uniqueness is powerful; without it, we wouldn't be where we are today. So be you — we like it that way.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for people with disability or those that require additional support throughout the application process. If you need any assistance or adjustments, please contact us via recruitmentpublicisgroupe.com; your personal information will be kept confidential.