Digital Operations Director

Company description

Publicis Groupe is a world leader in marketing communication and digital business transformation driven through the alchemy of data, creativity, media, and technology. Our connected platform of companies and capabilities is more than an operational framework — it’s a cultural model we've built to unite our people in a collaborative way of thinking and working.

Publicis Groupe offers its clients seamless access to the expertise of its 80,000 talents across 100 countries globally. In Australia, our powerhouse of marketing capabilities stretches across creative agencies Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, and media agencies Starcom, Zenith, Performics, Spark Foundry, Digitas, Epsilon, Arc, Prodigious, PMX, and PR Herd MSL. We also have Publicis Sapient driving digital business transformation for our clients.

PMX (Publicis Media Exchange) is the central investment practice for Publicis Media. We’re responsible for the smart application of investment by leveraging scale, marketplace innovation, deeper partnerships, and intelligence.

We are a dedicated, passionate, and expanding team focused on delivering growth by educating and driving the adoption of Publicis Groupe solutions including:

• Precision: Delivering holistic programmatic value to clients and acting as the guardian of programmatic solutions. These are dedicated to the advancement and increased adoption of technology and data to drive client effectiveness and media efficiency.
• APEX: An innovative and disruptive investment solution designed to create unique opportunities that deliver tangible business benefits.
• Partnerships: Developed both regionally and locally with selected key vendors to provide unique, innovative, and ultimately functional benefits for our clients. We structure our partnerships to promote true collaboration and best-in-class work across our agencies.

Overview

Turn digital innovation into scalable operational reality

Are you an experienced digital media leader who loves solving complex problems, improving how things work and helping teams navigate the evolving world of media and technology?

This is an opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping how PMX products are delivered, adopted and improved across ANZ. Sitting at the intersection of media, technology, product, data and governance, you will build the operating models, standards and solutions that make digital activation more consistent, effective and scalable.

This is not a traditional campaign delivery role. You will work across agencies, clients, platforms and specialist teams, tackling high-impact challenges that require strategic thinking, technical fluency and strong stakeholder leadership. From improving campaign quality and resolving complex platform issues to strengthening governance and enabling new capabilities, your work will have influence well beyond a single client or campaign.

What you’ll do

Reporting to the Head of Digital Operations, PMX, you will:

• Define and embed scalable operational standards across campaign setup, quality assurance, data application and delivery.
• Partner with PMX product leads, agency teams, technology partners and clients to identify friction, improve workflows and reduce operational risk.
• Strengthen brand safety, suitability, verification, supply path optimisation and compliance practices.
• Monitor campaign health, delivery risks and performance indicators, turning insights into practical improvements.
• Support the consistent adoption of Publicis data assets and Publicis ID across PMX products.
• Develop clear operating models, governance frameworks and documentation that help teams confidently adopt new products and capabilities.
• Act as a senior escalation point for complex digital operational challenges.
• Translate technical or operational issues into clear, actionable recommendations for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Represent PMX confidently across the business and in the wider market.

What you’ll bring

We are looking for someone who combines digital and technical credibility with the confidence to influence stakeholders and lead through ambiguity.

You may come from a media agency, adtech business, consultancy, media owner, product, transformation or digital operations environment. What matters most is your ability to create structure, improve quality and turn complex challenges into solutions that work at scale.

You will ideally bring:

• Strong knowledge of the digital advertising ecosystem, including DSPs, SSPs, ad serving, verification, data platforms, identity solutions and real-time bidding environments.
• Experience in programmatic trading, digital activation, ad operations, campaign operations or a closely related discipline.
• A track record of improving workflows, quality assurance processes or operational standards.
• An understanding of risk, governance, brand safety and responsible data application.
• The ability to analyse campaign or operational data and translate it into well-reasoned recommendations.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to make complex topics clear and practical.
• Confidence working across senior, technical, commercial, agency and client stakeholders.
• A collaborative, solutions-focused approach and the ability to influence without relying on formal authority.
• Excellent attention to detail, sound judgement and pride in producing high-quality work.
• A proactive mindset and genuine interest in tackling larger, longer-term strategic challenges.

Why join PMX?

This role gives you the space to think beyond immediate campaign delivery and work on initiatives with meaningful, organisation-wide impact. You will be trusted to identify problems, design frameworks and influence how digital products, platforms and standards evolve across ANZ.

You’ll have the opportunity to:

• Build new solutions rather than simply manage established processes.
• Work alongside specialists across digital media, product, data and technology.
• Solve varied and complex operational challenges.
• Help shape how emerging capabilities across identity, automation, verification and data-driven media are put into practice.
• Improve the experience of agency teams and clients through smoother rollouts, clearer governance and faster issue resolution.
• Develop broad leadership capability across digital operations, product enablement and transformation.

Make your mark

If you enjoy working where media, technology and operational strategy meet, this is an opportunity to build systems that create impact across an entire organisation. You will help make digital activation safer, more consistent and easier to scale, while enabling teams and clients to get greater value from PMX products and capabilities.

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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.