Starcom is the Human Experience Company; we believe that our clients’ competitive advantage lies in understanding people better, and acting on that understanding faster than the competition.

The future lies in bringing together media, creativity and data to create powerful experiences that will drive faster growth. We are the flagship Publicis Media agency to do this through our Power of One client teams that span clients such as P&G, Samsung, FCA (Stellantis), McDonalds,  Novartis and Visa.

We work differently to most agencies and base many of our models on consultancy ways of working to build a more agile workforce in this hybrid world. We complement our account teams with Squads – small teams that work for a short period to solve a specific brief. We hold cross discipline Sprints to crack client briefs at speed. These processes are designed to fuel high performance and fast results through collaboration.

Even in this most challenging period, Starcom has had an exceptional 2020. We have welcomed brilliant clients such as Ferrero, Axa, KP Snacks and E.ON into the fold. Our client satisfaction scores are among the highest in the market, significantly above agency norms. We place a huge focus on our teams as part of a global community, driving flagship D&I and L&D programmes within Publicis; 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.

The Role

As a Global Planning Director, you will be sitting in a brand-new role within an expanding team servicing the Alcon account.

The planning team at Starcom are relationship builders, Comms planning specialists and collaboration experts. This is a high-profile role and will put you in day to day collaboration with senior partners around the world, including the C-Suite from both the client side and agency teams. You will be part of a UK team of around 10 people and 100+ globally.

You will be focussed on leading the strategic communications planning product of the team, both in London and from the local markets around the globe. You will be the senior voice on key all-agency and senior client meetings, providing strategic support and consultative service.

The role is a leadership role within the Alcon Global team, with the responsibility to drive the client and agency strategic visions and driving improvement in work across local teams by leading the innovation and strategy.
 

The Client

Alcon, aspire to lead the world in innovating life-changing vision and eye care products because when people see brilliantly, they live brilliantly.   They divested from Novartis in April 2019, and since then have focused on a transformational change in their marketing to deliver more participative and behaviour changing consumer programs.  To this vision, we have shifted our relationship from a transactional agency model to a true strategic partnership, helping them raise the floor and elevate the ceiling of their marketing.  We rise above traditional media expectations and partner on advanced communication strategy to ensure Alcon as a business is reaping the benefits globally. Starcom’s Global relationship with Alcon is a refreshingly true partnership, allowing team members to flourish and thrive.  

The client relationship between Alcon and Starcom is excellent and is often used as an example to the wider business on how the working relationship should be.

Responsibilities

Your role will be pivotal to the success of this account. Our goal is the create brilliant experiences that drive faster growth for our clients, and you will work with various teams within the broader Publicis Media organisation. You will be building strong trusted relationships with key clients, supporting the Business Director and the account management team to deliver outstanding work every time. Leading high quality day to day output of the team and be a subject matter expert in your field.

You will have extensive media and comms planning experience within a media agency, preferably working on a large global client. Experience working on healthcare clients or knowledge of the industry would be advantageous. You will be highly organised, able to be agile in your work and able to make your voice heard in meetings.