SEO Director

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 the centre 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, we are the flagship Publicis Media agency that uses our ‘Power of One’ business model, with teams that span multiple disciplines across clients such as Aldi, P&G, P&O Ferries, Primark, Samsung, Stellantis, and Visa. 

We place a huge focus on our People and have driven flagship D&I and L&D programmes within Publicis Media; 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, as evidenced by our recognition as one of Campaign’s Best Places to Work for three years in a row (2021, 2022 and 2023) and most excitingly, Media Week's Agency of the Year 2023!

Our award winning, 50+ strong Owned media team at Performics @ Starcom is looking for an SEO Account Director: a confident leader, responsible for managing a team of specialists delivering SEO and search insights services. In this role, you are expected to drive forward strategies for major multinational businesses by building excellent client relationships and leveraging the expertise of internal SEO and Performance Content teams.

The role will be best suited for a commercially strong, data-driven and strategic-minded specialist with a passion for fashion, beauty and ecommerce.  Reporting into the Business Director, you will be taking responsibility of leading a strong team of managers and executives in defining and delivering holistic Owned Media campaigns that exceed client objectives. You are expected to have a broad understanding of all services offered within the SEO team and be confident in leading strategic conversations with the internal specialist teams.

You will drive the SEO approach of Starcom forward beyond your own team, pioneering an industry-best product, developing the team’s abilities and implementing gold-standard work. You will lead product development and building optimal operating models for the department across strategies, including integration with wider media.

• Define performance strategies and owned media activation for clients based on their budgets, target audience and KPIs;
• Provide strategic guidance and expertise to clients and the team, develop strong relationships with your client;
• Promote effective integration between SEO & other digital teams;
• Define a clear measurement framework for SEO efforts and use to educate internal teams and clients;
• Identify incremental opportunities in existing clients, where SEO solutions can drive growth and performance for them across the consumer journey;
• Contribute your expertise to pursuing new business opportunities;
• Own and nurture senior client relationships;
• Ensure high levels of service are delivered from all team members and in line with the agreed timings;
• Improve workflow within the account team and across teams at Starcom;
• Manage your team and the work they produce, including strategy, client services and coordination; professionally nurture the team and review their performance;

• Manage the individuals within the team, including coaching, training and personal development.
• Support Senior leadership and line manager with regular updates on up-and-coming innovation, changes to industry landscape 
• Support your Business Director and broader team in capacity planning and resource management.

What are we looking for?

Commercially driven and forward thinking in the expansion of business opportunities, entrepreneurial in mind-set and always looking to develop incremental or new services both centrally and locally. The candidate should be confident and competent across all aspects of SEO and have the ambition to consistently drive the growth and development of our people and offering. 

• Prior SEO experience, preferably in an agency environment with enterprise-level clients.
• Experience within enterprise SEO, web analytics, and search research tools and technologies;
• Experience of developing global scalable owned-first strategies within a converged media team structure;
• Experience with data analysis and generating insights to inform client decisions;
• Confident, comfortable and professional in senior client communication;
• Proficient in Microsoft Office programs, particularly Excel and PowerPoint, as well as a range of enterprise SEO tools and Google marketing tools suite;
• Excellent understanding of how to forecast and measure impact of owned media strategies;
• Excellent understanding of how owned media strategy fits in a wider digital media context and role it plays;
• Excellent understanding of how to identify organic search opportunities, upsell and cross-sell across existing clients and contribute to new business;
• Understanding of how to use Search Trends, Demographic and User Behaviour data in an owned strategy.
• Proven ability to guide and upskill the team in growing their skillset;
• Critical thinking, problem-solving ability and can-do attitude;
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Starcom has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees. In addition to the classics, Pension, Life Assurance, Private Medical and Income Protection Planswe also offer;

• WORK YOUR WORLD opportunity to work anywhere in the world, where there is a Publicis office, for up to 6 weeks a year.
• REFLECTION DAYS - Two additional days of paid leave to step away from your usual day-to-day work and create time to focus on your well-being and self-care.
• HELP@HAND BENEFITS 24/7 helpline to support you on a personal and professional level. Access to remote GPs, mental health support and CBT. Wellbeing content and lifestyle coaching.
• FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES We provide 26 weeks of full pay for the following family milestones: Maternity. Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental Leave.
• FLEXIBLE WORKING, BANK HOLIDAY SWAP & BIRTHDAY DAY OFF You are entitled to an additional day off for your birthday, from your first day of employment.
• GREAT LOCAL DISCOUNTS This includes membership discounts with Soho Friends, local restaurants and retailers in Westfield White City and Television Centre.

Full details of our benefits will be shared when you join us!

Publicis Groupe operates a hybrid working pattern with full time employees being office-based three days during the working week. 

We are supportive of all candidates and are committed to providing a fair assessment process. If you have any circumstances (such as neurodiversity, physical or mental impairments or a medical condition) that may affect your assessment, please inform your Talent Acquisition Partner. We will discuss possible adjustments to ensure fairness. Rest assured, disclosing this information will not impact your treatment in our process.

Please make sure you check out the Publicis Career Page which showcases our Inclusive Benefits and our EAG’s (Employee Action Groups).