Director, Integrated Media Planning; Planning & Investment

Company Description

Starcom is the world's first standalone media agency, a storied innovator that continues to lead the way for many of the world's best brands.

Starcom has long been the professional birthplace and proving ground for marketing leaders – CEOs, CMOs, sales leaders, and technology pioneers – and we continue to drive the industry with peerless talent and relentless innovation.

From the start, we've known that achieving growth for our clients requires understanding and connecting with real people where they live and work, in ways they value.

In an AI era, we remain "Guided By Humanity," a phrase that describes our foundational belief that human expertise must remain in the driver's seat, supported by the best processes and technology.

With our proprietary capabilities and Publicis Media's industry-leading resources and clout, we create ideas that move people and drive transformative business outcomes for brands.

The Director, Planning & Investment is a leader responsible for driving fully integrated media strategies that connect audience-centric planning with disciplined, high-impact media investment. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, investment, and execution—ensuring that audience insights, channel planning, and media dollars work together to deliver on client business objectives.

• Lead the development of integrated media strategies that align audience insights, channel planning, and investment decisions to client business goals and KPIs.
• Oversee media planning and investment across channels, ensuring strategic rigor, efficiency, and effective allocation of budgets.
• Serve as a senior point of contact for clients, building trusted partnerships and providing clear, strategic counsel on planning and investment approaches.
• Guide teams in translating brand and audience strategies into actionable media plans, investment frameworks, and go-to-market recommendations.
• Lead business case development by analyzing audience opportunities, investment trade-offs, and marketplace dynamics.
• Identify opportunities for innovation, growth, and incremental value—leveraging evolving media landscapes, new partners, and investment opportunities.
• Set strategic vision and learning agendas across the portfolio, elevating both planning and investment thinking within the team.
• Provide people leadership through coaching, mentorship, and performance management, fostering collaboration, accountability, and career growth.
• Demonstrate deep technical understanding of media planning and investment, stepping in to problem-solve and guide teams as needed.

• Bachelor’s degree preferred, ideally in marketing, advertising, communications, business, sociology, or consumer insights.
• 7–10+ years of experience in media planning with strong exposure to media investment and budget management.
• 5+ years of people management experience with increasing scope and responsibility.
• Proven ability to lead integrated campaigns—from audience definition and channel strategy through investment allocation, flighting, and execution.
• Strong understanding of analytics and measurement to inform planning, validate investment decisions, and optimize performance.
• Experience identifying media and investment opportunities, developing client-ready recommendations, and driving execution.
• Demonstrated ability to oversee portfolio-level media investment for large or complex brands.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and storytelling skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and clients

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.

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