Associate Director, Digital Strategy & Activation

Company Description

Apex is Publicis Groupe’s futures marketplace, leveraging Publicis capital to create risk-free, value-based investment opportunities for clients. Our industry expertise, understanding of consumer and market trends, and strategic partnerships enable Apex to deliver innovative, omnichannel solutions for clients that drive a range of marketing and business goals. Apex solutions help shape the industry, drive outcomes, and keep Publicis clients ahead of trend.

Overview

Associate Director, Digital Strategy Activation

The Associate Director is responsible for leading a team of activation professionals while driving operational excellence, marketplace partnerships, client growth, and cross-functional collaboration. This role serves as a key bridge between senior leadership and frontline teams, ensuring talent development, business objectives, and client needs are aligned. The Associate Director is expected to proactively identify opportunities, solve complex challenges, and foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

People Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of managers and activation specialists through regular feedback, mentorship, and career development planning.
• Create and oversee individual development plans that support both employee growth and business needs.
• Manage team workload, resource allocation, and productivity to ensure efficient account coverage and balanced responsibilities.
• Drive onboarding, training, and professional development initiatives for new and existing team members.
• Conduct performance reviews, goal setting, and ongoing progress discussions, while supporting leadership succession planning.
• Foster a collaborative, solutions-oriented culture that encourages critical thinking, innovation, and cross-functional teamwork.
• Establish clear expectations, accountability measures, and performance standards to ensure deadlines and deliverables are consistently met.

Client Management & Business Growth

• Partner with Directors and Vice Presidents to ensure successful campaign execution, client satisfaction, and achievement of business objectives.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with agency stakeholders, account management teams, and cross-channel activation leaders.
• Serve as a senior escalation point for client, agency, and operational challenges, driving timely resolution and communication.
• Identify opportunities to improve client service models, operational workflows, and business processes that enhance team efficiency.
• Support new business opportunities, strategic initiatives, and enterprise growth efforts across key account segments.
• Advocate for APEX solutions and capabilities through proactive education, consultation, and relationship management.
• Demonstrate urgency and accountability in responding to leadership requests, client needs, and business-critical issues.

Partnerships & Marketplace Leadership

• Manage assigned platform, vendor, and marketplace partnerships, including evaluation, onboarding, negotiation, and ongoing relationship management.
• Identify opportunities to expand capabilities through new and existing partner relationships.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on partner offerings, developing education plans and training materials for internal teams.
• Communicate key partnership updates, opportunities, risks, and performance insights to senior leadership.
• Collaborate with external partners to resolve issues, improve operational processes, and drive mutual business growth.

Strategic Planning & Operational Excellence

• Develop and implement scalable processes that improve operational efficiency, data accuracy, and overall business performance.
• Leverage reporting and analytics to monitor team productivity, business performance, and resource utilization.
• Drive accountability through goal tracking, performance metrics, and regular business reviews.
• Partner with leadership to identify future growth opportunities, organizational needs, and strategic investments.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives that enhance the employee, client, and partner experience.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in digital media, social media, marketing activation, account management, or related fields.
• 2+ years of people management experience with demonstrated success developing high-performing teams.
• Strong understanding of digital media ecosystems, agency operations, and client relationship management.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities, stakeholders, and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
• Experience leading cross-functional projects and driving process improvements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing large-scale client portfolios or enterprise-level partnerships.
• Background in social media, programmatic media, retail media, or integrated marketing solutions.
• Demonstrated success in developing talent and building leadership pipelines.
• Strong analytical mindset with experience leveraging data to inform decisions and optimize performance.
• Experience working with agency, platform, and vendor partners.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive strategic business initiatives.

Success Metrics

• Team performance, retention, and employee development outcomes.
• Client satisfaction, retention, and growth.
• Operational efficiency and process improvement adoption.
• Strategic partner engagement and marketplace expansion.
• Achievement of business goals, revenue objectives, and organizational priorities.
• Development of future leaders within the organization.

Additional Information

Our Publicis Groupe motto “Viva La Différence” means we’re better together, and we believe that our differences make us stronger. It means we honor and celebrate all identities, across all facets of intersectionality, and it underpins all that we do as an organization. We are focused on fostering belonging and creating equitable & inclusive experiences for all talent.

Publicis Groupe provides robust and inclusive benefit programs and policies to support the evolving and diverse needs of our talent and enable every person to grow and thrive. Our benefits package includes medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401K, as well as parental and family care leave, family forming assistance, tuition reimbursement, and flexible time off.

If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact USMTTACompliance@publicis.com.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.