Associate Director, Business Developement

We are the Human Experience Company

We know brands will only thrive if they anticipate people's desires. We create experiences people love and actions brands need. We are stronger because our commitment to human outcomes is proven to drive better business outcomes. When others dehumanize people as mere data points, we will win by knowing and treating them as human beings.​

In addition to providing continuing opportunities for career growth we are proud to offer our employees market leading benefit and incentive programs.

You’ll be provided with 3 weeks minimum vacation to start plus additional long weekend Publicis days, holidays closures, your birthday off, free Headspace memberships, wellness and technology credits, and market leading savings and pension plans.

We strive to provide what matters to you personally with the ability to choose and modify programs to suit your lifestyle.

As a member of the Canada Business Development Practice, the Associate Director will help steward Canadian based new business pitches and co-ordinate with other countries and global teams as required. This role will centralize support for pitches in Canada.​

​This is a fast-paced job that will require everything from storytelling, developing and executing pitch theatre, pulling together decks and maintaining client database (through Salesforce). It will report to the Managing Director, Starcom Canada.

Responsibilities: 

• Support Canada pitches as well as provide Canadian support to global pitches, including RFI/RFP content, collateral, and on-the-ground pitch meeting coordination​
• Provide media planning and business development inputs for pitches. Examples include competitive pulls, target analysis, media plans, and RFI content​
• Produce final content packages for pitches –RFIs, RFPs, presentations etc.​
• Support other Groupe solution hubs on business development opportunities that could benefit from media expertise but don’t have explicit media revenue potential. This could include target analysis and competitive pulls, as well as brainstorming sessions and potentially pitch meeting representation​
• Be familiar with Publicis Media and Groupe offerings and be able to source content from members of these hubs​
• Member of the Publicis Groupe Growth Committee – ie. support Groupe CFO with monthly commercial pulse submission sent to the global team, help maintain salesforce database across all Publicis Groupe agencies.
• Support and manage other business development team members
• Support strategy team with thought leadership pieces, award submissions, and press releases

​Business Development & Communications Practice Attributes​:

• Communicate clearly and concisely, adapted for audience​
• Have a point of view; bring ideas and recommendations​
• Be a problem solver; flag issues or questions, but provide solution or course​
• Anticipate, don’t wait to be told; understand what’s needed & drive against it​
• Work comfortably & effectively in fast shifting and iterating environments​
• Build relationships across stakeholders; work up, down, and laterally across​
• No job too big or too small; roll up your sleeves and get it done​
• Manage & deliver in high pressure and multitasking situations​
• Detail-oriented and excellence-obsessed​
• Collegial; inject a spirit of inclusiveness, collaboration, humor, and fun

• Candidate should have at least 3 years’ experience​ on a similar role 
• Some cross-media planning background; digital planning capability, including programmatic, is highly desired​
• Past experience working on a pitch team is a plus; however, prior experience working in a business development function is not required​
• High cultural awareness and sensitivity​
• Comfortable navigating up, across, and diagonally; capable of voicing a strong POV with senior audiences​
• Excellent project-management skills; able to manage multiple projects & people​
• Skilled writer capable of drafting pitch-ready communication​
• Strong creative aesthetic, ability to tell a story visually with above average PowerPoint skills​
• Ability to travel domestically & internationally (When safe to do so and following COVID Protocols) –including weekends; potential for extended trips​
• High versatility and agility to work on projects across industries, markets, and agencies​
• Entrepreneurial spirit and high self-motivation
• Availability to work overtime when required

Starcom is an equal opportunity employer with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. We create and nurture a vibrant work environment that celebrates, values and leverages all aspects of diversity and inclusiveness, attracts world-class talent and serves as the industry benchmark for best practices. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals and will provide appropriate accommodation for candidates with disabilities or accessibility needs throughout the recruitment process, upon request. Please contact our recruiter for any questions, accommodations or specific requests. We thank all candidates for their interest in Starcom, however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.