Fresh Jobs at Publicis Groupe

Overview

• As a Creative Director you will help lead our passionate, multi-talented studio guiding all members to deliver exceptional, integrated concepts to exceed client briefs and expectations. A Creative Director is a thought leader within the agency, so they can expect to be craft-led, strategically driven, and platform neutral conceptual thinkers with a desire to transform brands by creating beautiful, intuitive, and human-centred products and experiences. The individual must be tuned into all aspects of South African popular culture and the platforms and media it plays in, as well as have a strong point of view on what it takes to win in this space.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate needs to be a leading light for both clients and agency colleagues; a self-starter with the ambition to match. They will be required to provide a vision, be an inspirational leader and a tenacious salesperson.

• You will lead agency/client brainstorms & workshops to determine KPI’s, strategic direction and set ways of working to maintain client relationships
• Drive integration, with weighting on digital platforms
• Scope, plan & manage the creative process on projects
• Manage & mentor creative teams
• Work with other disciplines (Strategists, Developers, Media, Accounts, etc.) to ensure cohesive team integration, and alignment with broader business objectives
• Be a champion for innovation on every project you touch
• Play an active role in campaign planning
• Drive real-time optimisation of the work in partnership with strategy and media
• Participate in pitches for new business
• Define the direction for overall campaigns
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Generate ideas and sell them into clients and other members of the team
• Mock up creative ideas
• Create across multiple channels
• Consistently produce creative elements against a deliverables list
• Lead brainstorms & conceptualisation
• Oversee the craft. Whether it be the writing, design of an idea etc.
• Compile presentations for clients/figure out new ways of selling
• Attend client briefings & presentations
• Demonstrate thought leadership by keeping updated on industry trends

Qualifications

• Must have 10+ years’ experience
• Highly conceptual individual (Must demonstrate with at least 5 projects)
• Demonstrate exceptional strategic thinking (Provide 3 examples)
• Must have led the conceptualisation and execution of TTL campaigns and pure digital campaigns (Show minimum of 4 examples)
• Must demonstrate an understanding of digital platforms
• Track record of winning international and local awards i.e. Cannes, One Show, Loeries, Clios, Bookmarks etc.
• Show at least 1 international and 1 local gold medals
• Demonstrate how you’ve previously dealt with conflict
• In-depth working knowledge of existing and emerging technologies & platforms (advantageous)

BUSINESS KPI’s

• Must demonstrate examples of leadership skills & problem solving
• A strong understanding of best practice interaction and visual design principles
• Must be able to oversee 7-8 projects. Or work on one sizable and two small size project at any one time with oversight.
• Have the ability to attend every review on a project with new 3 ideas.
• Oversee projects and manage and grow the team through the process.

THE PERSON

• Good understanding of influencer, Mobile, Podcast, out-of-home, guerrilla, activations and direct marketing
• Great time management
• Demonstrate ability to work under immense pressure & meet tight deadlines
• Adept problem-solving skills
• Strong communication skills with ability to provide rationales for creative choices made
• Strong presentation skills
• Able to work with team members & delegate effectively
• Understand the client’s business requirements, and understand how our services should be applied to solve business problem
• Sell an idea or campaign internally and externally

WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF THESE TOOLS

• Keynote / PowerPoint
• Facebook Creative Hub (Advantageous)

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Role Overview

• The Head of eCommerce will lead the development and activation of Publicis Media Africa’s commerce strategy — connecting media, data, and technology to drive measurable sales growth for clients.
• This role is central to Publicis’ transformation toward commerce-led media, combining deep understanding of South Africa’s evolving retail ecosystem with the Groupe’s global commerce solutions such as Epsilon, APEX, and Commerce Intelligence.
• The incumbent will build scalable frameworks that unify campaigns, enhance conversion tracking, and optimize performance for GMV, ROAS, and customer lifetime value. They will also create commerce products and internal capabilities that align with global Publicis products while addressing local market challenges such as limited retailer APIs, fragmented data, and underdeveloped tracking infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Leadership

• Define and execute Publicis Africa’s eCommerce strategy, ensuring alignment with Groupe transformation goals and client growth objectives.
• Build frameworks to bridge global commerce solutions (Epsilon, APEX, Core ID) with local execution realities in Africa.
• Partner with client leads, planning teams, and BUDs to embed commerce thinking across the client lifecycle.
• Represent Africa in Groupe eCommerce councils and share regional insights to influence global product evolution.
• Translate global tools and standards into market-relevant solutions that enhance sales conversion and tracking fidelity.

Productization & Capability Building

• Create and commercialize Publicis Africa’s Commerce Product Suite (e.g., Always-On + Pulse + Burst model).
• Localize and adapt Groupe’s global commerce media products for African markets, ensuring scalability and compliance.
• Develop internal training and certification programs to upskill media, performance, and analytics teams.
• Partner with HR and global enablement teams to institutionalize eCommerce capability frameworks across markets.

Performance & Optimization

• Lead conversion optimization programs across clients — improving attribution accuracy, pixel setup, data feed management, and tracking consistency.
• Drive measurable uplift in GMV, ROAS, CTR, and CVR through better funnel management, feed health, and creative iteration.
• Build dashboards and reporting frameworks to monitor sales funnel performance and ROI.
• Collaborate with data teams to deploy Intent-to-Purchase (ITP) and Connected ID-based targeting models.

Partnership & Market Development

• Strengthen relationships with local and global eCommerce platforms (e.g., Takealot, Makro, Amazon, Jumia, Shopify, WooCommerce).
• Build partnerships with fintech, telco, and retail data providers to enrich client data and improve identity resolution.
• Negotiate joint business plans and co-investment models with platforms to maximize campaign efficiency.
• Identify emerging African marketplaces and support clients in building marketplace readiness.

Client Collaboration & Commercial Growth

• Work closely with client teams to align eCommerce strategy with overall media, brand, and business objectives.
• Present eCommerce growth plans, quarterly reviews, and case studies to clients and agency leadership.
• Develop billing and revenue models for commerce-linked services to strengthen Publicis’ profitability.
• Build case studies that prove the business impact of connected commerce and performance media.

Qualifications

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or Digital Commerce; Master’s preferred.
• 8+ years’ experience in eCommerce, digital marketing, or performance media, ideally in an agency or platform environment.
• Proven success in building or scaling commerce media offerings and improving GMV, conversion rates, and ROAS.
• Strong understanding of the South African and Sub-Saharan eCommerce landscape, including local retailer integration and logistics constraints.
• Expertise in DSPs, retail media, and platform APIs (Meta, Google, TikTok, Amazon Ads, etc.).
• Data-driven mindset with familiarity in attribution, incrementality testing, and analytics tools (GA4, Looker, Power BI).
• Strong commercial acumen; capable of designing and tracking billing models tied to performance outcomes.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and collaboration skills; able to influence across multi-disciplinary teams.

Additional information

Key Success Metrics

• Adoption of Publicis Africa’s eCommerce Media Framework across top clients.
• Uplift in GMV, conversion rate, and ROAS on commerce-led campaigns.
• Reduction in data and tracking inefficiencies through improved tagging and feed management.
• Growth in commerce-linked billing revenue.
• Number of teams trained and certified under the commerce capability framework.
• Development of client case studies showcasing eCommerce transformation success.

Cultural Fit

• Entrepreneurial builder mindset — able to create from zero and thrive in evolving markets.
• Curious and experimental — passionate about testing new tools and data models.
• Collaborative and client-centric — builds bridges across teams and markets.
• Believes in Publicis’ Power of One philosophy — integrating creativity, data, and technology to transform client growth.