Planning Account Director

Company description

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, 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 five years in a row,
Media Week's Agency of the Year 2025 and one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2025.

This role sits at the heart of LEGO Retail’s growth ambitions. As Performance Planning Account Director, you will lead cross-channel performance strategy and planning
, ensuring paid media investment drives measurable business results while building future-ready capabilities in line with LEGO’s priorities: driving demand, innovating for the future, and enabling sustainable growth.

You will be accountable for channel performance direction and strategic output, while working closely with a specialist digital buying team who lead activation and reporting. Success in this role requires strong leadership, clear communication, and the ability to align multiple stakeholders to deliver best-in‑class work.

Day‑to‑Day You Will…

• Guide cross‑channel planning and review media approaches before activation
• Align closely with the digital buying team on timelines, priorities and performance focus areas
• Lead performance conversations with the client, focusing on insight and forward actions
• Review outputs and recommendations to ensure strategic quality and clarity
• Monitor pacing and investment direction at a high level, ensuring we stay on track to deliver goals

Key Responsibilities

• Own the cross‑channel performance media strategy, ensuring plans drive qualified traffic, conversion and revenue growth for
• Translate business goals into clear media frameworks, investment approaches and testing roadmaps
• Balance short‑term demand capture with longer‑term growth and innovation opportunities
• Ensure performance plans reflect evolving platform capabilities, consumer behaviours and measurement best practice

• Provide clear strategic direction to the digital activation team, ensuring plans are executed in line with objectives
• Work closely with buyers and analysts to align on timings, deliverables, test plans and optimisation priorities
• Lead performance reviews, using data and insight to shape future strategy rather than just report on results
• Identify gaps or risks in delivery and proactively course‑correct with internal teams

• Champion testing of new formats, audiences and approaches that unlock incremental growth
• Bring forward new platform opportunities, tools and ways of working that improve effectiveness or efficiency
• Ensure learning agendas are structured and that insights are applied to future planning

• Act as a senior strategic lead for the client, confidently explaining performance strategy and results in clear, commercially focused language
• Represent the agency in key meetings, building trust through proactive communication and strong recommendations
• Collaborate with cross‑channel teams to ensure integrated, audience‑first planning across media

• Oversee budgets, pacing logic and overall investment approach (in…