Digital Associate Director

About the Role

PHD EMEA, part of Omnicom Media, is looking for an Associate Director to join our central Digital Activation Hub (DAH) team. The role requires significant experience managing the delivery of Biddable activity (predominantly programmatic and paid social) and experience of team management. The ideal candidate will be confident managing client relationships, organising a team around operational rituals and be an expert in their craft.

You will be part of an international team of 25 multi‑channel activation specialists, largely based in London plus several team members in the offshore activation hub in India. This role reports to an Activation Director and is integrated into all aspects of biddable marketing (programmatic, social & search) for two global clients and its many products. The successful candidate will be a focal point for leading optimisation practices, will lead testing & measurement programmes and will find innovation in areas of data & technology.

You will be a trusted advisor, accountable for key strategic activation projects. You will collaborate with the Activation Director to blueprint & integrate new technology and processes into existing systems and ensure success and adoption.

• Lead and develop a team of onshore and offshore biddable specialists, ensuring high‑quality output and acting as the escalation point.
• Oversee team development through PDPs, goal setting, feedback, and by challenging high performers.
• Foster a collaborative, innovative, and proactive team culture to encourage retention and knowledge sharing.
• Contribute to company culture through thought leadership and participation in company initiatives.

• Serve as the primary communication lead between the agency, international offices, and client stakeholders.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external partners to ensure smooth collaboration.
• Understand client objectives and challenges to deliver strategic solutions across Programmatic, Social, and Search.
• Drive innovation, identify upsell opportunities, and support new business pitches with digital expertise.

• Provide digital leadership on campaign deliverables, deadlines, and reporting.
• Ensure the delivery of high‑quality, integrated biddable media plans across EMEA, leveraging deep digital ecosystem knowledge.
• Oversee media budget management and achievement of business goals (ROI, budget, traffic).

PHD is a growth‑focused media agency driven by innovation and creativity. Founded in London in 1990, we were the first media agency to offer strategic and creative planning at a time when the industry was about buying cheaply and quickly. Our founders saw a bright future where smart thinking and clever planning could help brands grow faster than their competitors. Over the many years that have followed, we have continued to build on this defining ethic — with our evolution shaped by a continual investment in thought leadership.

And we continue to ensure that our capability and approach evolve in line with changes in media, data, technology, commerce, society, and legislation. Today, with over 100 offices in 74 countries, we continue to create remarkable campaigns that lead to remarkable growth – using the extending canvas of data and technology.

At Omnicom Media Group, we are committed to supporting flexibility for our people while fostering collaboration, innovation, and teamwork. We have a hybrid working model (three days in the office, two working remotely), to ensure that we meet the needs of both our people and our business, balancing the benefits of in‑person connections with the flexibility of remote working. Our standard working hours are 9:30 – 17:30, but we offer the ability to flex around core hours of 10:30 – 16:30 to give our people flexibility on how they manage their working day, whether that’s in the office or working remotely.

For example, you could start work at 8:30 and finish at 16:30 or start at 10:30 and finish at 18:30. We encourage open conversations between our people and managers to help…