Associate Business Director - Communications Consultancy

Company description Publicis Groupe and Beiersdorf have created Publicis One Touch for their next digital transformation, a new type of agency model based on agility and interdisciplinary design. Publicis One Touch is designed to build a truly connected NIVEA marketing ecosystem, with data at its heart, to work with a single, connected view of marketing adoption and performance, brand health and customer insights across the entire customer journey to drive efficiency, effectiveness and brand love. Overview The candidate will be responsible for leading integrated business delivery across assigned Emerging Markets hubs, with a primary focus on India and ASEAN markets, combining client leadership with cross-functional integration, operational governance, and commercial ownership. This is a hybrid leadership role requiring strong business acumen, structured operational oversight, and the ability to navigate complex multi-market workstreams across Creative, Account Management, Production, Impact, Last Mile, and regional leadership teams. Given the operational complexity and pace of the India and ASEAN business, the role requires a highly collaborative and solutions-oriented leader who understands the nuances of these markets, can connect multiple stakeholders, proactively identify risks, and ensure seamless delivery across evolving workstreams. The role will work closely with senior leadership, regional hub teams, and client stakeholders to ensure delivery excellence, operational discipline, and continuous process improvement across the POUL operating model. The candidate will also be responsible for mentoring and guiding junior team members while strengthening integration between India, ASEAN, and wider regional delivery teams. Responsibilities Technical & Product Lead the end-to-end delivery of integrated campaigns and content workstreams across assigned India and ASEAN hubs, ensuring smooth transition from creative development through production and implementation. Act as the integration conduit across CDU (regional), Impact, Last Mile, Production, Creative, and teams. Maintain clear visibility across ongoing projects, milestones, dependencies, approvals, and delivery risks. Ensure project workflows align with agreed POUL / CDU ways of working and governance frameworks. Support creative development workflows including concept development, testing, storyboard / animatic development, production readiness, and digital adaptation. Guide teams on practical delivery solutions under compressed timelines and evolving business requirements. Ensure teams are aligned on ownership, roles, responsibilities, and next steps across workstreams. Bring practical understanding of delivery realities across India and ASEAN markets, including local stakeholder dynamics, operational dependencies, and regional nuances. Business Acumen & Operational Efficiency Build trusted relationships with regional and local clients, positioning the team as a strategic and dependable business partner. Demonstrate strong understanding of client business priorities, operational realities, market nuances, and delivery challenges. Lead operational governance across assigned workstreams, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within scope, and to expected quality standards. Proactively identify risks, escalation points, resource gaps, and operational blockers; drive timely resolution within internal teams. Maintain strong commercial discipline across projects, including PO tracking, billing readiness, burn rate awareness, forecasting support, and financial escalations. Drive structured project management and disciplined follow-through across multiple concurrent workstreams. Improve efficiency across teams by identifying process gaps, operational inefficiencies, and handover challenges, and recommending scalable solutions. Support regional leadership in managing complex delivery scenarios, compressed timelines, and evolving client asks across India and ASEAN hubs. Innovative & Analytical Mindset Think strategically and operationally to solve business and delivery challenges across complex multi-market workstreams. Join the dots across clients, internal teams, timelines, budgets, and delivery dependencies to propose practical solutions. Proactively identify opportunities to simplify processes, improve governance, and enhance delivery effectiveness. Demonstrate sound judgment in navigating ambiguity, competing priorities, and operational complexity. Bring a solution-led mindset to challenges rather than escalating issues without clear recommendations. Produce clear, insightful, and well-structured communication for both clients and internal leadership. People & Leadership Act as a dependable leadership presence across assigned teams, providing clear direction, guidance, and support. Support Account Management and cross-functional teams in navigating complex operational scenarios. Foster strong collaboration across markets, departments, and hub teams. Build trust and credibility with teams through practical leadership, responsiveness, and ownership. Coach junior and mid-level team members on ways of working, project management discipline, and stakeholder management. Create clarity in moments of ambiguity and support teams in resolving challenges effectively. Encourage collaborative, integrated, and solutions-oriented team culture aligned with the POUL operating model. Demonstrate strong judgement, maturity, and professionalism in both internal and external stakeholder interactions. Self Demonstrate agility and flexibility in responding to evolving business priorities and complex project demands. Take ownership and accountability for delivery outcomes across assigned workstreams. Operate with resilience and composure under pressure. Show strong initiative in anticipating risks, solving problems, and driving improvements. Demonstrate learning agility and openness to evolving ways of working. Maintain high standards of professionalism, collaboration, and commercial responsibility. Act with integrity, sound judgement, and strong accountability in all stakeholder interactions. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or related field. Minimum 8 years’ experience in integrated agency / communications / marketing delivery roles. Proven experience managing complex, multi-market, cross-functional workstreams. Strong understanding of creative development, production workflows, regional to local operations, finance know-how, process optimisation & change management. Experience in financial operations, billing governance, and commercial delivery management. Prior experience working across India and/or ASEAN markets is strongly preferred. Candidates with direct market experience from India or ASEAN, or demonstrated experience managing these regions, will be strongly preferred given the nature of the role. Experience working across matrixed regional / global organisations preferred. FMCG / Beauty experience is an advantage. Fluency in English. Additional information R-4310 P-4882

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or related field. Minimum 8 years’ experience in integrated agency / communications / marketing delivery roles. Proven experience managing complex, multi-market, cross-functional workstreams. Strong understanding of creative development, production workflows, regional to local operations, finance know-how, process optimisation & change management. Experience in financial operations, billing governance, and commercial delivery management. Prior experience working across India and/or ASEAN markets is strongly preferred. Candidates with direct market experience from India or ASEAN, or demonstrated experience managing these regions, will be strongly preferred given the nature of the role. Experience working across matrixed regional / global organisations preferred. FMCG / Beauty experience is an advantage. Fluency in English.

Technical & Product Lead the end-to-end delivery of integrated campaigns and content workstreams across assigned India and ASEAN hubs, ensuring smooth transition from creative development through production and implementation. Act as the integration conduit across CDU (regional), Impact, Last Mile, Production, Creative, and teams. Maintain clear visibility across ongoing projects, milestones, dependencies, approvals, and delivery risks. Ensure project workflows align with agreed POUL / CDU ways of working and governance frameworks. Support creative development workflows including concept development, testing, storyboard / animatic development, production readiness, and digital adaptation. Guide teams on practical delivery solutions under compressed timelines and evolving business requirements. Ensure teams are aligned on ownership, roles, responsibilities, and next steps across workstreams. Bring practical understanding of delivery realities across India and ASEAN markets, including local stakeholder dynamics, operational dependencies, and regional nuances. Business Acumen & Operational Efficiency Build trusted relationships with regional and local clients, positioning the team as a strategic and dependable business partner. Demonstrate strong understanding of client business priorities, operational realities, market nuances, and delivery challenges. Lead operational governance across assigned workstreams, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within scope, and to expected quality standards. Proactively identify risks, escalation points, resource gaps, and operational blockers; drive timely resolution within internal teams. Maintain strong commercial discipline across projects, including PO tracking, billing readiness, burn rate awareness, forecasting support, and financial escalations. Drive structured project management and disciplined follow-through across multiple concurrent workstreams. Improve efficiency across teams by identifying process gaps, operational inefficiencies, and handover challenges, and recommending scalable solutions. Support regional leadership in managing complex delivery scenarios, compressed timelines, and evolving client asks across India and ASEAN hubs. Innovative & Analytical Mindset Think strategically and operationally to solve business and delivery challenges across complex multi-market workstreams. Join the dots across clients, internal teams, timelines, budgets, and delivery dependencies to propose practical solutions. Proactively identify opportunities to simplify processes, improve governance, and enhance delivery effectiveness. Demonstrate sound judgment in navigating ambiguity, competing priorities, and operational complexity. Bring a solution-led mindset to challenges rather than escalating issues without clear recommendations. Produce clear, insightful, and well-structured communication for both clients and internal leadership. People & Leadership Act as a dependable leadership presence across assigned teams, providing clear direction, guidance, and support. Support Account Management and cross-functional teams in navigating complex operational scenarios. Foster strong collaboration across markets, departments, and hub teams. Build trust and credibility with teams through practical leadership, responsiveness, and ownership. Coach junior and mid-level team members on ways of working, project management discipline, and stakeholder management. Create clarity in moments of ambiguity and support teams in resolving challenges effectively. Encourage collaborative, integrated, and solutions-oriented team culture aligned with the POUL operating model. Demonstrate strong judgement, maturity, and professionalism in both internal and external stakeholder interactions. Self Demonstrate agility and flexibility in responding to evolving business priorities and complex project demands. Take ownership and accountability for delivery outcomes across assigned workstreams. Operate with resilience and composure under pressure. Show strong initiative in anticipating risks, solving problems, and driving improvements. Demonstrate learning agility and openness to evolving ways of working. Maintain high standards of professionalism, collaboration, and commercial responsibility. Act with integrity, sound judgement, and strong accountability in all stakeholder interactions.