Company description At Starcom, we pride ourselves on Moving People, in service of Moving Business. We are a global media agency that combines data, technology and tools with the complexity of human understanding to create valuable connections. We start with people, marrying a rich understanding of their behaviors and motivations to design media experiences that deliver measurable business outcomes. This is our DNA. We’re powered by the strength of our innovative, driven and intelligent people who are deeply passionate about achieving best-in-class results on behalf of our clients –some of the world’s leading marketers. We value you and the work you do. We work hard, but also enjoy scores of perks rooted in our legacy of having one of the strongest agency cultures. Our top-notch health insurance plans and paid time off allow you much-needed time to recharge and achieve the work-life balance you need to bring your absolute best self to work. Overview Starcom Insights and Strategy is the fuel for designing meaningful connections with people and brands in culturally relevant ways. We combine creativity and data to uncover differentiating insights that drive business growth for our clients. We have innate curiosity to explore, interrogate and synthesize all forms of data to help us determine what makes people tick. Our department combines the clarity of data with human understanding to create valuable connections that move people and move business. Through rigor and intelligence we understand why/how people make decisions, explore how these decisions are made in the context of culture. We design connections strategies and frameworks to inform Paid, Earned, Owned and Shared media planning. The Director, Insights & Strategy will champion a people-first approach to unearth actionable insights for a major client. The Director is supported by and accountable to Insights & Strategy leadership, and the client team lead(s.) This role will require a rich understanding and continued edification of the entire data ecosystem, and the know-how to design and implement innovative research solutions. This role centers on data-driven storytelling and curation of insights and implications for impact. The Director is responsible for leading and often performing the diagnostic of business, audience, category, and cultural dynamics to inform communication and media strategy. The Director will be a key cross-discipline leader, designing the approaches and solutions that strategy, planning, investment & measurement will build from, and is responsible for oversight to ensure proper audience usage and optimization. The successful candidate is always driving toward the “why” and “so what,” fosters team growth, is curious, creative, and a collaborative problem-solver. Responsibilities Unearth data driven insights on category, brands, competitive, and cultural landscape Foster relationships with senior level clients to uncover growth opportunities and craft the right insight solutions to deliver on KPIs Independently creates & executes new insights workstreams based on learnings & client problems Identifies research & data-based revenue opportunities, outlining value & needs Develop & present client-ready presentations inclusive of data visualization and persuasive, high-impact storytelling Develop research hypotheses, construct research plan/methodology and conduct research (syndicated, secondary, social listening, qualitative and quantitative custom research) to solve clients burning questions Work in partnership with senior agency strategy, planning and analytics leads to ensure insights are translated into actionable planning choices Evaluate innovative data partners to develop new approaches to uncovering insights Incorporate the fundamental principles of Starcom’s inclusive marketing philosophy and planning approach Audience Strategy & Insights Create overarching audience growth strategies and frameworks – identifying the role of growth audiences, need-state-based category and audience definitions, and addressable target audiences Develop recommendations for priority audiences, including defining, sizing, valuing based on contribution to business outcomes Profile audiences to gain a rich understanding of their behaviors, interests, attitudes, fandoms, motivations, and barriers to purchase Familiarity and ability to diagnose barriers, drivers, and ways to guide communications priorities and actions through brand power, brand equity, perception and funnel analyses, etc. Build strategies that keep the needs of the media ecosystem in mind – planning, investment / content, and measurement Exhibit a solid understanding of the use and relevant application of audience identification data Identify and define most valuable audience segments for clients using syndicated data and/or transactional data mining (via Epsilon People Cloud) Category, Cultural, and Business Strategy & Insights Familiarity with marketing approaches and philosophies such as How Brands Grow/Ehrenberg-Bass, and measures of marketing effectiveness Category analysis and evaluation of a brand’s market position and opportunities for growth Partner with Planning and Investment teams on media sufficiency analysis to understand the media spend needed to meet client + audience-specific goals Monitor cultural, category and audience specific trends to educate internal teams, partner agencies and clients – translating trends into strategic opportunities + implications Qualifications 5-7+ years in media/marketing research, consumer insight, business consulting, or digital advertising research/analytics/ insight Strong grounding in traditional and digital media research (control/exposed methodologies, market mix modeling) Experience with statistical software packages, especially SAS and SPSS, strongly preferred Experience with multiple methodological approaches (social listening, syndicated tools, primary research) Demonstrated ability to work with large data sets Strong grounding in traditional and digital media research, such as advertising effectiveness, ROI Experience with visualization tools such as Tableau, GoodData, Datorama is a plus Strong verbal and written communication skills Excellent Microsoft Office skills; PowerPoint and advanced Excel Ability to manage people and foster career growth and development Additional information Starcom is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our employment decisions are made without regard to actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability, medical condition as defined by applicable state law, genetic information, marital status, military service and veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws and ordinances. The Power of One starts with our people! To do powerful things, we offer powerful resources. Our best-in-class wellness and benefits offerings include: Paid Family Care for parents and caregivers for 12 weeks or more Monetary assistance and support for Adoption, Surrogacy and Fertility Monetary assistance and support for pet adoption Employee Assistance Programs and Health/Wellness/Comfort reimbursements to help you invest in your future and work/life balance Tuition Assistance Paid time off that includes Flexible Time off Vacation, Annual Sick Days, Volunteer Days, Holiday and Identity days, and more Matching Gifts programs Flexible working arrangements 'Work Your World’ Program encouraging employees to work from anywhere Publicis Groupe has an office for up to 6 weeks a year (based upon eligibility) Business Resource Groups that support multiple affinities and alliances The benefits offerings listed are available to U.S. based employees, are reviewed on an annual basis, and are governed by the terms of the applicable plan documents. Compensation Range: $127,585 - $183,330 annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. Temporary roles may also qualify for participation in our 401(k) plan after eligibility criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 10/22/2025 If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact USMSTACompliance@publicis.com. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.