Account Executive
Publicis Groupe UK
As an Account Executive, you help turn strategy into reality. You support campaign planning and delivery, coordinate key information, and keep work moving at pace.
Who We Are in the UK?
Spark Foundry, the Acceleration Agency.
We help brands to identify, learn and respond to opportunities faster than the competition.
Every client has an area of their business they need to accelerate, from short-term goals to long-term transformation.
We’ve proven our approach during the most difficult year on record. Now we’re using it to provide a launchpad for their future.
Come be an accelerator with us.
How we accelerate
- Planning: an approach that works in practice rather than theory, arming planners with the ability to create cutting edge campaigns
- Intelligence: a suite of tools that give definitive answers to big questions, and uncovers actionable insights about real people
- Trading: a model built on flexibility and trusted relationships, underpinned with bold guarantees
- Relationships: a culture of asking challenging questions to better understand the brief – we are not a ‘yes’ agency
- People: a strong history of recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds and accelerating their careers
Our Commitment
We are diverse though our experience, people and the clients we look after - and we celebrate that diversity. Our people hold us accountable to our beliefs and via regular surveys and our grass roots D&I team, The Collective, and internal next generation board, Firestarters, we hold regular events and work continually towards generating ideas, initiatives and educating our people to ensure we are a diverse and inclusive agency.
As part of our dedication to create an inclusive and diverse workforce, Spark Foundry is committed to equal access to opportunity for people without regard to race, age, sex, disability, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.
Overview
What is Media Planning?
Media planning connects brands with people in the right place, at the right time, and in the right way. Media planning is the link between the client and the teams who activate campaigns. Think of it as the bridge:
- Client-facing: Media planners work closely with clients to understand their goals, budgets, and target audiences. They translate these into actionable plans.
- Internal collaboration: They liaise with digital activation teams (who run programmatic, paid social campaigns) and investment teams like PMX (who negotiate and buy media at scale).
- Planning & admin: The role involves creating detailed plans, managing timelines, budgets, and reporting. There’s a mix of strategic thinking (what channels, when, how much) and operational tasks (booking campaigns, updating systems, coordinating with multiple stakeholders).
In short, media planners are the middle point: they ensure the client’s vision becomes a well-structured plan, then hand it over to activation and investment teams to bring it to life.
The Role: Account Executive
As an Account Executive, you help turn strategy into reality. You support campaign planning and delivery, coordinate key information, and keep work moving at pace. You will build strong foundations in media, gaining exposure to clients, channel specialists and real campaign performance.
Responsibilities
- Campaign Strategy and Execution: Assist in developing and executing media campaigns that align with client objectives and target audiences.
- Client Liaison: Act as a bridge between clients and internal teams, ensuring clear communication and understanding of client needs.
- Documentation and Reporting: Create and update key documents and materials for the team and clients to ensure smooth operations.
- Cross Team Collaboration: Work closely with Digital, Partnerships, Analytics, and Strategy teams to ensure flawless campaign launches.
- Monitoring and Optimisation: Track campaign performance and collaborate with channel leads to identify areas for improvement and performance optimisation.
- Market Coordination: Coordinate with local markets, activation specialists, and channel leads to gather updates and ensure alignment.
Qualifications
- Able to stay organised and manage multiple tasks with strong attention to detail
- Confident communicator who can engage clearly with stakeholders and team members
- Curious mindset asks smart questions, learns quickly and thinks logically
- Comfortable working with data - able to interpret numbers, spot patterns and use insights to support decisions
- Confident using tools like Excel/Google Sheets to organise and analyse information
- Proactive approach to problem solving - takes ownership and looks for solutions
- Team-focused, reliable, and motivated to support collective success
- Genuine interest in media, brands and how campaign performance is measured
Additional Information
Employees joining The Pack, which is an early careers programme that connects, supports and develops you to kick-start your career with us, initially start with an annual salary of £28,850.
The recruitment process
- Step 1: Apply and get started!
- Step 2: Show us what you’ve got – complete some fun, interactive tasks through Arctic Shores’ assessment. Look out for this in your emails following your application!
- Step 3: A quick chat with a recruiter to get to know you better and for you to ask any questions and let us know if you require any adjustments.
- Step 4: Join us for a virtual assessment day where you can showcase your skills and strengths.
- Step 5: We’ll give you feedback, post assessment day, whether or not we move forward with your application.
Spark has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees. In addition to the classics, Pension, Life Assurance, Private Medical and Income Protection Planswe also offer;
- WORK YOUR WORLD opportunity to work anywhere in the world, where there is a Publicis office, for up to 6 weeks a year.
- REFLECTION DAYS - Two additional days of paid leave to step away from your usual day-to-day work and create time to focus on your well-being and self-care.
- HELP@HAND BENEFITS 24/7 helpline to support you on a personal and professional level. Access to remote GPs, mental health support and CBT. Wellbeing content and lifestyle coaching.
- FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES We provide 26 weeks of full pay for the following family milestones: Maternity. Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental Leave.
- FLEXIBLE WORKING, BANK HOLIDAY SWAP & BIRTHDAY DAY OFF You are entitled to an additional day off for your birthday, from your first day of employment.
- GREAT LOCAL DISCOUNTS This includes membership discounts with Soho Friends, local restaurants and retailers in Westfield White City and Television Centre.
Full details of our benefits will be shared when you join us!
Publicis Groupe operates a hybrid working pattern with full time employees being office-based three days during the working week.
We are supportive of all candidates and are committed to providing a fair assessment process. If you have any circumstances (such as neurodiversity, physical or mental impairments or a medical condition) that may affect your assessment, please inform your Talent Acquisition Partner. We will discuss possible adjustments to ensure fairness. Rest assured, disclosing this information will not impact your treatment in our process.
Please make sure you check out the Publicis Career Page which showcases our Inclusive Benefits and our EAG’s (Employee Action Groups).
How to Apply
via link
While we have publicised this opportunity, please note that: (i) the application and selection process is managed by the advertising company/organisation; and (ii) we rely on them to: provide accurate, up-to-date details about themselves and the opportunity; ensure that opportunities are ethical and paid fairly. To report a listing, please email [email protected].