Global Data Governance Director

BRAND: Starcom
Job Function: Client Management
Location: London, United Kingdom
Experience Level: Specialist
Workplace Type: Hybrid

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, P&O Ferries, 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 three years in a row (2021, 2022 and 2023) and most excitingly, Media Week's Agency of the Year 2023!

Overview

As Global Data Governance Director, you'll sit within our Data Excellence function, combining strategic leadership with hands-on delivery. You'll shape and maintain global taxonomy frameworks, drive data quality initiatives, and ensure that all paid media reporting is accurate, scalable and future-proof.

You'll work closely with global stakeholders across analytics, operations, activation and client teams, while leading offshore delivery.

Responsibilities

What You'll Be Doing

Global Data Governance & Taxonomy

• Define, evolve and govern global data governance frameworks and taxonomies
• Own master data assets (taxonomies, data dictionaries, business logic and processes)
• Ensure governance standards are adopted consistently across all markets

Data Quality & Integrity

• Design and oversee QA frameworks (manual and automated)
• Continuously improve taxonomy structures, validation logic and QA processes
• Support integration of data from multiple sources (APIs, third-party tools, manual inputs)

Dashboards & Reporting

• Act as a super-user for global dashboards, ensuring data accuracy and correct mapping
• Partner with development teams to optimise dashboards and reporting adoption
• Track market compliance and lead issue resolution and escalations

Leadership & Collaboration

• Direct and prioritise work for offshore QA and governance analysts
• Lead cross-market governance discussions and stakeholder alignment
• Stay ahead of data governance best practice, privacy and data safety standards (e.g. GDPR)

Qualifications

What We're Looking For

Essential

• Strong hands-on experience in data governance within a global media or marketing environment
• Deep understanding of paid media activation, buying and planning (Programmatic, Social, Search, Retail)
• Advanced Excel capability (large datasets, complex formulas; VBA a plus)
• Experience with taxonomy generators, validators and QA frameworks
• Familiarity with BI tools (Power BI, Tableau or similar)
• Confident working with APIs, data integrations and complex datasets
• A natural collaborator with exceptional attention to detail and problem-solving skills

Nice to Have

• Experience with Jira, Smartsheets or similar project management tools
• SQL or Databricks exposure
• Prior agency experience in a global operations, QA or data excellence role
• Experience working on brands advertising to children and young people

Additional information

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).