Head of Financial Controllership - Media

BRAND: Publicis Groupe
Job Function: Finance
Location: London, United Kingdom
Experience Level: Management
Workplace Type: Hybrid

Company description

Publicis Groupe is a global leader in communication, operating in over 100 countries with 114,000 people globally. We help the world's leading brands drive growth by combining creativity, media, data, technology and consulting.

We are designed to help our clients thrive, with the capabilities, the experience and the understanding needed to help our clients unlock growth in a platform world. Through our Power of One approach, we bring together the right expertise from across our agencies to deliver joined up, end to end solutions.

"Viva la Différence" sits at the heart of our culture. We value individuality, encourage different perspectives and believe our differences make us stronger. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can learn, grow and do the best work of their career.

Overview

Head of Financial Controllership, Media

About the role:

We are hiring a Head of Financial Controllership, Media to play a senior leadership role within Publicis Groupe UK. This role sits at the heart of our Media practice, ensuring financial integrity, strong governance and high-quality insight that supports confident decision-making. You'll work closely with Media and Finance leadership, leading a sizeable controllership team and shaping how we report, plan and perform. This is a role for an established finance leader who brings depth, judgement and impact at scale.

This role sits within the Finance team and will be reporting into the Group Finance Director.

What you'll be doing

• Own and lead all financial reporting cycles, ensuring accurate, timely and high-quality reporting aligned to UK MT timelines and accounting standards
• Maintain a robust and compliant financial control environment across reporting, reconciliations and transactions, in line with Groupe policies
• Partner with Commercial and Media leadership to deliver accurate forecasts and annual Commit (budget), supporting growth and performance outcomes
• Provide technical accounting leadership on complex transactions and guide teams through changes in accounting standards and reporting requirements
• Drive disciplined expense management and TWC performance, monitoring agency results against KPIs
• Identify and deliver process improvements through automation and smarter ways of working, improving efficiency and reducing risk
• Lead, develop and inspire a high-performing controllership team, with a strong focus on succession planning, inclusion and continuous improvement

Skills we're looking for

• A qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) withsignificant post-qualification experience, operating at senior controllership or finance leadership level
• Demonstrable experience leading financial reporting, forecasting, budgeting and compliance within a complex, multi-entity or matrixed organisation
• Strong technical accounting expertise, with the confidence to advise on complex and non-standard transactions
• Proven people leadership experience, including leading managers and developing high-performing teams at scale
• Experience driving process improvement and embedding efficient, well-controlled ways of working
• The ability to partner credibly with senior stakeholders, translating financial detail into clear and actionable insight
• A collaborative, thoughtful approach, with sound judgement and the confidence to challenge constructively when needed

If this sounds aligned to your experience and career stage, we'd be pleased to share the full job description and explore the role with you.

#LI-CR1

Additional information

Publicis Groupe offers a wide range of benefits to support our employees. Full details are shared when you join, but highlights include core benefits such as Pension, Life Assurance, and Private Medical cover, alongside enhanced policies like Reflection Days and Shared Parental Leave. You'll also have access to a range of additional initiatives, including:

Please check out the Publicis Career Page which showcases our Inclusive Benefits and our EAG's (Employee Action Groups).

Publicis Groupe works primarily from the office or our clients' office four days per week.

At Publicis Groupe , we are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, and do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, disability, age, citizenship, relationship status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic.

We are committed to providing a fair, accessible, and inclusive recruitment process. If you have any access needs - for example, related to disability, neurodivergence, or a health condition - please let us know. We'll work with you to ensure the process works for you. Sharing this information will never impact your application.

Guided by our values, we listen with empathy, uplift each other, take responsibility, and embrace change - building a culture where everyone feels seen, respected, and genuinely included.