Sydney Head of Investment (12 Month Contract)

Full job description
Media Trading
Sydney, Australia
Spark Foundry
Management
Hybrid
7/6/2025
110983
25-7557

Company description

At Spark Foundry, our vision is to Fuel Famously Effective Ideas. Famous and Effective. Not one or the other — both. That sounds nice, but to get to famously effective ideas you need some key ingredients.


You need diverse thinkers and diverse thinking. We call this Allsorts. This helps us tackle obstacles through different disciplines and perspectives. You need to thrive on the belief that great ideas are only great if they work. It’s not enough to be new or cool or interesting.

Our solutions need to drive a business result. Everything else is vanity. You need to embrace both the art and the evidence. Right and left. Imagination and activation. Insight and technology. Big ideas forensically measured.


All that while being a good human. Sound like you? Sound like where you’d like to be? We’d love to meet you.



Overview

This is a 12 month contract role.


The Sydney Head of Investment works closely with the National Head of Investment and the Chief Investment Officer in leading Spark’s Activation product and team across Sydney, driving commercial advantage for both our clients and the agency, contributing to business growth for both. This person has responsibilities encompassing driving strategic solutions that deliver marketing led growth for our clients and operational best practice across the agency.


They should demonstrate internal and client leadership, commercial acumen and vision, and inspire the Activation team to deliver a cohesive, proactive approach to investment solutions that helps our clients grow. The development and mentoring of the Activation directors and group directors in Sydney is a hugely important part of the role.


This person should seek opportunities to develop innovative, efficient investment solutions and to test emerging trading models in market. They should contribute positively to the agency’s reputation in market through trade press contributions and general advocacy.



Responsibilities

Activating all campaigns using the Spark Activation Model & Philosophy:


Support and oversee Activation Directors / Group Activation Directors in annual Client specific negotiations to ensure best outcome in line with or better than market / PMX benchmarking, delivering on client investment KPIs and pitch pricing commitments.
Ensure that the senior Activation Team are delivering optimal negotiation outcomes on major sponsorships and cross channel media partnerships including digital channels.
Oversee the negotiation of Sydney agency wide trading positions across all media ensuring all benchmarks, trading strategies & contractual agreements are met.
Work with CIO on developing Spark's Activation Product and ensuring that the wider team, our media partners and our clients understand the investment philosophy.
Ensure consistency of Activation process and product across all Sydney clients.
Help drive market leading reputation for excellence in Spark’s activation capabilities, media partner relationships and value creation

Act as a senior escalation point and trusted advisor for key clients


Develop and maintain senior client contact at CMO level across Sydney clients.
Develops relationships with their peers and with senior media owners, both to better service the client and with a view to creating new business opportunities.
Ensure that all client KPIs and pitch pricing guarantees are met
Ensure media auditing processes are managed by the teams and attend client audit meetings
Proactively support Group Client Partner to manage client related Activation issues when required.

New Business


Active participation in the agency new business program, leading the Activation response for new business projects and response to briefs
Lead pitch pricing submissions for new business / PMX requests
Make recommendations on team structure and costings for new business proposals
Proactively seek new business opportunities for the agency where possible

Internal & external relationship management


Maintain productive working relationships and regular contact with Market and National Sales Directors
Escalation point where necessary to ensure issues are resolved in a fair and objective manner.
Lead contributor in cross discipline Directors WIP's to ensure the wider team are kept up to date and to ensure key initiatives are actioned
Work closely with Sydney GM to support Sydney office financial delivery, efficient and effective team structure and operations, and client satisfaction (indicated by client survey results) is consistently high
Ensure seamless integration with all other agency teams ensuring all clients feel there is one Spark team
Lead by example in terms of collaboration with all disciplines in the agency and media owners

Qualifications
15+ years experience in media, at least 10 in investment roles
Expert across the following Office platforms: Word, PowerPoint and Excel
Expert on media investment tools including Spectra, MOVE, AQX, ETam
Possess market and industry knowledge – historical and current.
Possess strong financial management skills and business acumen.
Experience of leading teams of 10+ people
Excellent presentation and client leadership skills
Outstanding negotiation skills
Strong senior media owner relationships
#LI-JH1

Additional information

Publicis Groupe benefits: Be a part of the Publicis Groupe family, recent winner of the Employer of Choice Awards and one of the world's most progressive and dynamic modern communications businesses. You can learn more about us at www.publicisgroupeanz.com.


Enjoy all the perks that come with our network offering:

A comprehensive Wholeself program supporting physical, mindful, and financial wellbeing.
A creative, lively, and rewarding office environment where people love working with each other, supported by our Publicis Liberté flexibility approach — "working your way with us."
Access to our Global AI Platform Marcel, connecting Publicis Groupe employees with opportunities for career mobility and collaboration across our global network.
Extensive Learning & Development opportunities including more than 15,000 learning programs via our online learning platform, Marcel Classes.
A culture of open feedback and support to reach your goals through our Career Conversations program.
A committed Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion strategy driven through our Viva Women, Égalité, enABLE, EmbRACE, and Écologique committees.
Leave benefits including Birthday Leave, Flexible Public Holidays, and an additional 5 days of leave after 2 years of service.
Work Your World program enabling employees the flexibility to work from anywhere in the world for up to 6 weeks per year.
Parental leave policy with up to 18 weeks based on tenure, paid primary carer leave, secondary carer swap, and Cub Care leave.
Access to counsellors, psychologists, and professionals through Sonder, an all-in-one digital wellbeing technology platform designed to support psychological, medical & safety needs.
A workplace that stands together to provide a more open, supportive, and recovery-forward culture for all employees with life-threatening illnesses. Read more about our Working With Cancer Pledge: https://workingwithcancerpledge.com/
Proud partners of Diversity Council Australia, Pride in Diversity, Family Friendly Workplaces, Supply Nation, and the Australian Disability Network.
If you don't tick every box in this ad, please don't rule yourself out. Research suggests that women and other people in underrepresented groups tend to only if they meet every requirement. We focus on hiring people who share our values of inclusion, collaboration, adaptability, fearlessness, and integrity rather than ticking boxes — so if this role resonates with you, please.


Diversity. Inclusion. Equity. More than just words; these are part of our DNA. At Publicis Groupe, we are committed to the inclusion and recognition of all people regardless of race, age, culture, ability, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, ****** orientation, marital status, and religious affiliation. We believe that to deliver the best solutions to our clients, our people need to reflect the diverse communities in which our clients operate. We value diversity and the skills, knowledge, and experience that difference brings to our culture and solutions.


Uniqueness is powerful; without it, we wouldn't be where we are today. So be you — we like it that way.


We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for people with disability or those that require additional support throughout the application process. If you need any assistance or adjustments, please contact us via recruitment@publicisgroupe.com; your personal information will be kept confidential.