Head Integrated Delivery

Publicis Groupe · Johannesburg

Company description

Publicis Groupe Africa is a leading marketing, communications, and business transformation network operating across 36 African countries, combining creativity, technology, and local insight to deliver integrated client solutions.

Publicis Groupe Africa is part of Publicis Groupe, the second-largest communications group globally, founded in 1926. The African network operates as a partnership of 44 communications agencies with offices spanning 36 countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, and many others.

Its headquarters are in Johannesburg and Cape Town, providing a central hub for continental operations.

Overview

HEAD OF DELIVERY

Delivery Leadership | Capacity | Production | Operational Excellence

THE OPPORTUNITY

Telecommunications is one of the most dynamic categories in the market, sitting at the intersection of technology, culture, connectivity, customer experience and everyday life. This role offers the opportunity to work with a leading telecommunications client and help shape the next generation of its agency partnership.

We are building a connected, future-fit model that brings together creativity, intelligence, data, technology, AI and world-class execution around the customer. It is an opportunity to influence the work and the capabilities we build, creating a partnership designed for today’s challenges and what comes next.

ROLE PURPOSE

The Head of Delivery leads the delivery function across the Publicis/client partnership, ensuring integrated work moves from brief to release with clear ownership, realistic plans and strong quality and commercial control. The role connects client priorities with the resources, production capability and governance needed to deliver them.

Working with Operations, Client Leadership and discipline leads, the Head of Delivery oversees project managers, traffic, creative and production resources within the agreed structure. The mandate combines portfolio delivery, capacity planning, team development and continuous improvement across local workstreams.

Responsibilities

PORTFOLIO DELIVERY LEADERSHIP

Oversee the portfolio of campaigns and projects, translating business priorities into integrated delivery plans and clear team accountabilities.
Lead delivery reviews, resolve competing priorities and intervene on risks, dependencies or blockers that threaten agreed outcomes.
Coordinate digital, social, content, retail, print and film production requirements with specialist leads and external partners.

RESOURCE AND CAPACITY MANAGEMENT

Forecast demand and capacity, allocate work against skills and availability, and balance utilisation with quality and sustainable workloads.
Build and maintain a trusted network of freelance and specialist production talent in partnership with the relevant teams.
Work with Client Leadership and Finance to assess estimates, scope changes, resource costs and margin implications before commitments are made.

PRODUCTION QUALITY AND GOVERNANCE

Embed clear briefing standards, delivery milestones, review gates, approval ownership and handover requirements across the portfolio.
Ensure production teams follow brand requirements, technical specifications, usage rights and agreed asset-management practices.
Maintain visibility of delivery health, budgets and escalation needs; agree recovery plans with accountable owners and track them to resolution.

OPERATING MODEL AND TEAM LEADERSHIP

Partner with Operations and global stakeholders to implement agreed workflows, platforms and reporting rhythms across disciplines.
Lead and develop delivery, traffic and production colleagues through coaching, performance conversations and practical capability building.
Use delivery data and team feedback to remove duplication, improve planning and build repeatable practices without weakening quality control.

AI CAPABILITY AND FUTURE WAYS OF WORKING

Partner with the Executive Operations Lead to implement AI-enabled delivery workflows, identify suitable automation opportunities and lead adoption across project, traffic and production teams.
Demonstrate effective prompting, iteration and critical evaluation. Use only approved tools and data; protect client information and intellectual property, check rights and provenance where relevant, and retain human accountability for final work.
Identify appropriate AI use cases, share practical learning and measure improvements in quality, speed or effectiveness. Recognise tool limitations and escalate uncertain, inaccurate or inappropriate outputs.

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

Reliable delivery across the portfolio against agreed scope, timing, budget and quality standards.
Accurate capacity visibility, effective resource allocation and timely escalation of constraints.
Improved delivery predictability, reduced avoidable rework and better commercial control.
A capable, accountable delivery team and consistent adoption of agreed ways of working.
Measurable improvements from AI and automation in delivery speed, quality or resource efficiency, with effective team adoption.

CRITICAL CAPABILITIES

Portfolio planning, dependency management and operational decision-making.
Digital, print and film production knowledge and quality judgement.
Commercial awareness, capacity forecasting and resource optimisation.
People leadership, stakeholder alignment and delivery improvement.
AI-enabled workflow design, automation judgement and adoption leadership.

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

At least 10 years of experience in advertising agency or production environments, with a strong operational background.
Demonstrated leadership of multidisciplinary delivery teams and complex local or global projects.
Experience managing capacity, workflows, production budgets and supplier relationships across multiple channels.
Confidence using project, resource and reporting systems and implementing practical improvements to delivery operations.
Demonstrated experience implementing AI or automation in delivery operations, including workflow changes, team adoption and measurement of operational improvements.

Additional information

Publicis Groupe Africa is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits any forms of Discrimination or Harassment. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all our employees in line with our Employment Equity Plan.

All appointments will be based on qualifications, experience and best fit but preference will be given to candidates from designated groups. Interested candidates must please submit a concise CV including a link to your portfolio if necessary. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Should you not hear from us within 2 weeks after submitting your application, please consider your application as unsuccessful.

PUBLICIS VALUES

Trust through respect, transparency and accountability. Talent through collaboration, development and high standards. Transformation through curiosity, continuous learning and improvements that create value for clients.