Data & Tech Solutions Director

Company Description

Performics UK is the performance marketing arm of Publicis Media, committed to exceeding business goals by blending Data, Tech, Ops, and Talent to accelerate performance impact daily.

With over two decades of experience, we harness technology and innovation to generate and convert consumer demand across search, social, display, and commerce channels. Embracing a deep understanding of consumer intent and behaviour, we thrive on data-driven insights, guiding our planning and optimisation processes through rapid trials, real-time enhancements, and intelligent analytics.

As the world's first Performance Orchestration agency, we have a proven track record of driving performance impact across diverse sectors and markets, leveraging our industry expertise to innovate and transform swiftly.

Performics is dedicated to delivering award-winning results and empowering all Publicis Media UK clients.

Winner of PMW's Performance Marketing Agency of the Year 2023 & 2024!

Job Description

NextLab is the data & tech innovation hub for Publicis Next, a bespoke agency structure dedicated to Sky. Working on the Sky account offers a rare opportunity to collaborate with an advertiser renowned for its technological advancement and market leading strategies.

Our mission is to design and deploy the next generation of digital media solutions that drive measurable business outcomes. In 2026, we are pushing the boundaries of what is possible across emerging AI, advanced personalisation, and measurement transformation.

As a senior lead within the team, you will be at the heart of this transformation. This is a unique opportunity for a technical project manager or equivalent who thrives on complexity and wants to expand into a high-level solutions architecture remit. Reporting to the Solutions Lead, you will bridge the gap between initial ideation and the final deployment of sophisticated, custom-built tools.

The structure of NextLab offers a fluid and rewarding progression path. You will work side by side with the Solutions Lead to identify business challenges and design technical responses, while taking primary ownership of delivery roadmaps and product development.

You will also manage a Data & Tech Manager, overseeing the scaling of these solutions and ensuring we remain at the cutting edge of the industry.

Responsibilities

Deploying Future Technology

• End-to-end solutions delivery: you will own the process from a conceptual design to a functioning, high impact media solution. This involves taking full accountability for the delivery of bespoke tools and translating complex business needs into precise technical workstreams that maximise value for Sky.
• Technical expertise & oversight: act as the primary lead for internal development by coordinating senior specialists in growth science, engineering, measurement, and data strategy. You will provide the necessary 'hands-off' technical rigour to guide strategic decisions involving advanced modelling, data foundations, and cloud-based engineering.

Championing Innovation

• Pioneering identity strategy: play a pivotal role in maintaining Sky's competitive advantage by evolving their personalisation framework. You will help orchestrate the use of Publicis' proprietary identity assets alongside Sky's first party data and platform signals from partners like Google and Meta to create an unparalleled view of the customer.
• Designing for scale: partner with the Solutions Lead and Sky's internal teams to scope customisations for existing technology. You will contribute to the design of new systems, ensuring they are seamlessly integrated with Sky's existing data infrastructure and wider marketing technology stack, and translate into clear and actionable projects.

Owning the Pipeline

• Qualifying high impact opportunities: oversee the feedback cycle between our technical builds and the end users. By leading and developing the Data & Tech Manager to identify friction points and feature requests, you will ensure our technology and talent continues to evolve and drive long term value.
• Operational precision: refine briefing processes and internal workflows to ensure NextLab remains a streamlined, high output unit that maintains the polish and technical rigour expected by a client of Sky's scale and complexity.

Qualifications

Technical Mastery

• Expert delivery management: significant experience leading the delivery of complex data & technology projects. You must be adept at interpreting stakeholder needs and defining the technical requirements for engineers and data scientists.
• Agile and sprint fluency: a proven ability to coordinate rapid development cycles. Even if not strictly following scrum, you have experience managing sprints for solution development and course-correcting to maintain project timelines.
• 'Hands-off' technical depth: you should possess a deep technical understanding of data principles. Experience with multi-faceted digital transformation projects enabled by cloud platforms and advanced data modelling, is critical.
• Adobe ecosystem knowledge: familiarity with the Adobe stack is highly desirable but not essential, with a focus on CDP infrastructure and applications, and practical experience with complementary modules like Adobe Journey Optimizer.

Strategic Vision

• Client-facing polish: exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to navigate a sophisticated advertiser & agency environment and build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders.
• Critical thinking: a proactive, solutions-oriented mindset with the confidence to challenge technical experts and identify, highlight, and mitigate risk.
• Commercial drive & context: a background in digital media preferred whether agency, sales, tech or client side, with a clear desire to move into a high-level solutions delivery remit.
• Inspirational leadership: experience managing and developing junior talent, with a track record of upskilling individuals into technical delivery roles.

Additional Information

Publicis Media 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 WORLDopportunity 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.
• BENEFITS24/7 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 POLICIESWe provide 26 weeks of full pay for the following family milestones: Maternity. Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental . - >This
• FLEXIBLE lin . • ?