National Head of Activations

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About Havas

Founded in 1835 in Paris, Havas is one of the world’s largest global communications groups, with more than 23,000 people sharing one single mission: to make a meaningful difference to brands, businesses, and people. Havas has developed a fully integrated model through its 70+ Havas Villages around the world, covering all communication activities. The teams of the three business units, Havas Creative Network, Havas Media Network and Havas Health & You work together with agility and in perfect synergy to offer tailor-made, innovative solutions to clients that support them in their positive transformation. To meet the needs of our clients, Havas has developed a seamlessly integrated global strategy and operating system, Converged, offering end-to-end tailor-made communications solutions, supercharged by the latest data, technology and AI, and powered by humans, while contributing to defining the future of the industry.

About Havas Media Australia

We’re not your typical media agency, nor do we want to be. We offer a Different Village Mode, a Different mix of capabilities, with a Different Entrepreneurial culture. In a market facing increased consolidation, we believe being Different is the greatest competitive advantage. Being Different uncover new opportunities. Being Different outsmarts versus outspends. Being Different punches above its weight. Our clients are challenger brands, and so are we. At Havas Media Australia, We Dare to be Different.

As we enter the next era of Havas Media, we are looking for a National Head of Media Activations

We don’t want just another media leader, we want a leader that brings, Different to the table. The ideal candidate will be a respected media activations and Adtech professional, who has achieved outstanding local results. We don’t believe in siloed media activations; this role will be overseeing a national multi-discipline team across all media implementation planning & buying. You will be a commercial leader with strong relationship with media partners and vendors. As a senior leader within our business, you will contribute to industry bodies, councils and thought leadership pieces.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Vision
• Define and execute the national activation strategy aligned with agency expertise and client goals
• Set strategic frameworks (Mx thinking: Connection × Context × Content) to guide all major activations.
• Collaborate with leadership to integrate activation into broader media and brand planning.

• Activation Delivery & Excellence
• Oversee campaign execution from briefing to delivery across all activation verticals.
• Partner with all internal teams (creative, media strategy, trading, client services) to deliver award-worthy work.
• Ensure tight campaign coordination, budgets, timeline governance, and QA.

• Team Leadership & Capability Building
• Build and manage a team of Activation Leads, Partnership & Performance Directors
• Mentor and develop senior and junior talent.
• Drive agency-wide activation best practices and innovation.

• Performance & ROI
• Establish activation KPIs tied to revenue uplift, awareness, engagement and retail metrics.
• Oversee measurement frameworks and post-campaign evaluation.
• Optimise future strategy using learnings and insights.

• Thought Leadership & Growth
• Champion Havas Media as a thought leader in activation through industry events, insights, and strongest-in-class frameworks.
• Support new business pitches, innovation platforms, and culture-shaping activations.
• Stay ahead of shifting industry trends, consumer behaviours and platform evolutions, ensuring that the agency remains a step ahead of competitors

The ideal candidate will need:

• Proven experience leading a high performing media planning and buying team
• Strong understanding of the Australian media landscape and emerging trends
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong relationships with senior media partners
• Excellent negotiation skills – both written and verbal
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills
• Proven leadership, team management and collaboration skills
• A track record of driving commercial growth and deliver client success