Global AdTech Associate Director (Diageo)

About the Role:

The Global AdTech Director is responsible for leading the strategic direction, governance, and evolution of advertising technology across a complex, multi-market digital ecosystem.

This role sits at the intersection of media activation, data, technology, and operations, ensuring AdTech platforms, integrations, and processes operate consistently and effectively across regions, markets, and partners.

Key responsibilities

• Oversee the strategic direction, governance, and evolution of the global AdTech ecosystem across platforms, markets, and partners
• Design and maintain scalable AdTech architecture, ensuring seamless integration across media activation, data, measurement, and finance
• Establish global standards, principles, and operating models that balance consistency with local market and regulatory needs
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex AdTech, tracking, and platform challenges, providing calm, credible leadership
• Enable markets and teams through clear frameworks, documentation, and ways of working, driving confident and consistent execution
• Partner with senior stakeholders to translate technical complexity into clear, commercially relevant outcomes
• Drive innovation, automation, and test-and-learn initiatives that improve efficiency, quality, and future readiness
• Lead and influence AdTech capability development, fostering accountability, transparency, and long-term stewardship of the ecosystem

What makes this role unique?

Interdisciplinary mindset
You bring a holistic, end-to-end view of the digital ecosystem, combining deep AdTech expertise with curiosity across media activation, data enablement, measurement, privacy, and platform orchestration. You are comfortable operating across disciplines, understanding how decisions in one area impact performance, governance, and scalability elsewhere.

Systems architect
You connect the dots across media platforms, technology, data, and operations to design integrated, resilient AdTech ecosystems. You balance innovation with stability, and speed with governance, ensuring solutions are scalable, compliant, and built for long-term sustainability rather than short-term optimisation.

Process engineering & operating model design
You excel at bringing structure to complexity. You design clear standards, principles, and ways of working that enable consistency across a complex landscape of global markets and stakeholders, while allowing for local nuance.

Agile, influence-led leadership
You thrive in dynamic environments, applying agile principles to guide teams through change, adapt to evolving needs. You enable teams and markets to execute confidently within well-defined frameworks, fostering accountability, transparency, and collaboration at scale.

About you

We are looking for someone who has a deep technical foundation and a genuine passion for building digital ecosystems that work. You combine hands-on platform expertise with a strategic mindset, and you are energised by solving complex problems across media, data, technology, and operations.

You bring credibility in front of senior stakeholders, with the confidence to challenge constructively and translate technical complexity into clear, actionable outcomes.

You will likely bring:

• Proven experience in AdTech, digital operations, or media technology within complex, multi-market environments
• Deep, hands-on knowledge of AdTech platforms (e.g. DSPs, ad servers, verification, measurement) and their integration into broader data ecosystems
• Experience operating in global or regional roles, working across diverse markets and stakeholders
• A growth mindset with a track record of leading change, driving adoption, and improving ways of working
• Strong systems thinking and collaboration skills, with the ability to connect technical detail to commercial outcomes
• Excellent organisational and project management skills, with a focus on action and delivery

About the Agency:

PHD is a growth-focused media agency driven by innovation and creativity.

Founded in London in 1990, we were the first