Head of Talent Acquisition, Omnicom Advertising UK

Agency:

Job Function:

Job Subfunction:

Job Description:

Head of Talent Acquisition, Omnicom Advertising UK

Location: 135 Bishopsgate, London

Reporting: Monica Torres, Managing Director, TA and Caroline Penwarden, Chief People Officer, Omnicom Advertising UK

About Omnicom Advertising

Omnicom Advertising is the world’s biggest creative network, comprised of iconic agencies trusted by almost two thirds of the world's leading companies to build distinctive and lasting brands that are creatively celebrated and commercially proven. Omnicom Advertising is supported by Omni, the industry’s most elite cultural and customer intelligence, and partners with Omnicom’s connected capabilities to drive growth and fame for an enviable list of clients.

Advertising Core Solutions

• Brand & creative strategy: Build distinct and enduring brand platforms that create category leaders – and that reach beyond marketing to unlock broader business impact and innovation
• Creative development: Creatively-led, audience-based approach enabling CMOs and brand leaders to talk the language of business; driving both short and long-term growth through our creativity
• Brand experience: Creative built for the end-to-end: breakthrough ideas that transcend channels and cultures and can be personalized at scale across thousands of touchpoints
• Social & influencer: Translate a creative platform across social channels, unlocking the power of organic engagement, social influence, and audience-driven storytelling

Recognised For…

• #1 most awarded creative network over the past decade
• #1 largest global creative network
• #1 most effective holding group – 2025 Effies, 2025 Cannes Lion
• Grand Prix for Effectiveness
• 175+ Cannes Lions in 2025• 16x Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies (across TBWA, McCann, FCB, Deutsch, and The Martin Agency)

About Talent Acquisition

The in-house Omnicom Advertising TA Team is expanding to become a Centre of Excellence within the new Omnicom Advertising group to have responsibility across all open roles for all our UK agencies including Adam & Eve/TBWA, AMV BBDO, McCann and Lucky Generals. This builds on our talented TA team who currently place roles for the McCann agency. This role will stretch across 1,700 employees in roles that range from support roles and creative to account management and strategy across all our advertising agencies.

The TA team will focus on the following main areas:

Sourcing

Proactively identify and research talent, including passive and hard-to-find candidatesBuild and maintain talent pipelines for current and future hiring needsEngage candidates through targeted outreach and early relationship-building

Early Careers

Develop and execute strategies to attract students and early-career talentBuild and manage relationships with universities and early-talent partnersDesign and deliver early-career programs (internships, graduate programs, apprenticeships)

Executive Search

Lead in-house executive search for senior and critical leadership roles across the organizationProactively identify, assess, and engage senior-level leadership talentPartner with executives on confidential, high-impact leadership hiring

Talent Operations

Lead and optimize TA infrastructure, including applicant tracking systems (ATS), CRMs, and related hiring technologiesDefine, manage, and continuously improve TA processes, standards, and operating rhythms at scaleThis team will report up into the Global TA Centre of Excellence, based in New York and work closely with the other Connected Capability Centres of Excellence, UK HR Business Partner team and Executive Leadership in Omnicom Advertising.

Role Summary

The Head of Talent Acquisition for Omnicom Advertising is a newly created UK role, pivotal in expanding the breadth and influence of the Talent Acquisition team across the Advertising group.This is a hands-on recruiting and team leadership role focused on delivering recruitment and building agency relationships, and on guiding, developing and coordinating the UK TA team. The successful candidate will establish credibility through the quality of talent they deliver, alongside their ability to lead change.The role will bring together existing recruiting capabilities into a connected UK team, providing clear direction and stability during a period of organisational change. They will partner closely with the Managing Director, Omnicom Advertising, UK HR Business Partner leadership and agency leaders, while collaborating with the broader regional and Global TA Centre of Excellence structure as it develops.Success in the role will be demonstrated through:

• Creating a high-functioning, high-impact UK Talent Acquisition team, drawing on Sourcing, Early Careers, Executive Search and Talent Operations capabilities.
• Establishing the UK TA Centre of Excellence as a trusted partner to Omnicom Advertising CEOs and executive teams. Personally delivering critical hires, including senior agency roles, demonstrating the value of in-house recruitment through early, visible successes.
• Reducing reliance on external recruitment partners by building an effective and credible in-house recruitment model.
• Managing the transition from external to in-house recruitment, driving consistency while respecting each agency’s brand, culture and hiring needs.
• Providing clear leadership, coaching and priorities for the existing team, expanding its reach beyond individual agency relationships to support the wider OA portfolio.
• Successful adoption of Workday across the TA team and confident, appropriately supported hiring managers.
• Supporting a robust hiring approval process that considers internal mobility, emerging talent and offshore resource options where appropriate.
• Building talent pools for recurring and high-volume hiring needs across OA.
• Developing the TA team into trusted advisers with a strong understanding of advertising, agency culture and the talent market.

Key Responsibilities

• Hands-on Recruitment: Personally lead a substantial portfolio of recruitment assignments, senior and business-critical roles. Maintain direct involvement in sourcing, candidate engagement, assessment and offer management.
• Agency Engagement and Change Management: Build relationships within UK agencies, including those historically reliant on external recruiters. Understand their needs, communicate the in-house team’s capabilities and earn their confidence through successful delivery.
• Team Leadership and Stability: Lead, coach and develop the UK TA team, providing clear direction, consistent support and accountability. Help the team navigate organisational change and build confidence in the wider OA model. Recruiter Allocation and Prioritisation: Assess demand across agencies, allocate work according to recruiter expertise and capacity, and agree priorities with agency and HR stakeholders. Identify coverage gaps and recommend practical solutions.
• UK HR Partnership: Act as the day-to-day UK recruiting counterpart to HR Business Partner leadership, working closely with the Head of Recruiting, Omnicom Advertising, to align hiring priorities, resolve issues and support agency leaders.
• COE and Regional Partnership: Collaborate with Media TA and other Centres of Excellence to share expertise, improve processes and identify opportunities to deploy talent across the group. Support alignment with the evolving regional leadership model.
• Executive Search Partnership: Work with the Executive Search COE on appropriate leadership searches, agreeing ownership and drawing on its expertise and capacity while maintaining close agency relationships.
• Recruitment Process Optimisation: Continuously improve recruitment processes, efficiency and candidate experience, working with Talent Operations on implementation.
• Workday Adoption: Ensure recruiting activity is accurately captured in Workday. Partner with HR and Talent Operations to support hiring managers, resolve process issues and maintain reliable reporting.
• Sourcing Strategies: Implement effective approaches to attracting passive and hard-to-find candidates, and support recruiters in building strong talent pipelines. Candidate Assessment: Oversee consistent, effective assessment approaches that reflect the requirements of each role and agency.
• Diversity and Inclusion: Embed inclusive sourcing and assessment practices throughout the recruitment process.
• Metrics and Reporting: Monitor hiring delivery, recruiter capacity, agency adoption, candidate experience and external recruitment spend. Provide clear reporting and recommendations to TA leadership.
• Compliance: Ensure recruitment activity follows relevant employment laws, regulations and internal policies.
• PSL Management: Manage external recruitment partners and suppliers, using specialist support where justified while reducing unnecessary expenditure.

What You Will Bring

• A strong understanding of the UK creative agency landscape and an established network across it, including agency positioning, creative work, leadership and talent movements.
• Demonstrated success managing, coaching and developing recruiting teams.
• Experience growing an in-house recruiting service across multiple brands or businesses, reducing reliance on external search firms and showing its commercial value through improved efficiency.
• Substantial hands-on recruiting experience in creative agencies, with the ability to assess creative talent and deliver senior and specialist hires.
• Experience balancing competing hiring priorities and deploying recruiter capacity across a complex organisation.
• The credibility to partner with and influence agency CEOs, creative leaders, hiring managers, HR, Finance, Talent Operations and specialist COEs.
• A practical, steady approach to change: able to listen, respond constructively to resistance and build support through consistent delivery, even through ambiguity.
• 15+ years of progressive Talent Acquisition experience in advertising, media or related professional services.
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills.
• Familiarity with Workday or comparable recruiting systems, and a commitment to accurate data and effective processes.

120-130K

To the extent permissible by local law, Omnicom’s policy requires employees to work in the office for a minimum of three days a week, unless additional in-office days are directed by their agency or manager.

Omnicom is committed to hiring and developing exceptional talent. We agree that talent is uniquely distributed, and we’re focused on developing inclusive teams that can bring the best solutions to everything we do. We strongly believe that celebrating what makes us different makes us better together. Join us—we look forward to getting to know you. We will process your personal data in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice.

Link to Recruitment Privacy Notice: https://www.omc.com/privacy-notice/

At Omnicom Group, careers are designed for growth. We’ve purposefully crafted a transformative talent experience built with accountability in action — focused on community, impact, and opportunity.