Chief Executive Officer

About the Role

Our client is a major media group headquartered in central Germany that has expanded strongly into digital business areas and is therefore well positioned for future markets. This growth is supported by a highly profitable traditional business, and over the next 5 to 10 years the organization must manage a smooth transition from today’s success to the achievements of the near future.

For a profitable agency subsidiary with around 300 employees operating across several locations, we are seeking a Chief Executive Officer for a digital agency.

You will hold full entrepreneurial responsibility for the agency and report its results directly to the media group’s executive leadership. Your emphasis will be on profitability, transformation, and leadership rather than day-to-day operations. Working with your management team, you will further develop the agency strategically and provide important innovative direction in a market environment rapidly changing due to AI and the resulting impact on the profitability of established and emerging business models.

This opportunity is intended for entrepreneurial, execution-focused leaders who have demonstrably managed and developed larger teams successfully and who are able to understand the priorities and expectations of a parent company within a mid-sized corporate environment and incorporate them into their work. Following a very strong multi-year buy-and-build growth phase, your main task will be to sharpen the agency’s processes and performance in a value-creating way and continue developing the platform and brand in fast-changing markets.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership by refining and executing the long-term growth and transformation agenda.
• Own financial performance, including profitability, cash flow, investment decisions, and resource allocation based on data-driven KPIs and the objectives set by the parent company.
• Lead the leadership team through direct disciplinary and functional management of reports while shaping a motivating culture.
• Drive business development and stakeholder management, represent the agency at the highest level, and take accountability for strategic key accounts and new business growth.
• Ensure operational excellence and scalability across all units, including creative, technology, production, and consulting.

Requirements

• Several years of leadership experience in a senior role within the digital, media, or consulting sector, ideally with scaling experience from 100 to 300+ employees.
• Proven ability to build and manage larger interdisciplinary leadership teams made up of creatives, technology specialists, consultants, and managers, with an empathetic yet performance-driven leadership style.
• Strong analytical ability, solid commercial understanding, and entrepreneurial judgment.
• Deep knowledge of digital business models, current technology trends such as AI or marketing automation, and data-driven marketing and communications.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills at C-level in both German and English.

What’s on Offer

• A competitive compensation package made up of a fixed monthly salary and performance-related bonuses, plus a company car for private use and modern communication equipment such as a mobile phone and laptop.
• Flexible working hours, mobile working options, and 30 days of annual leave.
• A broad learning and development offering with seminars, workshops, and e-learning for professional and personal growth.
• Varied and challenging responsibilities with plenty of room for your own ideas.
• A dynamic, positive work environment in a future-oriented company.

Application Documents

Applicants are asked to submit complete documents, including a tabular CV, photo, manager profile, references, and certificates, along with salary expectations and the earliest possible start date.