Kanika Upadhyay joins PHD as group director, media implementation

SYDNEY: Kanika Upadhyay is making her next media move, joining PHD Worldwide as group director, media implementation, a role that places her at the centre of campaign execution, operational excellence and team development.

Announcing the appointment on LinkedIn, Kanika Upadhyay said she was excited to return to a discipline she knows well, while helping redefine how media implementation is delivered at scale.

“Thrilled to share that I have joined PHD as Group Director, Media Implementation,” she wrote. “Media implementation is often where strategy either comes to life or falls apart, and I believe there’s enormous scope to reimagine how it’s done at scale.”

Based in Sydney, Upadhyay said her focus will be split between building high-performing teams and driving structural and cultural changes that make strong implementation a consistent standard across the business.

She joins PHD after a four-year stint at GroupM, where she most recently served as performance group director. In that role, she led full-funnel marketing campaigns, worked closely with planning and digital teams, and managed key client relationships, including for Google.

Prior to that, she was performance director at GroupM’s Nexus unit, overseeing strategy development, budget allocation, performance optimisation and team leadership for major accounts including Google and Commonwealth Bank. Earlier, she served as client development manager for programmatic operations across New South Wales and Queensland.

Before her return to GroupM, Upadhyay spent six months as digital director at Havas Media Network, where she focused on performance campaigns, client relationships and process transformation initiatives.

Her career spans media, advertising and content. In India, she held leadership roles at CNBC-TV18, including regional head and associate account director, working across branded content, customised media solutions and client partnerships.

Upadhyay holds a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication from Amity University and an honours degree in English from Symbiosis International University.

With experience spanning media strategy, performance marketing, programmatic advertising and client leadership, Upadhyay’s appointment signals PHD’s continued focus on strengthening the operational backbone that turns media plans into measurable business outcomes.