Account Manager, Planning

We are recruiting for an Account Manager who is an exceptional and driven media planner, to join our Connections Planning team. You will be working on the Ford account in the UK – the biggest auto advertiser and one of the biggest accounts at Mindshare. We work in a unique ‘full service’ model meaning that the media teams collaborate closely with creative and account management teams within the Ford agency structure (primarily working with VMLYR). Both Ford and Mindshare embrace agile, collaborative working, which means we are essentially an extension of Ford’s marketing team. We foster a fully integrated team approach across media, creative and client, working together across the 3 team locations - 2 days (Mon-Tue) at Ford’s Dunton office, 1 day (Wed) at VML Sea Containers House and 1 day (Thu) at Mindshare Rose Court.

In terms of your day to day, the bulk of your time will be spent on planning exciting, award-winning campaigns as well as working with channel specialists to make sure the plans deliver. This involves everything from helping to define the approach to audience and the connections plan, as well as managing plans / budgets and helping with creative delivery. More detailed information below:

• Ford are laser focused on driving sales, so there is a strong focus on the performance of our plans, so all teams are responsible for making sure they are delivering as planned.
• Specify how to build and target audiences in addressable and non-addressable media and validate the approach to ensure that the defined audience can be reached at the scale required.
• Help design an approach that outlines how and where we will connect with defined audiences in media.
• Support the team in designing the connections ecosystem & plan, working closely and collaboratively with channel specialists.
• Day to day management of campaigns as a key liaison between clients and channel specialists.
• Designing measurement & testing framework to inform as well as measure and optimise the campaigns.

About you: You show a breadth of understanding of media channels (especially online) and can discuss the role they play within a comms strategy. Have an interest in both brand and performance campaigns. You are a tool ‘wizard’...well not quite but excellent knowledge of audience research and planning tools (e.g. TGI & Touchpoints) is a must and awareness of / familiarity with alternative sources (such as media owner tools & data) is a plus. Ability to draw clear insights and implications for media (i.e. connecting the outputs of different insight systems successfully). Take responsibility for the upfront work that needs to happen in order to deliver a great, clear and concise universal brief to the specialist teams that hits the clients' brief on the head. You are confident in presenting with passion and conviction. You are excited to work as part of a team; immediate, wider department and specialists as required. Leading by example though presence and contribution. Taking the responsibility for working in a collaborative, inclusive way. You demonstrate excellent attention to detail and accuracy in output and meeting deadlines. As well as strong organization to meet client expectations, manage workflow for self and junior team members. Demonstrate a proactive desire to continually improve own knowledge and wider skill set. You are open minded, flexible and have a challenger mindset.

What we can offer you: A strong salary commensurate and in-line with relevant experience. 25 days annual leave and your birthday day off. Ongoing internal and external training opportunities. Flexible working. The opportunity to attend industry conferences and awards nights. Career and personal progression. Private Healthcare. Excellent pension matching structure.

About Mindshare: Mindshare is a leading global marketing and media services network with billings in excess of £23 billion worldwide. We work with some of the most famous businesses and brands in the UK – such as Unilever, Ford, KFC, Marks & Spencer and TK Maxx. The Mindshare network consists of 116 offices across 86 countries throughout the USA, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific; each dedicated to forging competitive marketing advantage for businesses and their brands.

Our ambition is to drive Good Growth for our clients. Good Growth is about delivering growth that is enduring and is considerate of people and planet. Media is a powerful force, and we need to be mindful of the responsibility that it brings. We help our clients make better decisions by ensuring we use media in a trusted, inclusive and sustainable way. We recognise that in order to drive Good Growth, we need to place people at the heart of everything we do. Understanding people, not demographics allows us to place media meaningfully into their lives. Good Growth is a big ambition – one which inspires change for the industry but also for our agency and we achieve this through our values of Energy, Empathy and Impact.

Working for Mindshare: Our brilliant people allow us to deliver our ambition. We invest heavily in their development to ensure they are progressing and thriving wherever they work in our business. We also think inspiration for our staff is key and our pinnacle and flagship event of the year, Huddle, connects people, opinions and perspectives across borders and is all about learning something new and participating.

Committed to Diversity & Inclusion: We have a big dream at Mindshare, to become the most inclusive place to work in the country! This will take time but the whole agency is passionate about making it a reality. To support this, we currently have 8 Employee Resource Groups available for our people to join and be a part of including, Roots, PrideM, Women in Business, Enable, Declassify, 0Borders, ADAM and Working Parents. These groups hold the agency to account for making progress and, along with our Mental Health Allies, design and lead events and initiatives that help us create a welcoming environment to all and a place where everyone can be their most confident self.

(Please note this is a UK based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location)