Senior Media Planner (Mat Cover)

We are looking for a Senior Media Planner to join our team on a 14-month fixed-term contract. You will own the strategic media planning approach for Sky HISTORY, developing integrated campaigns across linear TV, BVOD and Sky cross-promotion, while also leading promotional airtime planning across the Netherlands and Sweden. Alongside managing campaigns from strategy through to delivery, you will use viewing data and campaign performance to identify opportunities, shape Marketing briefs and influence the wider Marcomms team. You will also play an important role in developing our strategic promotional activity with Sky and in identifying new ways to improve campaign effectiveness. Media Planning sits within Hearst Networks’ Marketing and Communications department. We help audiences discover the programmes they love by strategically connecting them with content across our brands, platforms and territories. This is a 14 month fixed-term maternity cover contract role, hybrid based in our London office, working on exciting, award-winning brands including Sky HISTORY and Crime+Investigation.

Key responsibilities:

• Own the strategic media planning approach for Sky HISTORY, developing integrated plans across linear TV, BVOD and Sky cross-promotion.
• Translate wider business, brand and marketing objectives into effective campaign strategies that maximise audience impact.
• Lead the planning and management of promotional airtime across the Netherlands and Sweden, ensuring inventory is used efficiently and effectively, campaigns reflect regional priorities and activity is delivered to a consistently high standard.
• Manage campaigns through to delivery, commissioning the right assets, overseeing implementation and proactively responding to schedule changes or other factors that may affect performance.
• Develop audience and campaign insight to inform future activity, using viewing data, historical performance and campaign results to identify opportunities, shape recommendations and provide insight for Marketing briefs and the wider Marcomms team.
• Build an integrated approach to campaign planning, working closely with Social, PR, paid media and other relevant teams to ensure activity is aligned.
• Lead Hearst’s strategic promotional activity with Sky, identifying and pitching priority content for partner support, framing recommendations through a clear media planning lens and building strong relationships with Sky’s promotional teams.
• Represent Media Planning in relevant business meetings, confidently sharing campaign strategies, audience insight and performance learnings, while providing clear media planning guidance to stakeholders.
• Identify new opportunities to improve campaign effectiveness, initiating analysis, testing new approaches and applying learnings to develop Media Planning’s capabilities and ways of working.
• Act as a senior presence within the team, leading by example, maintaining high standards and providing guidance, support and knowledge-sharing to junior colleagues.

To be successful in this role, we are looking for someone who can demonstrate the following key competencies:

• Formulating strategies & concepts
• Analysing & interpreting data
• Presenting & communicating information
• Persuading & influencing
• Planning & Organising

Essential Skills / Knowledge:

• Strong experience planning TV media campaigns, gained in a broadcaster, media agency or comparable TV environment.
• You will already understand core TV planning principles, including TVRs, reach and frequency, audience indexing, promo duration, airtime requirements and how planning choices affect campaign performance.
• A strategic, audience-led approach to Media Planning, with the ability to interpret viewing, audience or campaign data and turn it into practical recommendations.
• You will be curious about why audiences behave as they do and interested in using insight to improve both campaign decisions and wider Media Planning activity.
• Confidence using data and performance results to evaluate activity, generate learning and improve future planning.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, including the ability to build trusted relationships quickly, influence senior stakeholders and explain complex planning or performance information in a clear and accessible way.
• Excellent organisation and attention to detail.
• This role involves managing a high volume of campaigns, deadlines, data and operational tasks, so you will be comfortable creating structure, checking your work carefully and ensuring activity is delivered accurately.
• A proactive and constructive approach.
• You will be confident suggesting improvements, spotting opportunities and taking ownership, while also taking the time to understand existing processes and working collaboratively with colleagues.
• A supportive team approach, with the ability to share knowledge and provide guidance to junior colleagues.
• This is not a line-management role, but the successful candidate will be an important senior presence within the team.
• Strong Excel and PowerPoint skills, alongside the ability and enthusiasm to learn new systems, particularly Camphouse.

Desirable Requirements:

• Experience planning or managing BVOD promotional airtime.
• Experience working on integrated or omni-channel campaigns.
• Experience working across multiple territories or international markets.
• Proficiency in TechEdge or a comparable BARB audience measurement tool.
• This would be a significant advantage, but training can be provided for the right candidate.
• An understanding of AdSmart, PromoSmart or similar targeted-TV technologies.

About Us

At Hearst Networks, we share stories that matter, inspiring and exciting our audiences with hit US franchises The Curse of Oak Island, Pawn Stars, must-see docudramas Original Gangsters with Sean Bean, and original commissions The Tattooist’s Son: Journey to Auschwitz, KURSK: 10 Days That Shaped Putin, Bradley Walsh: Egypt’s Cosmic Code. Over the past few years, we’ve championed our own original programming and relished in the successes of recent series’ such as Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny, Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and most recently Emmy nominated World War II with Tom Hanks. We welcome talented candidates with infectious enthusiasm and creativity, who love what they do, and are ready to learn, develop and thrive. Here you’ll find a community of innovative, collaborative and inspiring people who aren’t afraid to embrace responsibility and try new things together, as a team. We are a certified Great Place to Work® with a motivated and supportive culture that believes in working to live, not just living to work. Every employee has a voice and is encouraged to be themselves and be ambitious. With offices in Rome, Madrid, London, Warsaw, Munich and Johannesburg, we are a truly international organisation that celebrates difference and diversity. As an inclusive employer, we value the diversity of our teams and want our workforce to reflect our wider society. We encourage and welcome applications from people from under-represented backgrounds and are keen to make sure we are inclusive and accessible to all. Please do let us know if you require any adjustments or assistance for meetings and communications with you when you apply for a role with us.

Hearst Networks Curiosity is what drives us to question, explore, and innovate. We approach challenges with an open mind, ready to grow and evolve as the world changes around us. When we stay curious, we keep learning, discovering fresh opportunities, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Courage is showing up as your true self, with confidence and heart, even when the road ahead feels uncertain. It’s about owning our choices, stepping beyond our comfort zone, and creating new paths and opportunities to explore for both our company and yourself. Care is part of everything we do - how we treat each other, approach our work, connect with our partners and the world. It’s about creating a culture where everyone feels included, respected, and truly supported. By acting with care, we nurture trust within our teams, building meaningful relationships throughout our company.