Account Planner - Programmatic in Kent

This job is with JCDecaux, an inclusive employer and a member of myGwork – the largest global platform for the LGBTQ+ business community. The Account Planner turns commercial commitments into technically deliverable campaigns. The role combines campaign planning, trading, technical troubleshooting and client communication, with training and support as you build your skills.

This is an entry-level opportunity to learn how programmatic advertising campaigns are planned, launched and managed across our digital advertising screens. Programmatic advertising uses technology to buy and deliver advertising. You'll support the team in turning client briefs and commercial commitments into campaigns, building your skills through training, guidance and hands-on experience. You do not necessarily need previous programmatic experience, or knowledge of our digital estate before joining.

Your work will help campaigns launch smoothly, deliver against client commitments and support revenue and a positive client experience. Accuracy matters, and you'll learn how to use checking processes, spot potential issues and ask for support. As your knowledge develops, you'll take on more responsibility for planning, campaign delivery and problem-solving.

What you'll be doing...

• Campaign planning and activation: support campaign planning and set-up, learning about our screens, formats, locations, availability and delivery rules. Use this knowledge, with guidance, to help check that proposed campaigns can be delivered.
• Audience recommendations: help interpret client briefs and explore audience information using our data management platform. Learn to assess whether audience groups are relevant and large enough for a campaign, and support targeting recommendations.
• Creative checks and approvals: learn our digital artwork specifications, brand requirements and approval processes. Check campaign assets against these guidelines and work with colleagues to resolve issues.
• Troubleshooting and testing: support the investigation of campaign delivery issues by checking information, following agreed processes and involving colleagues when needed. Through training, learn how platform settings, bidding activity, competition and creative requirements affect delivery, and help test dynamic creative optimisation, which adapts advertising content using data.
• Data and insight: help organise and check campaign data, identify patterns or unexpected results, and explain what they could mean for campaign delivery. With guidance, recommend practical next steps. Develop your Excel and analytical skills as you work with larger datasets.
• Client and colleague communication: learn to provide clear campaign updates, explain issues and next steps, and keep clients and colleagues informed, with support from the team.
• Programmatic activation: setting up, optimising and evaluating programmatic campaigns that we run in-house using a DSP (Demand Side Platform).

What You'll Learn

Through training and hands-on experience, you'll learn about our digital estate and delivery rules; the platforms used to buy, sell and deliver advertising and manage audience data and workflows; audience selection; creative specifications and approvals; and campaign troubleshooting. You'll learn how our advertising platforms connect, how information moves between them and how changes in one system can affect campaign delivery. You'll also build your understanding of pricing, deal structures, sales policies, revenue risk and partner commitments, including pricing by time of day, barter arrangements and managed services.

A little bit about you...

Skills You'll Bring

• Willingness to learn: an interest in learning new tools and processes, asking questions and applying feedback. Previous experience with advertising platforms is not required.
• Learning and applying information: the ability to build knowledge over time and use guidance when completing tasks. You'll learn about our digital estate on the job.
• Commercial curiosity: an interest in how advertising supports clients' objectives and how accurate campaign delivery contributes to the business.
• Analytical thinking: an interest in using information to answer questions, compare options and explain your reasoning.
• Attention to detail: care when checking information and following guidelines, using agreed checks to identify and correct mistakes.
• Problem-solving: a logical approach to checking what has happened, gathering information and asking for help when needed.
• Organisation: the ability to keep track of tasks, work towards agreed deadlines and flag when changing priorities or workloads need support.
• Clear communication: the ability to share information clearly, listen, ask questions and keep colleagues updated.
• Working with numbers: willingness to work with numerical information and check accuracy. Basic to intermediate Excel skills, including entering, sorting and checking data, to develop formulas, charts and pivot tables.

Qualifications and Experience

No previous media or programmatic advertising experience is required. We're looking for the skills and willingness to learn described above, rather than prior knowledge of our industry, systems or products.

A little bit more about us...

We believe in building a diverse and inclusive culture and positive employee experience. We are One Team, more than just ourselves. We are customer first, we understand, and help solve our customers' problems. We Test & Learn, we are empowered to learn and grow, unafraid of change. We choose to care, we are committed to doing the right thing, the right way. It's really important to us that we give as much to our colleagues as they give to us. Our latest Belonging Survey showed that our colleagues feel valued and listened to as we continue to build an environment where everyone can thrive, grow, belong and be their authentic selves. We believe that diversity of thought, experience and background provides the platform for great creativity. We are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability or gender identity. Many of our Colleagues work flexibly in many different ways. Please talk to us at interview about the flexibility you need. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.

About our recruitment process...

1. You find or get sent this job advert, read it, and feel like you're you'd be a great addition to the JCD family.
2. You send in your application to let us know you're interested.
3. We see your application, get excited, and give you a call.
4. You'll meet us twice, depending on the role prepare a presentation and we'll get to know each other.
5. You'll begin your journey with us, we're excited to support and develop you throughout your career.