Media Planning Associate Director 3 months in Slough

Temporary Role: 3 Months

London Office: Hybrid Working Model

Overall Purpose

We are looking on behalf of our client for an Account Director who will be responsible for overseeing high quality work across a portfolio of accounts. The successful candidate will oversee campaigns end-to-end and build effective relationships with stakeholders, guiding direct reports and specialists to deliver best-in-class media plans and marketing solutions. You will act as the main point of contact across projects and ensure nothing is delivered without your direction and/or approval. Strong project management skills are essential, and you will work collaboratively with teams to enable the smooth delivery of campaigns and projects. You will be a role model to Account Executives / Senior Account Executives and Account Managers / Senior Account Managers and play an instrumental role in supporting their career development. This role requires someone experienced enough to take initiative when the status quo is ineffective or progress is stalled. You will take ownership and accountability, seeing the bigger picture across accounts and thinking beyond individual media campaigns.

Core Competencies for the Role

• Stakeholder Management: You will lead a number of accounts, setting and exceeding expectations. You will build strong relationships with stakeholders, understanding brands, businesses and objectives in depth. You will confidently challenge where there may be a more effective way to achieve goals and help stakeholders understand how media activity fits within wider marketing ecosystems. You will work closely with senior leadership teams, keeping them informed of key actions, issues and opportunities. You will use senior colleagues as sounding boards where appropriate while confidently contributing your own point of view when problem-solving. You will provide fair, regular and evidenced feedback, handling challenges tactfully while also celebrating success.
• Technical Skills: You will have an excellent knowledge of the media landscape across offline and online channels, regularly staying informed on industry developments and trends. You will be able to translate communications briefs into clear, actionable implementation briefs for specialists and media partners, as well as create briefs from scratch. You will also be capable of educating stakeholders and junior team members on best-in-class media planning and activation. A strong understanding of categories, competitors and audiences is essential. You will proactively seek insights to improve work and ask the right questions to deepen understanding and drive stronger business outcomes. You will help establish robust measurement frameworks across accounts and continuously seek to improve effectiveness and incrementality across campaigns. You will lead PCAs/QBRs that meaningfully assess campaign impact against KPIs.
• Finance Management: You will have a strong understanding of budgets and commercial targets, ensuring that nuances in currencies, financial periods, fees and commissions are managed smoothly and communicated internally. You will oversee billing processes and ensure responsibilities are completed accurately and on time. You will be commercially minded and able to identify opportunities for incremental growth and revenue generation.
• People Influencing & Leadership: You will mentor and develop junior team members and proactively seek opportunities to strengthen your line management skills through ongoing development. You will follow internal management guidance and contribute recommendations for training and internal initiatives. You will understand what motivates both yourself and others. You will delegate and coordinate effectively, ensuring clarity around deliverables, deadlines, roles and responsibilities. Collaboration will be central to your approach, and you will actively seek others’ perspectives and input.
• Business & Team Contribution: You will actively contribute to wider business initiatives and encourage junior team members to do the same. You will be able to make valuable recommendations across teams and departments, contributing positively to internal operations and ways of working. You will stay engaged with industry developments and share relevant insights and learnings with the wider business.
• Business Development: An entrepreneurial mindset is encouraged, with a focus on identifying new opportunities across existing and prospective accounts. You will likely contribute to new business activity and enjoy the opportunity to strengthen and develop pitching skills.
• Effective Communication: You will be a strong written and verbal communicator, capable of producing concise, clear and visually compelling presentation decks and documentation. You will consistently seek “win-win” solutions and tailor communication styles to different situations and stakeholders. You will confidently run meetings independently, read the room effectively and know when senior stakeholder direction is required.

Essential Skills & Experience

• 5+ years’ agency experience, including at least 3 years in a cross-channel client services/planning role within a media planning and buying environment, across both upper and lower funnel campaigns
• A skilled planner with an excellent grasp of the roles of traditional and digital media channels and the ability to align activity with owned and earned communications touchpoints
• Strong understanding of media trends, technological developments and how these create new opportunities
• Ability to build strong stakeholder relationships and uncover underlying objectives and challenges
• Able to produce compelling, clear and well-crafted presentation decks
• Highly numerate, commercially astute, analytical, proactive and inquisitive
• Decisive and able to build support for decisions
• Responsible and accountable for both personal and team output, delegating effectively
• Excellent multitasking and organisational skills with exceptional attention to detail
• A fast-thinking problem-solver who adapts well to change
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with excellent presentation abilities
• Passion for creativity, media and communications
• Ability to empathetically line manage, coach and develop junior team members

Ideal Additional Skills

• Experience trading media
• Understanding of overseas media landscapes and buying processes
• Experience onboarding large new accounts
• Experience supporting large-scale pitches
• Experience running accounts independently

Remuneration & Benefits

Annual salary: £63,000 – £65,000 dependent on experience