Senior Associate Director - Planning London, United Kingdom

1604 – Senior Associate Director – Planning

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships – all united by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open – we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth.

WPP Media is WPP\’s AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working.

About WPP Media

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit wpp.com.

WPP Media is WPP’s global media collective. In a world where media is everywhere and in everything, we bring the best platform, people, and partners together to create limitless opportunities for growth. For more information, visit wppmedia.com

About EssenceMediacom: A Leading WPP Media Brand

EssenceMediacom is a new breed of media agency. Grounded in analytics & insights and powered by data & technology, we believe in the power of media and creative to drive breakthroughs for the world’s best brands. We help clients understand the modern marketing paradox and discover the breakthroughs brands need to win with their consumers. We are designed for the new communications economy — built on data & technology, built for people & algorithms, built around diverse schools of thought, built to test & learn at scale, and, crucially, built to evolve.

Role Summary and Impact

EssenceMediacom is looking for a Senior Associate Planning Director to join the UK Akzo media planning team. Akzo has longstanding relationships with EssenceMediacom (10 years +) so you’ll be joining an account based on excellent client relationships. Akzo has gone through some transformative change and we have recently won their digital media business. We plan and activate through the line on what is now a digital-first, dynamic and diverse account leveraging high profile partnerships and brand advertising. This role is a fantastic opportunity for a strategic, quick thinking and creative media planner to develop work across all media channels both offline and online.

You will deliver best-in‑class media strategy, creative thinking, and implementation within the UK across a global client who leans into the agency in their integration of Essence’s media buying capabilities.

You will report into the Business Director.

Skills and Experience

At WPP Media, we believe in the power of our culture and our people. It’s what elevates us to deliver exceptional experiences for both our clients and each other. In this role it will be critical to embrace WPP & WPP Media’s shared core values:

• Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity.
• Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust.
• Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise.

Responsibilities

• Managing the team and senior client relationships to ensure best in class comms planning and client servicing
• Effectively managing the wider EssenceMediaCom team to ensure collaboration and efficiency
• Leading annual planning and the running of any in year projects/workshops
• Ensure detail, accuracy and quality of all deliverables
• Developing your team, setting and monitoring KPIs
• Assisting your BD in the running of the account

What you will need

• Solid multimedia planning experience
• Experience managing senior clients and stakeholders
• Experience coordinating multiple stakeholders and agency partners
• A thirst for learning about technology, trends, media, people, brands and the industry
• An ambition and tenacity to make the ordinary extraordinary
• An ability to spot the real issue behind the brief – knowing how to challenge the client to understand what they really need
• Data‑literacy – aware of the available resources and how to turn data into insights that shape clear strategic opportunities
• To have an opinion and be able to voice it in a clear and positive light
• Good storytelling skills – to give our ideas and thinking the best chance of coming to fruition
• Team management skills, including the ability to communicate clearly and manage workload
• Calm under pressure

Life at WPP Media & Benefits

Our passion for shaping the next era of media includes investing in our employees to help them do their best work, and we’re just as committed to employee growth as we are to responsible media investment. WPP Media employees can tap into the global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, grow their networks, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising. We have a variety of employee resource groups and host frequent in‑office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our benefits include competitive medical, group retirement plans, vision, and dental insurance, significant paid time off, preferential partner discounts, and employee mental health awareness days.

WPP Media is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

We believe the best work happens when we\’re together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That\’s why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office around four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

While we appreciate all applications received, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Please read our Privacy Notice for more information on how we process the information you provide.

#J-18808-Ljbffr