At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead media planning and budget management to maximise marketing effectiveness.
- Company: Join Ocado Retail, the world's largest online supermarket with a vibrant culture.
- Benefits: Enjoy private medical insurance, discounts, hybrid working, and generous holiday options.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a dynamic environment while growing your career in online retail.
- Qualifications: Experience in media planning and econometrics, with strong collaboration skills.
- Other info: Be part of an innovative team that values your unique self and ideas.
The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 ÂŁ per year.
Contract type: Permanent
Location: Hatfield (Hybrid working - 3 days in the office)
Working hours per week: 40 hours
Level: Lead
Application Closing Date: Thursday 25th December 2025
About us
Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivalled service, and reassuringly good value. We’re Ocado Retail, a market‑leading joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S, and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket.
About the team and the role
The Media Planning and Effectiveness Lead is a pivotal role, responsible for ensuring we are planning our media budget effectively across paid, owned and earned activity and constantly interrogating its effectiveness to ensure we are maximising ROAS and budget impact. This individual will be the steward of the overall media budget, ensuring its strategic deployment across the full marketing funnel to achieve core business and marketing objectives.
Success in this role requires a blend of hands‑on media expertise, a deep understanding of marketing effectiveness, econometrics and exceptional collaborative skills to coordinate effective media deployment across internal teams and external partners.
What you’ll do
- Strategic Media Planning & Budget Management (in collaboration with individual owners)
- Budget Stewardship: Manage and steward the end‑to‑end media budget, making data‑driven decisions on allocation across channels (e.g., brand building, performance, acquisition) to optimise full‑funnel performance and in line with the agreed media tenets.
- Full‑Funnel Strategy: Develop, champion, and continually refine the full‑funnel media strategy, ensuring integration between upper‑funnel (e.g., brand, awareness) and lower‑funnel (e.g., conversion, performance) activities.
- Deployment Coordination: Act as the central coordinator for media deployment, working closely with channel owners and marketing execution teams to ensure flawless and timely activation of the plan.
- Econometrics Expertise: Serve as the internal subject matter expert for marketing mix modelling and econometrics. Interpreting outputs to derive actionable insights, translate findings into revised media strategies (in partnership with channel owners), and challenge established norms.
- KPI Management: Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics across all media activities, ensuring a clear link between media inputs and marketing outcomes.
- Test & Learn: Champion a rigorous and innovative test‑and‑learn agenda, across channels, to continuously improve media effectiveness and efficiency allowing us to future‑proof new ideas to reach new audiences.
- Key Agency Liaison: Act as the primary point of contact and lead relationship manager for our media agency partner.
- Performance Oversight: Hold media agency accountable for delivering against strategic objectives, challenging their recommendations, and ensuring the quality and accuracy of their media plans and reporting.
- Internal Collaboration: Be a great collaborator, proactively partnering with internal teams (e.g., Brand, Performance, Analytics, Finance) to ensure media plans are fully aligned with creative assets, budget constraints, and business forecasts.
Who you are
- Proven experience of progressive experience in media planning, strategy, or effectiveness roles, client‑side or agency.
- Demonstrable first‑hand experience in designing and implementing full‑funnel media plans that effectively balance long‑term brand building with short‑term performance goals.
- Mandatory experience with Econometrics (Marketing Mix Modelling), including interpreting results, briefing MMM studies, and applying findings to media decisions.
- Proven ability to manage and influence a major media agency relationship, ideally with experience managing a group such as Havas.
- Exceptional collaborator with the proven ability to influence cross‑functional teams without direct reporting lines.
- Strong financial acumen and experience managing significant media budgets and forecasting media ROI.
- Excellent communication skills, capable of presenting complex media strategies and results to senior stakeholders.
What’s in it for you
By joining Ocado Retail, you’ll have the chance to experience life at the world’s largest online retailer, work with an amazing bunch of people who challenge what’s possible each day, and grow your skills and career in online retail. If that’s not enough to tempt you, you’ll also get access to loads of great benefits to sweeten the deal.
- Health & Wellbeing: Private medical insurance with option to add your family, Digital GP appointments, market‑leading family policies, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, dental insurance, and more.
- Spend & Save: Annual bonus scheme split between personal and business objectives, recognition with reward platform, up to 7% matched pension contributions, 15% Ocado discount, 20% M&S discount, free breakfast every day in the office, electric vehicle leasing scheme, and free shuttle bus from Hatfield station to the office.
- Never miss the moments that matter: Hybrid working, 26 days holiday plus 8 flexible bank holidays, options to buy extra holiday, 2 weeks work from anywhere, and lifestyle break opportunities.
Our Hiring Process
Lucky for us, we receive a high volume of applications and genuinely appreciate the time and effort invested by every candidate. To ensure a fair and thorough process, every application is reviewed by a member of our team. If your skills and experience are a strong match, a Talent Partner will contact you to discuss the role and guide you through the next steps of our hiring process.
Your Application and AI
In the spirit of innovation, we welcome you to use AI tools in your application, just as we use them in our own business at Ocado Retail. However, as you leverage this technology, please don’t lose sight of the most important element: your unique self. Your experiences, passions, and personality are what truly set you apart. Ensure that your application still authentically conveys who you are and why you’re a great fit for us.
Everyone’s welcome
Media Planning and Effectiveness Lead in Hatfield employer: Ocado Retail Ltd
Contact Detail:
Ocado Retail Ltd Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Media Planning and Effectiveness Lead in Hatfield
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in the industry, attend events, and connect with potential colleagues on LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can put in a good word for you.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by researching Ocado Retail and understanding their media strategies. Be ready to discuss how your experience aligns with their goals, especially around media effectiveness and budget management.
✨Tip Number 3
Showcase your skills through practical examples. When discussing your past roles, highlight specific projects where you’ve successfully managed media budgets or improved marketing effectiveness. Numbers speak volumes!
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in joining the Ocado Retail team.
We think you need these skills to ace Media Planning and Effectiveness Lead in Hatfield
Some tips for your application 🫡
Be Authentic: When you're writing your application, let your personality shine through! We want to know the real you, so don’t be afraid to share your experiences and passions that make you a great fit for the Media Planning and Effectiveness Lead role.
Tailor Your Application: Make sure to customise your application to highlight how your skills align with the job description. Focus on your experience in media planning and effectiveness, and show us how you can contribute to our mission at Ocado Retail.
Showcase Your Achievements: Don’t just list your responsibilities; share specific achievements that demonstrate your expertise in managing media budgets and driving results. Use metrics where possible to illustrate your impact and effectiveness in previous roles.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it shows us you’re keen to join our team!
How to prepare for a job interview at Ocado Retail Ltd
✨Know Your Media Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your media planning and effectiveness knowledge. Understand the latest trends in econometrics and how they apply to media strategies. Be ready to discuss specific examples of how you've used data to drive decisions in past roles.
✨Showcase Your Collaborative Spirit
This role requires exceptional collaboration skills, so be prepared to share examples of how you've worked with cross-functional teams. Highlight instances where you've influenced stakeholders without direct authority, as this will demonstrate your ability to navigate complex team dynamics.
✨Prepare for KPI Discussions
Familiarise yourself with key performance indicators relevant to media effectiveness. Be ready to discuss how you've defined and tracked KPIs in previous roles, and how those metrics have informed your media strategies. This shows that you can connect media inputs to tangible business outcomes.
✨Bring Your A-Game for Agency Management
Since you'll be managing agency relationships, think about your past experiences with agency partners. Prepare to discuss how you've held agencies accountable for performance and how you've challenged their recommendations to ensure alignment with strategic objectives.