Planning Lead

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

About WPP & OpenDoor: At WPP, we’re constantly reinventing the future of creativity on an ever-broader canvas, bringing together unrivalled talent, resources and skills to provide an integrated offer of communications, experience, commerce and technology. Over the last decade, we have developed a dedicated global client practice with the mission of accelerating WPP’s impact for our largest clients by bringing them the best of WPP. Each team is custom-built around a client’s specific needs and challenges, providing easy access to the right capabilities. And that’s why we’ve built OpenDoor for Amazon.

OpenDoor is a unique integration of the best of WPP and Amazon – building on their respective strengths and visions. Whether at WPP or at Amazon, every project is an OpenDoor on new possibilities. Anything and everything can be an opportunity for our people to drive impact – for them to innovate, learn, thrive, and occasionally fail too. The unique OpenDoor partnership model is built to deliver next level productivity, fueled by our industry-leading approach to People, Platforms, and Process. OpenDoor spans across all WPP agencies and disciplines such as media, business consultancy, communications and brand strategy, tech and commerce, public relations, and production.

OpenDoor’s values are built from Amazon’s own 16 Leadership Principles, and WPP’s core values of Open, Optimistic and Extraordinary. Together, when WPP’s Creative Transformation meets Amazon’s next-level customer-centricity, our people come together to challenge and impact what’s done today and build a better future.

By joining OpenDoor, not only are you joining a cross-function team partnering with one of WPP’s top five global clients, but you are also taking a step to challenge yourself and the world around you every day, working in the most unusual way on some of Earth’s most ambitious opportunities in marketing, tech, media, business, and creativity.

Role Summary and Impact: We are searching for a talented and enthusiastic individual to join our OpenDoor team as a Planning Lead. This is a full-time position based in London. The role will report to the Global Client Lead and will manage a team of 5 across EU markets. This role plays a crucial part in supporting WPP's mission to deliver consistency, delivery excellence and best-in-class service for Amazon in every country across its diverse businesses, including XCM, Prime Video, and RMI. RMI is the reputation management and insight team at Amazon. The RMI marketing division’s mission is to advance Amazon’s reputation by creating persuasive advertising campaigns and empowering the company’s leaders and communicators with strategic insights. Their advertising campaigns aim to improve Amazon’s corporate reputation by raising awareness about positive reputational facts. OpenDoor is RMI’s media partner everywhere in the world except North America and Latin America.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the planning output for RMI EMEA, ensuring best practice planning is consistently delivered from the hub and across all locales.
• Drive new solutions and methods within planning responses, including innovation and tech solutions that will deliver reputational growth.
• Display an advanced understanding of media channels, channel ecosystems and planning best practices.
• Work closely with EMEA Strategy Lead to translate strategic approach into planning practices for specific client briefs and pitches.
• Be an expert in a broad set of internal tools, as well as external tools to build a deep understanding of the consumer, the operating landscape, the client’s business and its specific opportunities.
• Have an expert overview of the media market landscape, trends and maintain media owner relationships.
• Demonstrate strong commercial acumen in planning recommendations to support client objectives and efficient use of budgets.
• Develop a skilled understanding of commercial practices and of the wider agency.
• Build and maintain client and agency relationships at a senior level, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of stakeholders and client business.
• Oversee team members to discuss current projects, workload and activities prioritising resources accordingly.
• Oversee and lead multi-market comms strategies with the local comms planning teams, working closely with and managing the Regional Planning Director to champion comms planning excellence, curiosity and supportiveness.
• Expertly shape planning presentations and narratives through compelling storytelling that unifies internal and external teams to drive the client’s business forward.
• Design differentiated communications for various internal and external audiences.
• Challenge the client and team in innovating and designing new solutions, methods and products to remain competitive and lead the industry.
• Independently solve problems, including integrating and questioning data and insights, finding solutions based on knowledge and experience.
• Promote an analytical approach and problem-solving capability to the team.
• Lead the development and execution of data-driven marketing campaigns across the Amazon business, bridging Amazon and WPP technologies and capabilities as required.
• Utilize WPP Open and other cutting-edge tools to standardize best in class planning, ensure leading organization and track campaign performance / identification of optimization opportunities.
• Collaborate with WPP (media and beyond) and Amazon team members to ensure seamless campaign delivery and achieve outstanding results.
• Define and apply clear metrics to evaluate campaign effectiveness, using insights to optimise future strategies.
• Contribute to a culture of innovation by exploring new technologies and approaches to marketing challenges, and proactively advise stakeholders around comms planning trends and how it impacts their business.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and best practices, particularly in the areas of reputation, e-commerce and digital marketing.

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.

• Significant, senior-level experience leading planning on global clients.
• Excellent writing skills, able to communicate ideas clearly and effectively.
• Can confidently answer client questions and liaise with internal teams on best solutions to use.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment whilst maintaining a partnership focus throughout.
• Uses critical questioning and maintains a broad perspective when analysing information to gain a deeper understanding of the problem and wider impact.
• Comfortable presenting both directly from platform and developing a story from data but delivered outside of the platform.
• Has an understanding of how behaviour change theory and practice influences communications campaigns and the role of company reputation on wider corporate performance.
• Consistently delivers communications to influence and educate all levels of seniority, appropriately judging the demands of the situation.
• Successful delivery of key launches in line with scope, resources and agreed budget.
• Productive and well-prepared for client and network status meetings.
• Adherence to Ways of Working both by clients and internal teams.
• Improves workload management by supporting others in setting priorities and by postponing less relevant work.
• Deliver monthly thought leadership (engaging with internal and third-party stakeholders as required).

Bonus Points:

• Understanding of B2B channels as well as B2C.
• Successful E2E management of Multi-Market campaigns (brief, RTB, execution and reporting).
• Applies big picture thinking in work and proactively leverages an understanding of the organization and key industry trends.
• Familiarity with Amazon’s way of working (narratives over powerpoint) and their leadership principles.
• Familiarity with Amazon Ads.
• Understanding of Amazon's ecosystem.

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. We’re 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.

Please note this is a UK based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location.