Director, Planning

Collaborating closely with the Executive Director, you will drive best practices sharing, innovation, and strategic thinking via a clearly defined operating model, framework, and toolkit.

You will design media plans that enable clients to maximize the impact of their advertising campaigns, working closely with them to understand their business objectives and advertising strategies.

You will lead the identification and analysis of target audiences' characteristics, behaviors, and media habits to determine optimal communication strategies. Your team will collect and analyze information about various media channels with regard to consumer behavior, circulation, audience trends, and the impact of different methods.

Based on client objectives, you will lead the design of media plans, recommending the most appropriate media channels, time spans, and locations. You will collaborate with measurement staff to demonstrate the effectiveness of campaigns and use data and insights to improve future ones.

Your client role encompasses both a national diner brand and a co-op franchisee structure, requiring the ability to adapt to the fast-paced restaurant industry while communicating the role and impact of paid media to both restaurant owners and C-suite stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead all media planning and buying aspects as assigned accounts.
• Monitor client programs and day-to-day business activity.
• Direct, develop and oversee planning objectives and strategies that deliver against business results and ensure client satisfaction.
• Lead and direct all core partners as part of the entire solution, including TV, programmatic, social, search, mobile, dOOH, and other emerging platforms.
• Oversee the flow of client media-related issues while creating solutions and resolving problems.
• Provide insight-driven recommendations and POVs.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships internally and with clients, media vendors, and GroupM teams.
• Sell the agency's services and capabilities in new business pitches to prospective clients.
• Oversee budget allocation process for media and fees across all media platforms.
• Inspire and support the two dedicated planning staff through strong leadership, collaboration, and mentorship.
• Partner with cross-discipline leads to deliver cohesive media plans and measurement strategies, ensuring clients receive best-in-class deliverables that align with strategic briefs.
• Partner with the Executive Director to implement new technologies and practices that will evolve the business including addressable and audience first approaches

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Advertising, Marketing, Business Administration, or Communication; OR equivalent professional work experience.
• 8+ years of directly related media experience.
• Relevant restaurant and/or retail client experience preferred.
• Complete knowledge of all aspects of media, inclusive of digital media.
• Solid understanding of interactive research tools.
• Understanding of the principles of marketing and advertising, as well as media concepts and terms, creative and budget requirements.
• Ability to translate data into well-articulated ideas.

Life at GroupM

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. GroupM employees can tap into the global GroupM & 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, vision, and dental insurance, significant paid time off, preferential partner discounts, and employee mental health awareness days.

GroupM is WPP's media investment group and the world's leading media investment company with a mission to shape the next era of media where advertising works better for people. The company is responsible for more than $60 billion in annual media investment, as measured by the independent research bureau COMvergence. Through its global agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker, EssenceMediacom, and T&Pm, and cross-channel performance (GroupM Nexus), data (Choreograph), entertainment (GroupM Motion Entertainment) and investment solutions, GroupM leverages a unique combination of global scale, expertise, and innovation to generate sustained value for clients wherever they do business. Discover more at www.groupm.com.

GroupM provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race; color; sex; gender identity; sexual orientation; religious practices and observances; national origin; pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; status as a protected veteran or spouse/family member of a protected veteran; or disability.

GroupM is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to, among others, individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to search and apply for a career opportunity with GroupM, please send an e-mail to GroupM Leave Administration at [email protected] or call (212) 297-8507 and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

The base salary for this position at the time of this posting may range from $100,000 to $230,000. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including business needs, experience, level of responsibility and qualifications. We offer a competitive benefits package, please visit https://www.wpp.com/careers/wellbeing/benefits-at-wpp-in-the-us for more details.