Associate Director, Comms Planning

twentysix; Hilversum; Hybrid; EUR 91,000 - 108,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

PTO & holidays

401k with company match

Job summary

Monks is seeking an Associate Strategy Director, Comms Planning, to join Monks Media Studio. You will partner with Strategy, Media, Creative, Social, and Data teams to develop brand and campaign strategies grounded in human insights and behaviors.

You’ll craft briefs and decks that translate client asks into impactful plans, lead growth-driven thinking, and collaborate across disciplines to deliver measurable outcomes for diverse brands.

Qualifications

• 5–7 years experience in Comms/Connections Strategy or adjacent strategy (digital, media, social, brand) with at least 1 year specifically in Comms/Connections
• Strong writer and communicator who writes fact‑based, exciting, compelling narratives/briefs
• Self starter who’s eager to contribute
• Community‑minded networker ready to collaborate with our many capabilities
• Intelligent & perceptive, seeing connections and the big picture where others don’t
• Persuasive and thoughtful ability to change minds and tell a story
• No ego- the Monks’ culture is all about collaboration
• Creative mindset that permeates your strategic thinking
• Experience partnering with cross functional teams, creative teams and agencies, stewarding the brand and consumer

Responsibilities

• Own your strategic perspective, bringing your strongest thinking, insight, and communication skills to craft strategies that are relevant for our client’s day‑to‑day needs
• Bring your best strategic self: share your frameworks, approaches, historic findings and life experiences to the table, willing to share and adapt with other Monks across a variety of strategic pillars and executions
• You serve up sharp thinking in well‑designed decks that deliver on client/ project KPIs with care, vision, intelligence, and an understanding of the audience
• Extract behavioral tensions and cultural whitespace using audience intelligence platforms (e.g., GWI, YouGov) to ground broad brand goals in actionable human truths
• Analyze category dynamics and cross‑channel habits via syndicated and digital intelligence tools (e.g., Nielsen, Pathmatics) to uncover strategic vulnerabilities and high‑impact intersection points for our messaging
• Synthesize raw inputs into deck‑ready narratives—separating data points from the actual strategic implications that inspire creative teams and tether to trackable KPIs
• Be culturally aware and responsive to relevant shifts and trends, always seeking out opportunities, partners, and audiences that can expand our client work

Skills

Strategic Thinking

Strong Writing

Cross-functional Collaboration

Storytelling

Client Partnering

Creative Briefing

Public Speaking

Tools

GWI

YouGov

Nielsen

Pathmatics

Job description

Please note that we will never request payment or bank account information at any stage of the recruitment process. As we continue to grow our teams, we urge you to be cautious of fraudulent job postings or recruitment activities that misuse our company name and information. Please protect your personal information during any recruitment process. While Monks may contact potential candidates via LinkedIn, all applications must be submitted through our official website (monks.com/careers).

About the Role

Monks is on a mission to create a new future for this industry—one global, cross-cultural collective with a passion for using our skills to create better work and a better world. That’s how we’re able to connect the dots between data, content, media, and technology from everywhere we are—a true end-to-end model. Joining Monks means having the opportunity to create award-winning work with some of the most gifted, focused, joyful, borderline obsessive talents from all over the world.

Now, about the opportunity: Associate Strategy Director, Comms Planning. We are seeking a driven, communicative, reliable and insightful teammate to work alongside our Media Strategy and Brand teams, and become a trusted, invaluable partner to internal teams and client partners.

This role sits within Monks Media Studio, a purpose‑built collective of brand‑first thinkers whose charge is to raise the bar of Comms and Media Strategy. We look to bring creativity into media thinking and vice versa, creating campaigns and experiences that produce results far beyond their media reach.

You are a strong writer/communicator, as well as a visionary capable of architecting effective growth on behalf of brands, grounded in human insights & behaviors.

**You’ll collect data to inform strategies across brand development, campaigns, pitches, and projects. **Your day-to-day involves collaboration with our strategy partners in Media, Creative, Social, Data and more as projects require. You’ll be familiar with brand, media, and social strategies and frameworks, with the ability to take on solo tasks as well as collaborative projects.

**You’re a strong brief crafter and deck builder, who understands how to organize information, both written and visual. **You’ll be skilled in determining the key mindsets or behaviors we need to reach, jobs to be done and tactics to employ that inspire our multidisciplinary teams. You’ll also collaborate with them throughout creative development to ensure well‑rounded, thoughtful bodies of work.

Organization and time management are crucial. You’ll work on more than one project and client simultaneously, balancing priorities across your time. Your communication skills are excellent, as you’ll engage with disciplines across the Monks network to accomplish tasks with cross‑functional teams.

**You're considered invaluable to: **

• Media Strategy partners for your ability to help stay a few steps ahead, anticipating client/project needs, and helping to come up with solid strategic POV that tactfully course corrects and gives clarity (even under tight deadlines).

• Creative partners for translating client asks into clear, concise, actionable creative briefs (supported by insights) to inspire great work. You’re trusted as a creative sounding board, and connect with Creative teams throughout ideation to keep ideas on track. In presentations, you’ll set up the brilliant solution, supported by concise facts and effective, informed strategy.

• Client partners who count on you to bring a unique perspective, evolve thinking, and fundamentally enhance everyone's understanding of the brand, project, audience and more. As an Associate Comms Planning Director, you’ll be the voice of the consumer and the channels expert for our team and our client.

• Brand cohorts who rely on you as a source of inspiration to the department and an expert in 360° planning. You’re a no‑ego team‑player who thrives in collaborating to bring brand strategies and ideas to life in unique and thoughtful ways.

• Growth partners who trust you to support new business opportunities with differentiated and resonant planning approaches.

Responsibilities:

• Own your strategic perspective, bringing your strongest thinking, insight, and communication skills to craft strategies that are relevant for our client’s day‑to‑day needs.

• Bring your best strategic self: share your frameworks, approaches, historic findings and life experiences to the table, willing to share and adapt with other Monks across a variety of strategic pillars and executions

• You serve up sharp thinking in well‑designed decks that deliver on client/ project KPIs with care, vision, intelligence, and an understanding of the audience.

• Extract behavioral tensions and cultural whitespace using audience intelligence platforms (e.g., GWI, YouGov) to ground broad brand goals in actionable human truths.

• Analyze category dynamics and cross‑channel habits via syndicated and digital intelligence tools (e.g., Nielsen, Pathmatics) to uncover strategic vulnerabilities and high‑impact intersection points for our messaging.

• Synthesize raw inputs into deck‑ready narratives—separating data points from the actual strategic implications that inspire creative teams and tether to trackable KPIs.

• Be culturally aware and responsive to relevant shifts and trends, always seeking out opportunities, partners, and audiences that can expand our client work

About You

The essentials:

• 5-7 years experience in Comms/Connections Strategy or adjacent strategy (digital, media, social, brand) with at least 1 year specifically in Comms/Connections

• Strong writer and communicator who writes fact‑based, exciting, compelling narratives/briefs

• Self starter who’s eager to contribute

• Community‑minded networker ready to collaborate with our many capabilities

• Intelligent & perceptive, seeing connections and the big picture where others don’t

• Persuasive and thoughtful ability to change minds and tell a story

• No ego- the Monks’ culture is all about collaboration

• Creative mindset that permeates your strategic thinking

• Experience partnering with cross functional teams, creative teams and agencies, stewarding the brand and consumer

At Monks, we believe in fostering an environment where a diversity of perspectives can thrive. We proactively work to design hiring processes that promote equity and inclusion while mitigating bias. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve. We welcome and encourage qualified applicants, from all backgrounds, who are excited to contribute to our mission.

#LI-OG1 #LI-Hybrid

What We Offer

Benefits

• Excellent, full coverage medical, dental, and vision insurance - more about our coverage here!

• Generous PTO and 15 company‑wide holidays

• 401k with company contribution

• Paid parental leave

• Work‑life balance with an emphasis on personal well‑being

• Career growth in a disruptor space & entrepreneurial opportunities within the Monks network

• A globally diverse & inclusive culture with employee resource groups such as S4 Melanin, Pride.Monks, Cultura.Monks, and more!

• Authentic commitment to DEI efforts and sustainable growth. (Why Sir Martin Sorrell signed The Climate Pledge here!)

This role is subject to our Return to Office (RTO) policy. If you reside within a commutable distance of one of our office locations, you will be expected to work from the office a set number of days per week. The specific details, including the number of required office days, will be in accordance with the company’s then‑current RTO policy, which is subject to change from time to time.

Monks has provided a compensation range that represents its good faith estimate of what Monks may pay for the position at the time of posting. Monks may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. The salary offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on job‑related factors, but not based on a candidate’s sex or any other protected status.

Salary Range: $105,000—$125,000 USD**About Monks **

Monks is the global, digital‑first, data‑driven, unitary operating brand of S4 Capital plc. With a legacy of innovation and specialized expertise, Monks combines an extraordinary range of global Marketing and Technology Services to redefine how brands interact with the world. Through Monks.Flow, its flagship AI ecosystem for marketing orchestration, Monks transforms marketing into a growth engine, collapsing timelines and connecting brands to culture in real time. By deploying bespoke intelligent agents across disciplines and delivering culturally relevant, high‑impact creative and digital solutions, Monks solves key critical business challenges across the entire brand enterprise to help brands sustain long‑term impact.

Monks was named a Contender in The Forrester Wave™: Global Marketing Services, ranks among Cannes Lions' Top 10 Creative Companies (2022-25) and remains the only partner featured in AdExchanger’s Programmatic Power Players list every year (2020-24). Named Adweek’s first AI Agency of the Year (2023) and The One Show’s inaugural AI Pioneer Organization, Monks was also awarded Business Intelligence Group’s 2025 Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Award in both the Organizational and AI Product categories. As a trusted partner to cutting‑edge innovators in tech, Monks earned titles such as Optimizely Experimentation Partner of the Year (2025), runner‑up for the Adobe Firefly Partner Award (2024), and Workato’s AI Visionary Customer Impact Award (2024). Additionally, Monks achieved a record‑breaking number of FWAs and continues to hold the most of any partner.

We are an equal‑opportunity employer committed to building a respectful and empowering work environment for all people to freely express themselves amongst colleagues who embrace diversity in all respects. Including fresh voices and unique points of view in all aspects of our business not only creates an environment where we can all grow and thrive but also increases our potential to produce work that better represents—and resonates with the world around us.