Planning Director (Nike Account)

Initiative Nederland | Part of Omnicom Media; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Initiative Nederland | Part of Omnicom Media in Amsterdam is seeking a senior leader to drive end-to-end cross-channel media planning for Nike Running & Training across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. You will lead a multi-market Planning team, coordinate with Nike and internal specialists, and steer annual budgets for mid-funnel campaigns.

You will champion bold media innovation and ensure campaigns meet Nike’s brand and business goals.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading multi-market and multi-channel media planning for world-class brands.
• Strong leadership and communication skills to inspire teams and manage partners.
• Experience shaping KPI frameworks and performance measurement for campaigns.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end cross-channel media planning and execution for Nike Running & Training campaigns.
• Head the Training & Running Planning team and allocate talent across campaigns.
• Own annual planning and budget for mid-funnel programmes in collaboration with Nike.
• Drive media innovation and champion bold, data-led approaches.
• Collaborate with Strategy, Local Markets, Analysts, and creative/production partners.
• Define a clear media vision aligned with Nike brand values and business goals.
• Recruit and develop a high-performing, inclusive team; manage stakeholder relationships.

Skills

Multi-market leadership

Cross-channel media planning

Team leadership

Stakeholder management

Budget & planning

Media innovation

Analytics & KPI frameworks

Strategic vision

Adaptability & resilience

Job description

Initiative is Nike's and Jordan brands media agency of record for EMEA, responsible for strategy, integrated media planning and activation, measurement, and data & technology services across 34 countries. Partnering with Nike is an extraordinary opportunity requiring extraordinary talent. Our vision is to build the best integrated team connecting brand and performance to deliver best in class outcomes. The Nike Initiative EMEA team is a highly diverse team, attracting the sharpest emerging and established media experts across all disciplines in the industry. With the chance to grow and do great work people all over the region will see, admire, and respond to.

You are accountable for the quality, impact, and creativity of all running and training related media work across channels and cities. Every campaign you lead must reflect Nike's values of innovation, inclusivity, performance and pushing boundaries

Key Responsibilities

• Campaign Planning & Execution Ownership: Lead end-to-end cross-channel media planning and execution for Nike Running & Training brand campaigns. Portfolio spans high-impact Brand, Athlete & Running/Training sports moments (London After Dark, Berlin Marathon, Hyrox) to mid-funnel Product launches. Ensure every initiative is innovative, athlete-centric, and sets new creative benchmarks for the sport.
• Team-lead: Lead the Training & Running Planning team (6+). Overseeing all client deliverables and allocating talent and resources across campaign work. Collaborating and upskilling talent to produce all client deliverables.
• Annual Planning Lead: Identify core partners for Running/Training and lead partnership for the year, collaborating with specialist teams and Nike to unlock long-term approach. As well as leading the year-long budget and channel plan for mid-funnel programme which supports key Nike franchises.
• Drive Media Innovation: Foster a culture of bold thinking and experimentation, constantly seeking new ways to elevate Nike's media presence and connect with athletes everywhere. Champion innovative approaches in media planning, buying, and measurement.
• Internal & Local Market Collaboration: Lead internal teams in complex environments, aligning with Strategy, Local Markets, Specialists & Analytics. Ensuring seamless integration for campaign activations.
• Nike Stakeholder & Cross-Agency Collaboration: Lead Running & Training contact from Initiative, responsible for high-level relationships with creative and production agency partners, creator agencies, and Nike media, brand and city stakeholders. Helping steer purpose-driven and high impact media executions which support Nike's business and brand objectives in training & running.
• Performance Measurement & Success Frameworks: Collaborate with Analytics teams during planning stages to architect comprehensive KPI frameworks which can quantify campaign success, utilising Brand Tracking, Social Listening, and Brand Preference Studies alongside traditional Media KPIs. Then lead on incorporating these findings into clear wrap-up materials, to inform future strategies and campaign plans.
• Strategic Campaign Leadership: Define and communicate a clear, purpose-driven media vision aligned with Nike's brand values. Ensure all campaigns are insight-led and support Nike's business and brand objectives in training and running.
• Talent Development: Recruit, develop, and inspire a high-performing team, empowering individuals to challenge convention, take creative risks, and deliver breakthrough media work. Foster a positive, inclusive, and high-energy environment.
• Operational Excellence: Lead the team to deliver at scale, enabling consistent improvements in quality, process, and outcomes. Ruthlessly prioritize initiatives that deliver the greatest impact for Nike and its consumers.
• Best of Omnicom: Bring Nike the best of Omnicom talent, media, and tech access, ensuring campaigns benefit from world-class resources.

What You Bring

• Proven experience leading multi-market and multi-channel media planning for world-class brands, ideally within sport, lifestyle, or youth culture.
• A personal and deep passion for Running & Training, with a core understanding of competitors, trends, talent, culture and conversation within these sports spaces.
• Drive for media innovation, with a track record of delivering disruptive media solutions that drive brand and business results.
• Strong understanding of the evolving media landscape, including digital, social, and emerging platforms relevant to sporting audiences.
• Exceptional leadership and communication skills, with the ability to inspire teams and build trusted relationships with clients and partners.
• Analytical mindset with experience in data-driven media planning and campaign optimization.
• Operational mindset and action orientation, with a demonstrated ability to take projects from ideation to live, simplifying the route to deployment.
• Adaptability and resilience, thriving in a fast-paced environment and quickly engaging teams toward new priorities. Managing multiple projects, team members, and stakeholders at any given time.
• Commitment to Nike's values: innovation, diversity, sustainability, and the belief in the power of sport.
• Strategic media planning experience: Ability to understand and drive a POV on the role media plays across the entire marketing ecosystem, as well as how each individual channel plays a role in driving business outcomes.
• In market planning experience: Proven in market planning experience, preferably in one of the EMEA 5 markets. You have the ability to bring local nuance and perspective to the EMEA team.
• Cross-functional marketing: Experience managing multiple stakeholders and complex marketing orgs across Brand, PR, Creative and Media.
• Measurement mindset: You understand the value of brand and creative measurement to drive impactful business discussions.