Associate Director, Planning

Mindshare; Los Angeles (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Retirement plans

Vision insurance

Dental insurance

Paid time off

Employee discounts

Mental health days

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Mindshare in Los Angeles is seeking an Associate Director of Planning to supervise client implementations, coordinate with global marketing teams, and ensure seamless collaboration across creative and media. You will oversee the client implementation team, manage staffing, and drive strategic rigor to integrate work across disciplines.

The role requires 5–8 years in account planning or related media, with excellent leadership and presentation skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in advertising, marketing, business administration, and communications; OR equivalent professional work experience.
• 5–8 years of account planning or related media/communications planning experience, with a focus on team leadership and management.
• Experience and comfort facilitating ideation sessions.
• Excellent strategic thinking.

Responsibilities

• Maintain day-to-day client contact and agency contact regarding their area of responsibility.
• Oversee the development of objectives and strategies, as well as the development of plans and presentations.
• Supervise the group in the interpretation of competitive and other research data.
• Train and evaluate Supervisors, Managers and Associates on the team.
• Act as the liaison between internal teams as well as various partner vendors to ensure media performance.
• Maintain a deep understanding of business, target audiences and wider communications environment.
• Listen, identify, and articulate compelling drivers, barriers and channel relationship insights.
• Understand, embrace, and integrate client and creative agency research into plans.
• Package strategic frameworks, contextual frameworks and engagement ideas for clarity and client presentation.
• Assist in crafting compelling selling strategies.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Team leadership

Client relationship skills

Digital media planning

Quantitative skills

Research techniques

Presentation skills

Cross-disciplinary experience

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Desktop research tools

Qualitative research techniques

Job description

Role Summary

As an Associate Director of Planning, your primary objective is to supervise all implementation needs and communication with the client(s) and agency client/planning/other teams. You will liaise and coordinate with global marketing teams, as understanding international marketing will be essential to your duties. In addition, you will oversee the client implementation team to ensure productivity, including managing staffing and workload issues at the client team level. You will provide strategic rigor to implement ideas and ensure integration of the work between creative and media. You will also be well versed in 360 media planning to effectively convey and manage the media deliverable within the agencies.

Skills and Experience

• Maintain day-to-day client contact and agency contact regarding their area of responsibility.
• Oversee the development of objectives and strategies, as well as the development of plans and presentations.
• Supervise the group in the interpretation of competitive and other research data.
• Train and evaluate Supervisors, Managers and Associates on the team.
• Act as the liaison between internal teams as well as various partner vendors to ensure media performance.
• Maintain a deep understanding of business, target audiences and wider communications environment.
• Listen, identify, and articulate compelling drivers, barriers and channel relationship insights.
• Understand, embrace, and integrate client and creative agency research into plans.
• Package strategic frameworks, contextual frameworks and engagement ideas for clarity and client presentation.
• Assist in crafting compelling selling strategies.
• Bachelor's degree in advertising, marketing, business administration, and communications; OR equivalent professional work experience.
• 5-8 years of account planning or related media/communications planning experience, with a focus on team leadership and management.
• Experience and comfort facilitating ideation sessions.
• Excellent strategic thinking.
• Good client relationship skills, including experience interacting and presenting to senior-level clients.
• Experience working in and across multiple communications disciplines, including digital.
• Fully conversant with all major desktop research tools and qualitative research techniques.
• Excellent quantitative skills, including analytical abilities and math proficiency.
• Ability to work within and effectively manage a team, prioritizing and organizing multiple assignments for both self and team direct reports, where applicable.
• Demonstrate genuine curiosity and interest in our clients and their business.

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, and we're just as 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.

Legal & Accessibility

WPP Media is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to 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.

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