Head of Journey Planning

Publicis Groupe; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Publicis Groupe Africa is seeking a senior leader in media planning to translate growth strategy into a connected PESO journey and align audience activation with channel roles and budget principles. You will orchestrate the integration of vertical channel plans into a single, coherent media plan and lead briefing quality and KPI articulation.

The role emphasizes strategy-to-execution, cross-channel integration, and measurable outcomes aligned with growth objectives and JTBD.

Qualifications

• Translate strategy into ecosystem architecture.
• Convert growth audience into channel and platform logic.
• Strong understanding of ATL, digital, social, commerce and performance channels.
• Stitch specialist outputs into one plan.
• Write clear specialist briefs.
• Rationalise investment allocation.
• Connect planning choices to measurable outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Translate growth strategy into a connected media journey.
• Define how the growth audience can be reached, influenced and moved across paid, earned, shared, owned and commerce touchpoints.
• Build the media ecosystem architecture.
• Define the role of each channel before specialists create detailed plans.
• Create the Specialist Briefing Pack for channel specialists.
• Integrate vertical channel plans into one coherent media plan.
• Ensure the plan ladders back to the JTBD and strategic growth objective.
• Define plan-level measurement questions with the Measurement Lead.
• Own the plan-level implication of delivery variance.

Skills

Communications planning

Audience activation

Channel understanding

Integration

Briefing discipline

Budget logic

Measurement thinking

Job description

Company description

Publicis Plus is a newly formed, dedicated client team within Publicis Groupe Africa, partnering with one of the world's leading food and beverage companies. Join us at the start and help shape how a global partnership comes to life in South Africa.

Overview

Role purpose

Owns the translation of strategy into a connected media ecosystem. Takes the growth strategy and audience direction from the Strategist and turns it into a PESO journey, channel role architecture, audience activation logic, phasing, budget principles and specialist briefing pack.

Scope of role

• Audience activation logic
• PESO ecosystem planning
• Channel role definition
• Journey and moment mapping
• Budget allocation rationale
• Specialist briefing
• Integration of vertical channel plans
• Plan-level measurement questions
• Plan-level implications of under-delivery or variance

Responsibilities

Core accountabilities

• Translate growth strategy into a connected media journey.
• Define how the growth audience can be reached, influenced and moved across paid, earned, shared, owned and commerce touchpoints.
• Build the media ecosystem architecture.
• Define the role of each channel before specialists create detailed plans.
• Create the Specialist Briefing Pack for channel specialists.
• Integrate vertical channel plans into one coherent media plan.
• Ensure the plan ladders back to the JTBD and strategic growth objective.
• Define plan-level measurement questions with the Measurement Lead.
• Own the plan-level implication if a channel under-delivers or materially over/under-performs.

Mandatory artifacts owned

• Audience Activation Blueprint: Converts growth audience into media, platform, context and signal logic.
• PESO Ecosystem Plan: Defines how Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned and Commerce work together.
• Channel Role Framework: Defines the job of each channel before detailed planning starts.
• Journey / Moment Map: Defines consumer moments, occasions, touchpoints and sequencing.
• Budget Allocation Logic: Explains why budget is allocated across channels.
• Specialist Briefing Pack: Gives channel specialists audience, KPI, role, budget, timing and output requirements.
• Integrated Media Plan: Combines specialist outputs into a single coherent plan.
• Plan-Level Variance Note: Explains total-plan implications of delivery or KPI variance.

Key handshakes

• Channel Specialists: receives strategy from the Growth Media Strategist and hands over the Specialist Briefing Pack.
• Measurement Lead: receives strategy and plan inputs and hands over plan-level KPI questions.
• Buying Ops: receives the client-approved integrated plan and hands over a booking-ready plan.
• Client Lead / Strategist: receives outputs from Channel Specialists and hands over the integrated media plan.
• PCA team: receives input from the Measurement Lead and hands over plan-level learnings and future implications.

Decision rights

• PESO ecosystem architecture.
• Audience activation logic.
• Channel role definition.
• Budget allocation rationale.
• Specialist briefing quality.
• Integration of channel plans.
• Plan-level implication of delivery variance.

What this role is not

• Building every detailed vertical channel plan personally.
• Acting as TV planner, OOH planner, search specialist, social specialist and programmatic specialist all at once.
• Loading plans into billing systems.
• Supplier invoice reconciliation.
• Vendor onboarding.
• Tagging and trafficking campaigns.
• Producing raw dashboards.

Qualifications

Required competencies

• Communications planning: Translate strategy into ecosystem architecture.
• Audience activation: Convert growth audiences into channel and platform logic.
• Channel understanding: Strong understanding of ATL, digital, social, commerce and performance channels.
• Integration: Stitch specialist outputs into one plan.
• Briefing discipline: Write clear specialist briefs.
• Budget logic: Rationalise investment allocation.
• Measurement thinking: Connect planning choices to measurable outcomes.

Experience requirements

• 9+ years leading planning teams, standards and quality.
• KPIs
• Ecosystem quality: Strength of PESO plan and channel role clarity.
• Specialist handoff: Reduction in specialist rework due to unclear briefs.
• Plan integration: Quality of final integrated media plan.
• Audience activation: Evidence that audience logic translates into actionable channel plans.
• Measurement readiness: Plan has KPI and measurement logic before activation.
• Rework reduction: Fewer late-stage changes caused by planning gaps.

Additional information

How performance is measured

Ecosystem quality
Strength of PESO plan and channel role clarity.

Specialist handoff
Reduction in rework due to unclear briefs.

Plan integration
Quality of the final integrated media plan.

Audience activation
Audience logic translates into actionable channel plans.

Measurement readiness
Plan has KPI and measurement logic before activation.

Rework reduction
Fewer late-stage changes caused by planning gaps.