Planning Manager

3117 - Planning Manager - UK

Role Summary and Impact

The planning team are the guardians of creating industry leading, unrivalled work. We are central conduits to all specialists, striving to push boundaries and have a positive impact on consumers and brand.

We are looking for a Planning Manager to join our growing planning team, to create impactful cross-channel campaigns and build your media planning skills.

In this role, you will lead day-to-day planning operations, act as a trusted advisor to clients, and mentor junior team members. This is an exceptional opportunity to take ownership of exciting client briefs, collaborate with specialist teams, and accelerate your career within a globally recognized media agency.

In this role, you will:

Media planning craft:

• Develop an in-depth understanding of media channels including where, when, and how to use them based on the client brief.
• Have a skilled knowledge of Wavemaker and industry media planning tools (including Wavemaker Architect, TGI, AdIntel, etc.) and be able to train other team members.
• Have a skilled understanding of industry best practices, planning theory, DE+I planning, and carbon-conscious media.
• Develop a fundamental knowledge of Wavemaker Purchase Journey thinking and our Provocative Planning Philosophy.

Campaign management:

• Take ownership of campaign activity including briefing teams, collating responses, managing client deliverables, and ensuring absolute accuracy across all workstreams.
• Work closely with the planning and activation teams to ensure the day-to-day account is run efficiently and effectively.
• Bring in specialist teams where needed to work on briefs and client questions.
• Ensure financial management processes (including PO trackers, bookings, reconciliations, and billing queries) are always excellent and met in a timely manner.

Effective communication:

• Become a trusted main day-to-day contact for junior clients, learning their business and ways of working, and ensuring all requests & queries are answered accurately and promptly.
• Support in managing Planning Executives, ensuring they are on track with daily tasks, and mentoring and challenging them with new projects to develop their careers.
• Develop a proactive problem-solving mindset, knowing when to flag any issues or concerns to the Planning Director.

Skills and Experience

At WPP Media, we believe in the power of our culture and our people. It’s what elevates us to deliver exceptional experiences for both our clients and each other. In this role it will be critical to embrace WPP & WPP Media’s shared core values:

• Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity.
• Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust.
• Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise.

Core Skills:

Practice Area Knowledge – Skilled

• Demonstrates solid knowledge of the media landscape, including future trends, best practices, and challenges.
• Comfortable using (or briefing out) the various products, platforms, and systems that comms planning uses.
• Demonstrates breadth and depth of industry understanding. Confidently uses tools, technology, techniques, and systems, and is able to train others.
• Comfortable presenting both direct from platform (Wavemaker Architect, etc.) and developing a story from data delivered outside of platform (TGI, AdIntel, etc.).
• Can confidently answer client questions and liaise with internal teams on the best solutions to use.

Problem Solving – Fundamental

• Applies focused questioning and systematic research to understand problems and their wider impact. Translates business problems into practical solutions.
• Uses critical questioning and maintains a broad perspective when analysing information to gain a deeper understanding of the issue.
• Quickly generates appropriate solutions informed by previous experience, knows how to resolve escalated issues, and supports others to problem solve.
• Provides communication support for troubleshooting issues internally and externally with third parties.

Stakeholder Relationships – Fundamental

• Demonstrates knowledge of the agency’s and client’s organizational structures, key stakeholders, decision-makers, business goals, and challenges.
• Cultivates, nurtures, and grows relationships with key clients, stakeholders, and decision-makers internally, externally, and virtually.
• Builds a working knowledge of market trends affecting the client and agency.
• Responds to stakeholder requests in an accurate, timely, and professional manner.

Effective Communications – Skilled

• Able to lead dialogues between and with internal and external partners (strategy, comms planning, channel planning, activation teams, clients, and media owners).
• Uses simple, clear, and human language wherever possible, but can be technical when required. Employs active listening and chooses the most appropriate communication channel and style.
• Breaks down complex technical information into understandable language, guiding others on best practice.
• Designs differentiated communications (content focus, style, presentation) for various internal and external audiences based on their familiarity with the subject.
• Confidently attends and presents at client and agency meetings.

Campaign Management – Skilled

• Manages and takes ownership of several projects/tasks accurately and thoroughly with minimal error, without losing track of important details, booking deadlines, or deliverables.
• Teaches others the importance of accuracy and thoroughness so that sufficiently detailed information is logged correctly.
• Manages campaigns from start to completion, maintaining accurate pipelines and campaign trackers.
• Delivers accurate reports with value-added insights and actionable findings to improve campaign performance.
• Accountable for the ongoing management of campaign budgets, including financial reconciliations.

Compelling Storytelling – Skilled

• Able to use knowledge of the media ecosystem, industry trends, and clients' business pressure points to build a persuasive story and recommendation that acknowledges their preferred communication style.
• Applies big-picture thinking in daily work and proactively leverages an understanding of the organization and industry trends.
• Designs differentiated communications tailored specifically to the target audience.

Ideas Creation – Skilled

• Generates or facilitates new ideas, methods, innovations, or creative media solutions that can deliver growth.
• Regularly engages in new projects/activities that can help solve identified barriers or opportunities as part of planning.
• Identifies the relevant partners and specialists to bring ideas to life.
• Uses wider industry knowledge and trend understanding to help generate solutions that deliver against communication objectives.

Comms Planning – Skilled

• Finds creative solutions for client business problems using media.
• Applies knowledge of the client, audience, channel, market, and category to effectively deliver compelling multi-media plans.
• Translates learnings and trends to create marketing communication strategies that are effective with clear measurement.
• Applies purchase journey thinking and visualizes how the media plan works cohesively across channels.
• Identifies and recommends strategic budget shifts as a campaign is in-flight where appropriate.

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.

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

Please note this is a UK-based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location.

Please read our Privacy Notice (https://www.wppmedia.com/pages/privacy-policy) for more information on how we process the information you provide.

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