VP, International Planning

About WPP Media

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About EssenceMediacom: A Leading WPP Media Brand

EssenceMediacom is a new breed of media agency. Grounded in analytics & insights and powered by data & technology, we believe in the power of media and creative to drive breakthroughs for the world’s best brands. We help clients understand the modern marketing paradox and discover the breakthroughs brands need to win with their consumers. We are designed for the new communications economy — built on data & technology, built for people & algorithms, built around diverse schools of thought, built to test & learn at scale, and, crucially, built to evolve.

Role Summary and Impact

The Vice President (VP), International Media Planning & Insights, for the Airbnb account at [Essencemediacom, a WPP Media Company], is a pivotal leadership role designed to accelerate Airbnb's international growth by championing a market-first approach to media planning and activation. This individual will serve as the senior media agency partner to Airbnb's International Media Director and regional teams, acting as a single conduit to connect, synthesize, and represent the unique voice, needs, and opportunities of Airbnb's diverse international markets back to the central strategy.

This role is critical in evolving Airbnb's marketing model beyond a legacy global top-down approach, fostering greater autonomy for markets, and ensuring that media strategies are deeply nuanced, locally relevant, and deliver best-in-class results for the Homes business, new revenue from Experiences and Services, and overall international expansion.

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Key Responsibilities:

Market-First Strategic Partnership & Support:

• Serve as the senior media agency partner to Airbnb's International Media Director, deeply embedding in market priorities, challenges, opportunities, and solutions.
• Provide an essential ex-US perspective on Airbnb Media around the world, ensuring global strategies are informed by diverse regional realities.
• Act as a connector, bringing together media results, insights, and overarching themes across regions to identify patterns and best practices.
• Develop Media POVs that specifically support International opportunities, such as the case for unique ad formats, views on optimal data partners, and the evolution of Airbnb's Below-The-Line (BTL) approach.
• Provide ad hoc support to troubleshoot media challenges within EM as required, supporting both Guest and Host initiatives.

Voice of Market Media into the Center:

• Be the primary EM voice representing the international markets for central Media strategy development.
• Ensure that when building global strategies, market nuances are thoroughly represented, ensuring a truly global and effective view.
• Connect regional marketing teams and represent their perspectives in central media conversations and considerations.

Expert in Regional Media & Planning:

• Support regional EM teams in the development of media plans and processes that directly support Regional marketing goals.
• Collaborate with the EM Strategy lead on the development of 3-year local marketing plans, ensuring media strategies align with long-term regional objectives.
• Understand specific market priorities and proactively bring forward media opportunities that support them.
• Provide expertise and support for specific local media partners (e.g., RedNote, WeChat, Naver, and others), advocating for their strategic inclusion where relevant.

Media Results, Learnings & Best Practice Sharing:

• Consolidate and synthesize media results and learnings across markets (e.g., M13 media learnings, Local Programs learnings) to identify higher-level themes and evolve the BTL approach.
• Actively share learnings and best practices across all international markets to foster continuous improvement and efficiency.

ROW (Rest of World) Expansion Leadership:

• Run the ROW expansion brief within EM, designing the digital-first Media Operating System (OS) and its application as Airbnb expands marketing into new markets.
• Support in building a comprehensive Media activation playbook specifically for ROW Expansion.
• Support in onboarding new regional EM teams to the established Airbnb media approach and best practices.

Local Programs Coordination:

• Coordinate Airbnb's unique market Marketing Programs ("Local Programs") across the world, providing a single viewpoint for media plans supporting these initiatives.
• Roll up results across markets for international insight and perspective on Local Programs.
• Support Regional Marketing on 3-year Marketing plans related to Local Programs.

Client & Internal Stakeholder Management:

• Build and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with Airbnb's International Media Director, Regional Airbnb Media teams, Regional Marketing teams, Global Markets Team, and Growth and Emerging Marketing teams (ROW Expansion).
• Foster strong connections with both the Airbnb EMEA-based team and the central EM PST-based

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.

 

Characteristics & Qualities:

• Global Mindset with Deep Local Empathy: Possesses a nuanced understanding of diverse international markets, cultures, and media landscapes, coupled with the ability to think strategically on a global scale.
• Exceptional Connector & Facilitator: Proven ability to bridge communication gaps, synthesize disparate information, and foster collaboration across geographically dispersed teams and diverse stakeholders.
• Influential Communicator: Articulate, persuasive, and able to present complex media strategies and market insights clearly and compellingly to senior client and agency leadership.
• Proactive Problem-Solver: Identifies challenges and opportunities in international markets and proactively develops solutions and strategic POVs.
• Adaptable & Agile: Thrives in a dynamic, evolving environment, comfortable with ambiguity and able to quickly adapt strategies to new market needs and opportunities.
• Strategic & Analytical: Strong capacity for strategic thinking, data analysis, and translating insights into actionable media plans that drive business growth.
• Client-Centric Partner: Dedicated to understanding and solving client challenges, building trust, and delivering tangible value.

Experience & Qualifications:

Experience:

• Progressive experience in media planning and activation within a media agency environment, with a significant and demonstrable focus on leading and integrating media strategies for complex global or multi-market accounts.
• Experience working directly with international markets, possessing a deep understanding of their unique media landscapes, consumer behaviors, and regulatory environments (e.g., APAC, EMEA, LATAM).
• Proven track record of acting as a senior partner to clients, providing strategic counsel and driving media effectiveness across diverse geographies.
• Strong understanding of both global brand strategy and the practical challenges and opportunities of local market activation.
• Experience in designing and implementing digital-first media operating systems and playbooks for market expansion.
• Familiarity with Airbnb's business model, target audiences, and the travel/hospitality industry is highly desirable.
• Experience working within a large, matrixed agency network (like WPP) and collaborating with multiple agency partners and client teams across time zones.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize media results and learnings across regions to identify higher-level themes and inform future strategy.

Skills:

• Exceptional cross-cultural communication, presentation, and negotiation skills (verbal and written).
• Strong analytical capabilities with the ability to synthesize complex global and local data into actionable insights.
• Expert-level proficiency in media planning tools, research platforms, and ad tech relevant to global markets.
• Demonstrated proficiency and a forward-thinking approach to leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools for media planning, optimization, and insights generation.
• A strong aptitude for embracing and integrating new technologies and platforms to enhance media strategies and operational efficiency
• Fluency in a second major language (e.g., Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean) is an advantage.
• Ability to travel internationally as required to engage with market teams and clients.

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

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