Associate Director, Media Planning (9-Month FTC)

About WPP

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.

About WPP Media

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit wpp.com.

WPP Media is WPP’s global media collective. In a world where media is everywhere and in everything, we bring the best platform, people, and partners together to create limitless opportunities for growth. For more information, visit wppmedia.com

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 Media Planning team at EssenceMediacom are experts on the paid media landscape and how audiences interact with it. We architect then steward holistic media plans throughout their lifecycle, owning the creation of overall plans, cross-channel budget allocation, in flight cross-channel reporting & optimisation, and post-campaign analysis. We are our clients’ key contacts for a unified view of their campaigns, narrating the story of the whole piece from planning recommendation through to PCA. 

Our Media Planning Account Directors will create and oversee the successful delivery of media campaigns working closely with the Account Managers on the team. They demonstrate expert knowledge of the overall media landscape and available research, using these to inform and communicate planning recommendations. Reporting to a Business Director, they have oversight and responsibility for the day-to-day management of media plans and their proper implementation, working to fulfil the client’s media strategy and objectives in the context of changing market conditions. They are responsible for ensuring budget is used optimally to deliver the desired results, via effective planning, in-flight cross-channel optimisations, and insightful post campaign analysis to inform future campaigns.  

About Airbnb  

We’re proud to have the Airbnb account at EssenceMediacom since 2019. We took on the account in 2019 with just five global markets and our media budget was under $400M. Since then, our relationships with Airbnb have strengthened and expanded; in ‘26 we’re looking after over 20 markets (6 in EMEA) and our global media budget will be over $600M. All this change means it’s an exciting time to join the team and working for Airbnb! 

With the business growing we are looking to bring new leadership skills to help both our teams and clients navigate this change and growth, identify new opportunities to deliver breakthroughs and efficiencies, while continuing to strengthen our relationship driving Brand Love for Airbnb.  

The regional media and marketing teams at Aribnb are mainly UK based, have strong relationships with the agency and often join our team and work from our offices each week.  

About the team  

The Airbnb Planning team is a small team currently made up of a Business Director, two Planning Account Directors, two Account Managers and a Senior Planning Exec. We work very closely with our Client Leadership, Activation and Analytics teams as well as our Global counterparts. 

The Client and the Role  

Airbnb is a unique brand with its offering to consumers and we want to show consumers in various markets that travelling with Airbnb and being hosted, is the best way to travel.  

This is a Global account, with clients in the US and local divisional clients whom we speak to daily. We work hand in hand with our WPP Media colleagues across the region. The account is fast paced and requires at times quick turnarounds and management of various markets within EMEA (UK, FR, DE IT, ES and NL).  

The account is always evolving and in 2026 we are focusing more of the regional activity to locally led programmes and projects. Previously, all EMEA media was led out of the UK office, but for this year, almost 50% of the ATL activity will be owned by the local teams, its therefore changed the responsibilities of the Planning Account Director role to forge even closer relationships with the regional teams, ensuring complete transparency of activity and be the thread that ties the EMEA media for Airbnb together.  

Our clients are savvy media marketeers and have a passion for creative. Creative positioning needs to land with the brand qualities and authenticity of  Airbnb and their audience, therefore quality, premium formats and its environment  are a given when planning.  

Airbnb are always keen on pushing the boundaries and showcasing exciting media opportunities through strategic and clever media planning. They want to stand out and showcase the best of what Airbnb can offer to their audience. 

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.
• A self-starter and quick to think on their feet  
• Great at building relationships with clients (locally and in the US) but also internal and external Essence teams as well across various EMEA markets. .  
• Fully rounded media planner with knowledge across offline and online channels.  
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail. 
• Support and working alongside the Account Manager in the smooth running of the account on a daily basis. 
• Proven problem solving and decision making skills. 

Some of the things we’ll need the successful candidate to do: 

• Deliver high quality integrated responses to brief, actionable weekly cross-channel reporting commentary, insightful post campaign analysis, and clear planning briefs to Activation 
• Oversee and quality assure all deliverables produced by teams  
• Deliver clear and compelling rationale to support media planning recommendations and to evidence campaign performance versus expected outcomes 
• Take a lead role in client meetings and in briefing to Activation 
• Partner with our Activation and Analytics teams to design Campaign Analysis Plans (test and learn agendas) grounded in what we want to learn, observe, and achieve from our campaigns 
• Line manage junior team members within Planning, with responsibility for their day-to-day output and ongoing development 
• Help motivate the cross-practice team to deliver inspiring and successful campaigns, leading by example while coaching juniors 
• Provide timely and actionable feedback to aid in team development and improvement 
• Foster strong working relationships across the team to facilitate flawless execution of plans. 
• Communicate effectively across all levels of the team and our client base 
• Provide awareness and recognition for jobs well done 

Required Education and Experience:  

• Bachelor’s degree desirable although experience may be substituted for education 
• Proven media planning experience at Senior Manager/ Associate Director level  

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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