Business Director, Planning

About WPP Media

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships – all united by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open – we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth. 

WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working.

For more information, visit wppmedia.com.

2235 - Business Director, Planning

Role Summary and Impact

Mindshare delivers Good Growth for its clients. As “Growth Architects," we drive growth that benefits all stakeholders — better for people, planet, and business — by using media with intention. This approach creates more meaningful connections with consumers, increases consumer trust in the brand, and delivers better outcomes for all stakeholders.

We are recruiting for a Business Director who is an exceptional and driven media planner, to join our Connections Planning team working on the Marks and Spencer account.

You will be expected to demonstrate experience and knowledge in: 

• Good stakeholder management with both clients and agency alike 
• Ability to work with clients to ensure the brief is right with clear and measurable objectives in place 
• An ability to think and work ‘audience first’, translating audience insight into actionable audiences  
• Specify how to build and target audiences in addressable and non-addressable media and validate the approach to ensure that the defined audience can be reached at the scale required 
• Designing an approach that outlines how and where we will connect with defined audiences in media 
• Designing the connections ecosystem & plan, working closely and collaboratively with channel specialists  
• Day to day management of campaigns as a key liaison between clients and channel specialists  
• Designing measurement & testing framework to inform as well as measure and optimise the campaigns 
• Line management of planning team within account structure 
• Responsibilities to the planning department as senior member of the team, contributing to Business Director board meetings and leading work streams.  

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.

Skills And Behaviours:  

• You show a passion for media and the industry with knowledge of the main trends that help to inform your thinking and output.  
• You have clear opinions and an understanding of what makes a great media campaign - tangibly prove your plans are aimed at achieving excellence in planning craft. 
• You can create a holistic measurement framework that is relevant for the brand and every campaign (setting KPIs, methods i.e., which tool/system, necessary tracking) and plans for adaptation/optimisation).   
• You must have extensive experience leading senior client relationships, managing all agency teams, leading and delivering client projects and tackling challenging conversations. 
• You are an excellent team player taking the responsibility for working in a collaborative, inclusive way to allow specialists to contribute. 
• You demonstrate a high degree of organisation that leads to successfully managing workflow for self and more junior members of the team. 
• You are open-minded, flexible and embracing of agile ways of working. 

 The Ideal Candidate: 

 As Business Director you will be responsible for the leadership and delivery of best-in-class planning and implementation.  

• You will have a strong desire to deliver innovative and effective work both reactively (in response to briefs), and proactively (spotting those opportunities for insight and innovation outside of briefs).  
• We expect our Business Directors to show a breath of understanding of media channels, as well as in-depth and speciality understanding in how to discuss the present and future role each channel plays as part of a comms strategy.  
• Strong people management skills. 
• Collaborative both in the day-to-day account role and across the planning department.  

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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While we appreciate all applications received, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. 

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