ASSOCIATE PLANNING DIRECTOR JOB DESCRIPTION

A clear definition first: the Associate Planning Director is the senior-most day-to-day owner of client media strategy within an agency planning team, distinct from a Planning Director in that this role still carries direct account responsibility rather than pure oversight. Client portfolios at this level typically span multiple brand relationships, each requiring a separate cross-channel plan with negotiated budget splits across linear, digital, and programmatic inventory. Where a Media Planning Director sets agency-wide direction, the Associate Planning Director translates it into specific, defensible recommendations that survive client scrutiny and post-campaign analysis. The role answers upward to a Planning Director and outward to senior marketing clients who expect a trusted point of contact, not a relay station.

As the Associate Planning Director, you lead media planning strategy for a portfolio of client accounts, owning recommendations from initial brief through post-campaign review while managing a team of Planners and Planning Managers. You sit within the agency's planning function, reporting to a Planning Director, and serve as the primary senior contact for clients who expect both strategic counsel and accountability for campaign performance.

Career Impact: Owning senior client relationships and cross-channel budget recommendations at this level builds the account leadership track record that distinguishes candidates for Planning Director roles in competitive agency markets.

Business Impact: The plans this role produces directly determine how client marketing budgets are allocated across channels, making the difference between campaigns that meet brand objectives and those that miss them by wide margins.

Growth Opportunity: Exposure to new business pitches, industry award entries, and portfolio diversification initiatives expands both commercial and strategic skills, increasing market value for senior agency and client-side opportunities.

• Lead media planning strategy for an assigned portfolio of client accounts, from brief intake through final recommendation.
• Own cross-channel budget allocation, setting and communicating spend splits across linear, digital, and programmatic inventory to internal stakeholders.
• Serve as the primary senior planning contact for clients, conducting regular check-ins, presenting recommendations, and managing escalations.
• Direct a team of Planners and Planning Managers, including performance appraisals, development goals, and day-to-day coaching.
• Partner with the Planning Director on revenue management, profitability tracking, and QRF and BUD planning for the client portfolio.
• Review post-campaign analyses and contribute insightful findings to improve future planning decisions and client outcomes.
• Support new business development by leading or contributing to pitch preparation and competitive market reviews.
• Coordinate with specialist, activation, and analytics teams to ensure seamless transition from strategy to execution.

• Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• 7 or more years of media planning experience, with demonstrated seniority as a senior client contact on key accounts.
• Proven ability to develop and present cross-channel media recommendations to senior marketing stakeholders.
• Strong command of audience research methodology, competitive analysis, and media landscape assessment.
• Experience managing and developing a team, including setting performance expectations and supporting career growth.
• Demonstrated understanding of trading dynamics, media cost structures, and how budget decisions affect campaign strategy.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex data into clear client-facing narratives.
• Sound organizational capability to manage multiple client briefs simultaneously under deadline pressure.

• Experience leading or contributing to new business pitches, including RFP responses and competitive agency presentations.
• Familiarity with programmatic buying principles, including an understanding of how digital activation teams execute against planned strategies.
• Background in revenue management, profitability analysis, or budget forecasting within an agency commercial structure.
• Proven track record of award entries or industry-facing thought leadership that raised agency profile.

• Client retention rate across managed portfolio, reflecting consistency of strategic counsel and relationship depth.
• Post-campaign analysis completion rate per quarter, measuring follow-through from plan delivery to performance accountability.
• Team appraisal completion rate on schedule, indicating consistent people management discipline.
• New business pitch contribution score, tracking involvement and output quality in competitive agency presentations.
• Revenue and profitability variance against QRF and BUD targets for the managed client portfolio.
• Typical tools: media research platforms (commonly Comscore, GWI, or TGI); planning and trafficking systems (commonly DCM or Nielsen-based tools).

• Base Salary Range: $110,000 to $145,000 annually, depending on market and agency size.
• Bonus: Annual performance bonus, typically 8 to 12 percent of base salary.
• Equity: Uncommon at this level in agency settings; holding company RSUs possible at larger networks.
• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer contribution varies by agency.
• PTO: 15 to 20 days annually, plus standard US public holidays.
• Common Perks: Professional development budget, industry event attendance, and flexible work arrangements.

Figures are estimates based on general US market benchmarks and may be outdated. Adjust based on location, company size, and seniority level.

Reasonable accommodations are available to applicants and employees with disabilities throughout the hiring process and during employment, in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local law. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law. Employment in this position is contingent on satisfactory completion of a background check. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.

The Associate Planning Director leads and executes primary market research projects and oversees US Market Research strategy, working cross-functionally within the Commercial, Medical, and Research functions at Exelixis, Inc. to inform in-line and future indication launch planning. The role owns KPI development and delivers analytical interpretation across forecasting, competitive intelligence, and scenario planning to equip commercial leaders with actionable business strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Work cross-functionally within the Commercial, Medical and Research functions.
• Take a consultative role in supporting pre-launch strategy, product positioning, promotions, and post-launch strategy through market research insights and landscape assessment and understanding.
• Lead and execute primary market research projects and gather insights from secondary reports to inform in-line and future indication launch strategy and long-range and short-range forecasts.
• Develop and define key performance indicators.
• Provide and ensure interpretation of complex analytical information including Primary and Secondary Data, Forecasting, Competitive Intelligence, and Scenario Planning.
• Provide operations research analyses for existing and new product entities for the extended commercial team in US and Global markets.
• Explore and create pathways for accessing information in the pre-launch, launch and post-launch market.
• Apply a variety of operations research analyses to achieve goals and provide alternatives based on information.
• Provide sound commercial advice based on experience and analytical support.
• Develop and oversee execution of US Market Research including management of third parties and associated budgets.

Required Qualifications

• Advanced degree (Master's and/or Ph.D.) in a related discipline with 6 years of related experience; or Bachelor's degree with at least 8 years of related experience; or equivalent combination.
• Experience developing strategic partnerships with Brand, Sales and Market Access teams.
• Experience leading qualitative and quantitative primary market research projects including tracking studies, message/concept testing, and positioning research.
• Experience using or interpreting secondary data sources including IMS, Claims, and patient-level data.
• Experience with pharma/biotech analytics, forecasting, business planning, launch, lifecycle management, and new product evaluation; prior oncology or specialty product experience highly desired.
• Knowledge of multiple qualitative and quantitative research methods and key market-shaping activities.
• Ability to consider multiple alternatives and provide complex scientific/clinical analyses in a clear and concise manner, including framing critical therapeutic area questions and identifying information needs.
• Ability to attend key scientific congresses and summarize insights on treatment paradigms, mechanisms of action, and clinical trial landscape.
• Effective presentation and communication skills, both verbal and written, with excellent organizational and project management skills.
• Exercises independent judgment in methods, techniques and evaluation criteria and creates formal networks involving coordination among groups.

Embedded within a team of Planning Managers and Planners, the Associate Planning Director provides media planning recommendations and leads delivery of strategic and innovative solutions to clients using Navigator/T5 and proprietary planning tools. Working closely with internal working partners, SU leads, and the Director, this role drives portfolio diversification, client revenue growth, and agency competitiveness through integrated planning and team development.

Core Functions

• Foster strong client relationships and develop a strong understanding of the client's business, positioning self as a trusted advisor to senior marketing clients.
• Provide strategic input to the team and lead the delivery of strategic and innovative solutions; apply Navigator/T5 and proprietary planning tools across the team.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of media and market trends and apply them to client business, developing and delivering strategic initiatives on key clients.
• Foster strong relationships with working partners internally and externally to deliver collaborative and integrated solutions; partner with SU leads to drive portfolio diversification.
• Ensure delivery of work across all functions meets standards and lead contract negotiations, competitive and media market reviews, cost savings exercises, and client business review sessions.
• Lead and motivate the team to effectively deliver to client needs and company goals, including timely appraisals, clear development goals, and appropriate training for team members.
• Support Director in managing recruitment, retention, QRF and BUD planning, and client revenue and profitability versus team costs.
• Lead client DNA planning and develop initiatives to diversify and increase portfolio revenues; support new business pitches and agency competitiveness through industry functions and award entries.

Qualifications & Experience

• More than 7 years' experience as senior contact on key accounts with a focus on media plans and key tactics.
• Broad background and experience across the full research, planning and implementation process with an excellent grasp of communications strategy, media, digital, and key advertising principles.
• Full understanding of clients' business, competitors, customers and objectives, and a sympathetic incorporation of these into communications strategy.
• Expertise in all relevant industry software and systems.
• Good organizational skills in handling multiple projects simultaneously, setting priorities, keeping to deadlines, and working effectively under time pressure.
• A sound understanding of trading issues and how they impact media strategies.
• Good verbal and written communication skills, strong selling skills, and ability to interpret numbers and data.
• Good rapport with colleagues across all divisions, clients, other agencies, and media owners.

Reporting to Senior Leadership across Finance, Manufacturing, and Quality, the Associate Planning Director leads all production planning, capacity planning, and manufacturing scheduling for a portfolio of elevate and client owned products using SAP. Partnering with cross-functional teams including Tech Ops, Supply Chain, and External Partners, this role advances S&OP processes and material planning strategies that ensure on-time product delivery to patients.

Primary Duties

• Own, manage and lead monthly S&OP processes and meetings reviewing forecasted demand, capacity and production plans, and resulting financials.
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to establish and maintain long-range strategic assumptions and manufacturing strategies considering capacity, lifecycle management, and regulatory requirements.
• Perform supply planning, capacity, and scheduling assessments to validate business requirements, evaluate options and trade-offs, and develop executive-level recommendations.
• Facilitate and drive cross-functional prioritization, scheduling, and coordination of finite manufacturing schedules with Manufacturing, Tech Ops, Quality, Supply Chain, and external partners.
• Lead and oversee material requirements planning for all GMP and Non-GMP materials, analyzing and rescheduling orders based on changes in forecasts, inventory levels, and production schedules.
• Lead the enhancement and implementation of planning processes and an Enterprise Resource Planning system.
• Lead cross-functional scheduling and coordination meetings to ensure on-time delivery of product to patients.
• Develop, maintain, and refine key planning and scheduling data, performance indicators, and reporting tools using SAP, MS Excel, Tableau, and other technologies.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree with 8+ years in a related supply chain, planning, or manufacturing role.
• APICS CPIM or CSCP Certification preferred.
• Experience in clinical and/or commercial production planning and material planning, preferably at a biotech or pharmaceutical company; cGMP experience preferred.
• Experience managing complex schedules and priorities in dynamic environments.
• Expertise in MS Excel, SAP, Tableau, and other planning applications.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills essential in a collaborative work environment.
• Driven and self-motivated with the ability to lead and facilitate priorities across internal and external cross-functional teams.
• Agility to quickly adjust to shifting priorities and timelines; comfortable in a fast-paced small company environment with minimal direction.

Sitting at the intersection of client strategy and team execution, the Associate Planning Director serves as the key point of contact for an assigned account patch, owning planning and buying processes end to end while briefing GroupM team members and managing direct reports. Operating across senior stakeholder relationships, publisher partnerships, and cross-channel media recommendations, this role builds the planning capability and campaign quality standards the agency delivers to clients.

Duties

• Have been introduced to key clients and immersed yourself in the team with an understanding of the status of all active and upcoming campaigns.
• Established collaborative relationships with all key stakeholders, internal reports, and positioned yourself as the key point of contact for your account patch.
• Regularly using and demonstrating strong comfort with planning tools, processes and theories, and effectively briefing internal and GroupM team members to ensure seamless transition from planning to execution.
• Actively participating in all WIPs both internal and external and working well with direct reports.
• Taken the lead in planning and buying for specific allocated clients and campaigns, owning team processes end to end.
• Strengthened key stakeholder relationships and started to build strong relationships with key clients and publishers.
• Beginning to own larger campaign and strategic recommendations, taking on greater ownership for campaigns and clients.
• Proactively adding value to the team based on campaign performance and delivering campaigns to the highest quality.
• Fully embraced planning tools and processes and able to fully explain how they work and when to use them.

Skills & Qualifications

• MFA Digital Foundations Certification I and II, MFA TV Training certification, and Internal Programmatic Foundations Training (or equivalent).
• Media planning, buying and campaign trafficking experience; well-developed negotiation and investment planning skills, and experience building and managing cross-channel media plans and teams.
• Passion for the media industry across all facets including digital, technology, data and analytics; well-developed, up-to-date media landscape knowledge and understanding of planning and buying TV campaigns.
• Established media systems knowledge (SpectraMD, Asteroid, MOVE, AQX, Optim8, Etam, Eram, Pathmatics, Symphony, Sizmek, DCM, MOAT, Nielsen, and Excel).
• Highly respected by clients on the media plan and its execution; strong presentation, communication, and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, with a team-first approach to campaign delivery.
• Strong understanding of the Wavemaker proposition, core client team processes cross-channel including digital and Adops.

A key member of the transport planning team in Reading, the Associate Planning Director applies expert knowledge across transport modelling, sustainable transport, and business case development to deliver client objectives and lead complex projects and programmes of work. Collaborating across technical and non-technical audiences and mentoring junior colleagues, this role strengthens the firm's client relationships and builds the team's planning capability in line with ISO 9001 and WebTAG standards.

Scope of Work

• Demonstrate the right collaborative behaviours and possess excellent communication skills to ensure you quickly establish strong relationships across our business and with our clients.
• Help shape the development of the transport planning team in Reading.
• Assist in mentoring team members to help them deliver excellence and achieve their own personal development objectives.
• Have the opportunity to support the wider Transport Planning Business and work with other UK clients within your core technical field.
• Apply excellent knowledge of a range of transport planning principles and techniques to deliver client objectives and accurately interpret and communicate complex issues to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Provide technical leadership and act as one of our key client contacts.
• Lead a number of Transport Planning projects and programmes of work through strong project management.
• Ensure multiple complex projects are managed and delivered well and competing priorities are resourced effectively in a dynamic team environment.

Experience & Qualifications

• Degree qualified or equivalent with relevant senior-level experience in Transport Planning.
• Post-graduate qualification (e.g. MSc, Diploma) or equivalent in a transport-related discipline, management, or Project Management (e.g. PRINCE2, APM) preferred.
• Membership of a relevant professional institution (e.g. Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation).
• Demonstrable high level of technical competency across transport planning disciplines including transport modelling, business case development, sustainable transport, strategy formulation, public transport, and development planning.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and transport planning standards and guidance (e.g. WebTAG, 5-Stage Business Case Model) and key transport planning software and techniques.
• Proven Project Management capability with ability to deliver complex projects in accordance with management systems, governance, risk management, and financial controls (e.g. ISO 9001).
• Ability to produce clear, precise and coherent analysis and reports (e.g. Business Cases, Technical Reports) for technical and non-technical audiences, and to work independently or as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Ability to provide highly effective mentoring to junior colleagues and management support including operational and business metrics; evidence of Continuous Personal Development.

The Associate Planning Director develops client partnerships and delivers strategy offerings across mass media, campaign planning, and brand building for a marketing agency, coordinating all facets of strategy projects from brief through execution. Working with senior stakeholders and leading a team through plan development and follow-up, this role creates the audience-driven stories and strategic foundations that drive measurable marketing results.

Job Functions

• Identify and solve key marketing challenges with stakeholders.
• Lead all facets of strategy projects.
• Create strong stories to incite audience action.
• Align brand experiences with plans to drive marketing results.
• Maintain involvement in projects.
• Create engaging agendas and plans to guide brand building.
• Lead reviews of strategic solutions development.

Professional Experience

• Associate Director experience with campaign planning strategy and integration with projects.
• Strong understanding of all kinds of media and experience leading a team through plan development, presentation, execution, and follow-up.
• Experience presenting ideas to clients and working with senior stakeholders.
• Strong communication, presenting, and pitching skills.
• Acting as ambassador for new insights, audience segmentation, and cultural analysis.
• Management experience and responsibility for team growth and development.

Strong client outcomes across RFIs, RFPs, and preferred partnerships depend on the Associate Planning Director, who collaborates with field sales, Demand Sales, and Partner Management to develop creative technology-driven solutions and world-class pre- and post-sales deliverables. Based within the customer success organization and serving as team lead on strategic initiatives, this role advances the agency's programmatic and cross-functional product positioning to top clients and agency holding companies.

Accountabilities

• Collaborate with field sales team to understand customer objectives and develop creative solutions that work with technology.
• Ideate and contribute to the playbook on how to uplevel services and deliverables for top clients through cross-team collaboration with marketing, research, and product.
• Think critically about pre-sales and post-sales materials and support the customer success organization in developing world-class deliverables and content.
• Own large RFIs/RFPs and ensure the internal repository is up to date with the best responses.
• Help spearhead programs and initiatives and develop relationships with centralized tech and supply teams across agency holding companies.
• Support Demand Sales and Partner Management on brand-specific RFIs and brainstorm strategies to package products in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Identify strategic storylines for outreach and content.
• Support on preferred partnerships, serve as team lead, and provide initial due diligence for any non-standard terms requiring executive review.

Position Requirements

• Experience in media planning, buying, and/or strategy; programmatic acumen and experience in programmatic campaign management is a plus.
• Expertise in working with RTB, DSPs, SSPs, ad exchanges, aggregators, ad servers, and other optimization platforms is a plus.
• Proven experience managing a team or acting as a team lead and building process for internal teams.
• Strong oral and written communication skills with the ability to present effectively across multiple organizational levels including Strategy, Product, and Marketing teams.
• Critical thinker with strong problem-solving ability; able to quickly connect the dots and meet deadlines with effective time management.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail; proven academic and/or professional achievement.
• Ability to work individually and collaboratively to drive business forward.
• Self-motivated starter who thrives in a fast-paced environment.

As the Associate Planning Director, this role builds consumer empathy at the center of brand strategy by developing marketing plans, crafting creative briefs, and translating consumer insights into breakthrough creative for a portfolio of clients. The Account Management and Creative teams rely on this work to ensure every client concept is on-brand, on-target, and grounded in cultural and motivational understanding drawn from primary and secondary research.

What You'll Do

• Develop marketing plans, communication and consumer touch-point strategies.
• Cultivate a deep understanding of the intersection of consumer motivations and client business needs.
• Work with consumer insights teams to translate findings into insights that fuel great creative.
• Monitor and interpret cultural and social trends relevant to the client's business.
• Craft creative briefs and lead inspired briefings; remain an active contributor throughout the creative development process.
• Be a thinker and a doer, an innovator and visionary with a creative imagination.
• Partner with Account Management and Creative to grow the business.

Education & Experience

• Minimum bachelor's degree with a multidisciplinary background including marketing strategy, consumer insight, media strategy and/or account planning; MBA preferred.
• 7–10 years of overall marketing experience with at least 3 years of strategic leadership experience with clients.
• Deep knowledge and experience with integrated marketing communications, specifically digital; B2B marketing and Microsoft and email experience is a plus.
• Proven ability to rapidly synthesize large quantities of information, identify critical observations and insights, and summarize driving implications and opportunities.
• Ability to effectively lead, influence and negotiate across different disciplines, internally and externally, to achieve desired outcomes.
• Direct client experience and presentation skills to intimate and large groups of stakeholders.
• An innovator and visionary with a creative imagination and a way of working that inspires creativity.

The Associate Planning Director heads client business at a senior level, managing a team of account managers and account executives while ensuring strong strategic plans are developed and implemented across all clients. The work directly supports the company's growth by protecting existing income streams, generating new ones, and applying deep knowledge of media channel dynamics to solve complex planning challenges.

Key Deliverables

• Manage a team of account managers and account executives.
• Head up the running of client business at a senior level.
• Ensure strong strategic plans are developed for all clients, overseeing briefs and implementing strategic insights into the planning process.
• Solve complex challenges.
• Protect, grow and generate new income streams for the company.

Requirements

• Deep understanding of media channels and the planning process.
• Clear understanding of the dynamics, costs and potential of different media channels and the ability to evaluate the effect of a campaign as a whole and media's contribution.
• Strong business acumen.
• Proactive in developing ideas with enthusiasm and passion.
• Active listening skills including how to take a brief, ask open-ended questions, and incorporate client concerns.
• A team-first mentality.

Associate Planning Director builds Urbis's NSW planning consultancy offer by leading statutory and strategic urban planning services across land use advice, due diligence assessments, master plans, and approval processes for tier 1 private and government clients. Success in the position means achieving Personal Fees and Work Under Management revenue targets while supporting Directors on whole-of-office business outcomes and collaborating across disciplines on city and community shaping projects.

Strategic Responsibilities

• Provide an expert range of services including advice on land use, development capability, due diligence assessments, master plans, the approval process, and management.
• Lead city and community shaping thought leadership pieces.
• Provide advanced statutory and strategic urban planning principles and methods and apply them.
• Achieve revenue targets comprising Personal Fees and Work Under Management through strong service delivery and project management.
• Assist with forecasting, project budgeting and financial management.
• Support Directors to achieve whole-of-office business plan outcomes in conjunction with other Business Units.
• Lead strategic projects for tier 1 private and government clients that will shape the future form and function of NSW.
• Proactively identify opportunities to engage and work collaboratively with colleagues from other disciplines and Business Units on cross-disciplinary projects.

Background & Experience

• Tertiary qualifications in Town Planning or a related discipline with a minimum of 8 years' relevant experience, ideally gained in a consultancy environment.
• Project management skills with a proven track record of managing multiple projects and producing high-quality results within a consultancy.
• Proven ability to manage and develop team members and build new clients and business.
• A strong and confident communicator with the ability to encourage cross-business collaboration.
• Resilient, professional, and focused.

The Associate Planning Director owns brand planning for designated clients by leading country-level planning outputs, setting cross-channel budget splits, and serving as the primary client POC from planning through execution. Working closely with Strategy, specialist teams, and media partners, this role shapes insight-rooted plans and pushes adoption of emerging technologies to deliver the most innovative media plans in the industry.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Be the POC for Planning across senior and mid-level clients and lead check-ins and presentations.
• Review responses from specialist teams and publishers and lead big idea brainstorms where relevant.
• Lead country-level outputs for Planning including Upfronts and country reviews.
• Set and communicate campaign budget level splits across channels to relevant internal stakeholders.
• Work closely with Strategy to co-create strategy presentations with media context and continually strive for improvement by sourcing new partnerships with media partners.
• Input into post-campaign reviews, producing insightful analysis demonstrating planning effectiveness, and keep current on new market technologies and innovative solutions for clients.
• Foster strong working relationships across all internal teams to facilitate flawless execution of plans.

Knowledge Skills & Abilities

• Likely 8+ years of experience in a digital media agency.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with the ability to think on your feet.
• Ability to analyze raw data, identify true insight, and develop actionable recommendations; a natural affinity with numbers is a must.
• Able to forge strong relationships and influence clients, partners, and colleagues alike.
• Ability to work in a team environment that promotes collaboration while also capable of working independently when needed.

Reporting to the Media Planning Director, the Media Planning Associate Director serves as the primary face of Essence's acquisition media planning product, holding close client relationships and taking responsibility for campaign performance and business-enhancing innovation across assigned media budgets. Partnering with Activation, Analytics, and vendor partners, this role produces planning deliverables, case studies, and new business presentations while line managing 2–4 direct reports to support career development and team satisfaction.

Performance Expectations

• Take a lead role in client presentations and in briefing to Activation.
• Work with Activation and Analytics to design the CAP for assigned campaigns.
• Take responsibility for the performance of assigned media budgets against intended outcomes.
• Be a point of escalation for team issues within and outside the team.
• Contribute to internal thought leadership and team process and workflow enhancement.
• Set the quality standard for one or more planning deliverables per year and improve them via team and client feedback.
• Support the development of media plans and presentations for new business pitches and assist with new client onboarding.
• Identify and build out one case study per quarter suitable for internal sharing.
• Line manage 2–4 direct reports to support career development; motivate the team by leading by example and coaching juniors.
• Provide timely and actionable feedback, monitor Essential satisfaction, calculate workload implications, and communicate effectively across all levels of the team.

Technical Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree; experience may be substituted for education.
• Proven experience in media at Senior Manager level with solid understanding of marketing, advertising, media concepts, and terms.
• Forecast expected outcomes of brand and performance campaigns and manage spend and finance reconciliations.
• Superior presentation design skills in slides or document format; strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Basic spreadsheet capability (VLOOKUP, Pivot Table) required; regression and solver experience strongly preferred.
• Thorough understanding of industry standard media research tools (Comscore, GWI, TGI, YouGov).
• Excellent organizational skills, close attention to detail, ability to quality control work, and adhere to deadlines across multiple campaigns.
• Superb client relationship and management skills; development and maintenance of productive relationships with vendor partners.
• Proven problem-solving and decision-making skills; ability to work independently and collaboratively.

Associate Planning Director refines Amplifi's Digital planning product across DAN North offices by leading a team of planners, managing multiple digital accounts, and driving best practice across all aspects of digital planning and departmental processes. The work directly supports client performance and business growth by anticipating channel opportunities, generating commercially beneficial campaigns, and delivering thought leadership that strengthens both client and internal relationships.

Leadership Responsibilities

• Present a professional profile and represent the business internally and externally.
• Demonstrate expert knowledge in identifying channel opportunities and forecasting commercial returns.
• Proactively manage, motivate and develop team members through regular reviews of performance and aligned development plans across all DAN North offices.
• Champion Digital planning across the agency and take responsibility for driving Amplifi's Digital product forward.
• Manage multiple digital accounts and quality control output from other digital team members.
• Lead the team and drive best practice in all aspects of digital planning and departmental processes to ensure market-leading solutions are delivered on all clients.
• Anticipate opportunities and threats in the marketplace by raising commercial awareness and plan strategies to maximise growth of channel.
• Generate campaigns that exploit the breadth of channel and drive innovation and commercial benefit for both clients and the business.
• Manage professional relationships across the client base and deliver thought leadership.
• Develop operational efficiencies across the department and contribute to internal business improvement projects.

Qualifications & Experience

• Demonstrate expert knowledge in identifying channel opportunities and demonstrable knowledge of market trends; pro-active in problem solving and challenging client briefs.
• Intermediate knowledge of MS Office Suite, particularly Microsoft Excel, and industry tools such as CCS, Hitwise, Comscore, iAnalyse, and DCM.
• Knowledge of Google Audience Insight Tools such as YouTube Extra Reach and Consumer Barometer.
• Confidence when presenting to colleagues and clients; proactive in raising commercial awareness of the industry beyond channel specialism.
• Effectively manages the team ensuring all tasks are delivered to the satisfaction of the client and internal stakeholders, with timely reviews, appraisals, and development plans for all team members.
• All trading agreements delivered without exception through accurate forecasting at all times; manages a strong income-to-cost ratio within set budgets.
• Builds and maintains strong working relationships to leverage income and results; pre-empts issues and proactively produces solutions that engage all stakeholders.
• Able to work under pressure and adapt across multiple tasks with time-critical deadlines.

Embedded within Wayfair's Physical Retail division, the Associate Director of Planning + Allocation shapes merchandise assortment and inventory strategy across Furniture and Home Improvement categories, leading a team of planners and allocation analysts through pre-season and in-season plan building. Working closely with the Head of Planning + Allocation and cross-functional partners including Merchandising, Supply Chain, and Store Operations, this role advances sales productivity, margin performance, and allocation quality across a growing North American store fleet.

Ownership Areas

• Own category performance outcomes (sales, margin, inventory) and communicate business needs clearly to leadership and cross-functional partners.
• Develop strategic merchandising plans across the product life cycle that ladder up to company financial goals.
• Pre-season: collaborate with merchants to develop tailored product assortments including assortment frameworks, SKU productivity, item leveling, flow plans, and ideal depth.
• In-season: lead milestone meetings including Weekly business meetings, Monthly OTB, Quarterly Hindsight, and Annual plan build.
• Manage Allocation to bring selection to life in store; partner with Forecasting, Partner Operations and Supply Chain to ensure inventory needs are met.
• Identify, introduce and implement new process improvements across cross-functional touchpoints.
• Leverage quantitative and qualitative data and test-and-learn methodology to improve performance and adjust strategies in-season.
• Establish and test potential for regional merchandising solutions with geographic expansion; partner with ecommerce and Promotional teams to build an omni-channel offering and inventory-maximizing promotions.

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years in Retail Management incorporating a breadth of product mix, with significant Physical Retail experience in Home or adjacent categories preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading Merchandising Planning and/or Demand Planning, and leading an Allocation/Replenishment team.
• Demonstrated ability to lead important strategic initiatives and implement strategic plans with a multi-level team.
• Ability to identify, introduce and implement new process improvements and leverage quantitative and qualitative data to drive strategic decision-making.
• Able to collaborate across all levels and functions of the organization to achieve objectives.
• Evidence of scrappy start-up execution and a get-it-done attitude in high-stakes, time-pressured environments.
• Thrives in a high-growth, ambiguous environment.