Senior Associate Director - AV

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

We’re looking for a natural leader who wants to help us push this further! We need a Maternity Cover Investment Associate Director who can run a dedicated team of media specialist, across all AV channels, including TV, Online Video, Addressable TV, OOH TV, Cinema and Radio for some of the UK’s biggest and most forward-thinking advertisers – Nestle & Boots.

What are the 3 best things about the job?

EssenceMediaCom’s strength has always been our people. This team really reflects that. We’re a tight team working to deliver great data-led work to our clients

A widely varied client base makes for a great place to grow your career as it gives everyone in the team a real breadth of experience

An extremely supportive and encouraging leadership team that puts their team’s development first

What are the measures of success?

In three months, you would have:

• Built a strong working relationship with the other AV Planning and Investment ADs and Directors within the group. This will be key – you will be pivotal in creating the right environment for all our planner-buyers to develop, grow and create great work
• Built strong working relationships with all key stakeholders internally and externally – this includes key client contacts, Comms Planners and Investment Leads within our Business Unit
• Gained a good understanding of the client businesses which you will oversee
• Overseen the delivery of all AV plans and responses on time and without errors
• Have a solid grasp of all the commercial aspects of your role (clients’ businesses and ours)

In six months, you would have:

• Implemented a robust test and learn framework for relevant clients in the group to show how our AV planning and buying is pushing their businesses forward (beyond just media metrics)
• Started to demonstrate to your clients an improvement in key business performance metrics

In 12 months, you would have:

• Delivered stable or improving client referral scores on all your client businesses
• Nurtured a happy and motivated team of AV specialist who have a vision for how their careers can grow
• Delivered demonstrable revenue growth within your group of clients

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.

• Multi-media understanding and 360 AV knowledge (all channels)
• Knowledge of industry media planning tools (all media e.g. Techedge, BARB, Media Ocean, TGI, NRS, Comscore, Rajar)
• Implementational knowledge of multi media planning tools (TGI, Media Multiplier, Touchpoints)
• Pro-actively forge relationships with media owners
• Commercially aware
• Ability to extract and filter relevant insights / research to support planning decisions
• Ability to tell compelling implementation stories (with the aim to interweave roles, flighting, weights, formats of different media and how they interrelate)
• Strong personal relationships
• Ability to sell (consultative selling)
• Good communicator
• Genuine interest in industry research and new ways of working
• Strives to deliver award winning work and industry leading innovation
• Understanding of brands and ability to understand and execute strategy
• Collaborative
• Good leadership skills and talent management
• Excellent presentation skills
• Positive drive for innovation

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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