Associate Director, Client Leadership (Hiring Immediately)

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3809 - Associate Director, Client Leadership - UK

Role Summary and Impact

We are looking for an enthusiastic, creative, curious Associate Director to join our UK Connections Planning team working on the Unilever Account.

Unilever is one of the world’s and UK’s leading FMCG companies, with an incredible portfolio of household names. Unilever’s product portfolio comprises four business groups; Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care products, Homecare products and Food. They have a long-standing heritage of putting their customers at the heart of everything they do – and leading with the principles of driving positive change through their brands.

The Connections Planning team plays a crucial role in designing the audiences, connections, content and measurement that deliver the most innovative and effective solutions to clients. To do this requires a team of people with a high degree of knowledge of the UK media market and a deep understanding of the role of technology in driving opportunities to target audiences, its impact on the connections and content that will engage people, and how media can be measured and optimised.

We foster a highly collaborative environment with brilliant, forward-thinking clients who are not only engaged but genuinely enthusiastic about pushing boundaries. This partnership allows us to deliver truly exciting, market-leading work that sets industry benchmarks and drives significant impact.

Expect a role that is highly strategic, requiring deep analytical thinking, a keen commercial eye, and a flair for innovative solutions. We are consistently exploring new technologies, channels, and audience engagement models, ensuring your work remains at the cutting edge. Innovation is not just encouraged, it's expected.

Crucially, you'll have seamless access to a rich tapestry of agency expertise. You'll collaborate daily with our specialist teams in data science, advanced measurement & analytics, brand strategy, and consumer insights. This integrated approach empowers you to craft media plans that are not only creative and impactful but also deeply informed, measurable, and strategically sound.

About the role

You will be expected to demonstrate experience and knowledge in -

• Knowing the tools and means to build and target audiences in addressable and non-addressable media to validate the media approach ensuring 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 – especially hard to reach / low media engagement audiences – in media for brand and performance campaigns.
• Connecting the dots between the data we, the client, media owners and other internal teams hold to plan most effectively.
• Designing the connections ecosystem & plan, working closely and collaboratively with channel specialists and wider agency teams from a paid, owned and earned perspective
• Day to day management of campaigns and annual planning as a key liaison between clients and channel specialists
• Designing measurement & testing framework to inform as well as measure and optimise the campaigns when live
• Management of others to develop their skills

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 .
• You show a breadth of understanding of all media channels and can confidently discuss the role they play within a comms strategy
• Have an interest in both brand and performance campaigns with some knowledge of ecommerce
• You are a tool ‘wizard’...well not quite but excellent knowledge of audience research and planning tools (e.g. TGI & Touchpoints) is a must and awareness of / familiarity with alternative sources (such as media owner tools & data) is a plus
• Ability to draw clear insights and implications for media (i.e. connecting the outputs of different insight systems successfully)
• Demonstrate a passion for media and understanding of what makes a great media campaign, tangibly showcasing excellence in planning craft.
• Take responsibility for the upfront work that needs to happen in order to deliver a great, clear and concise universal brief to the specialist teams that hits the clients' brief on the head
• You care about proving your campaigns work! How? By being able to create a holistic measurement framework relevant for your brand and applicable to every campaign that is digestible (setting KPI’s methods I.e., which tool/system, necessary tracking) and plan for adaptation/optimisation
• You are confident in presenting with passion and conviction, managing senior client relationships, running all agency team sessions and collaboratively leading client projects and tackling challenging conversations.
• You are excited to work as part of a team; immediate, wider department and specialists as required. Leading by example though presence and contribution. Taking the responsibility for working in a collaborative, inclusive way
• You demonstrate excellent attention to detail and accuracy in output and meeting deadlines. As well as strong organization to meet client expectations, manage workflow for self and junior team members.
• Demonstrate a proactive desire to continually improve own knowledge and wider skill set
• You are open minded, flexible and have a challenger mindset.

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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