Associate Director, Planning

Join to apply for the Associate Director, Planning role at PHD
.

PHD is a global communications planning and media buying agency network delivering smart strategic thinking and creative innovation for the world’s leading brands. Brilliant media thinking is in our DNA. A culture of thought‑leadership, creativity and innovation has seen us grow from a challenger agency in the UK to a global leader with over 6,000 employees in over 100 offices worldwide.

We combine the latest industry insight with the best creative minds to produce planning innovation and create award‑winning work for some of the world’s largest advertisers. Finding a better way is our ethos and sums up how we approach everything – from a new client brief to the way we work.

A solution‑seeker who always looks on the bright side and is willing to jump over obstacles to get the work from good to great. Highly skilled in their craft and courageous in their approach. A battle buddy who’s always got our back. An avid listener who isn’t afraid to share their opinion to help our work progress; they know there’s no ‘i’ in team.

You’ll lead a group of rock stars as their emerging leader. You’ll bring out their best and coach them to higher levels of performance. You’ll be involved in the day‑to‑day work of the team but will be focused on advising senior clients on how to think about the role of their brands in culture. You’ll stay one step ahead of the marketplace to bring the most intuitive, progressive and business‑driving plans to your client every day.

You’ll infuse your strategic expertise into the team from day one. You’ll be a champion of PHD tools and approaches.

• Media Planning – Infuse every plan with thoughtful, data‑driven strategies that lead to creative, yet useful, media activations. Familiarity with market research and media applications are crucial. Measure and routinely optimise campaigns for ultimate performance.
• Team Management – grow your team of media rock stars, be a coach and mentor – seeing them through to promotion and/or new opportunities in the agency family. Help grow their skillsets, presentation skills, detail‑orientation, technical skills, leadership and critical thinking.
• Client Management – build and maintain an effective working relationship with key business leaders to continuously grow the account. Provide a unique point of view to help clients interpret the best way to test and scale new approaches and identify opportunities to grow their business.
• Cross Team Alignment – work across multiple teams – marketing sciences, investment and buying – and externally to articulate advanced media concepts and buying strategies across multiple platforms.

• Minimum of 5 to 6 years of media planning experience; integrated experience strongly desired
• Experience in managing and leading a team
• Knowledge of buying and ad serving applications
• Ability to work with and lead conversations with partner agencies and media partners
• Knack for linking business goals with strategic executions
• Effective communication skills and a flair for storytelling

This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on relevant experience, other job‑related qualifications/skills, and geographic location (to account for comparative cost of living). The Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. For this role, benefits include: health insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, 401(k), Healthcare Flexible Spending Account, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, vacation days, sick days, personal days, paid parental leave, paid medical leave, and STD/LTD insurance benefits.

Compensation Range: $70,000—$125,000 USD

This role is hybrid, requiring three days per week in the office. The remaining two days may be worked remotely. Specific in‑office days will be discussed during the interview process, with flexibility to align with team needs. Please note that the number or required in‑office days may be adjusted over time, potentially increasing the number of required in‑office days based on business needs.

Mid‑Senior level

Full‑time

Business Development and Sales

Advertising Services