Planning manager

Salary: £55,000 - £65,000

Location:

Watford

Coordinate the planning, governance and delivery processes behind National Lottery campaigns as part of Studio 59, Allwyn's newly launched in‑house agency.

At the heart of everything we do is our vision to change lives every day, and our mission to grow The National Lottery responsibly and champion its impact.

We are Allwyn UK, part of the Allwyn Entertainment Group – a multi‑national lottery operator with a market‑leading presence across the USA (Michigan and Illinois) and Europe, including Czech Republic, Austria, Greece, Cyprus and Italy. While the main contribution of The National Lottery to society is through the funds to good causes, at Allwyn we put our purpose and values at the heart of everything we do.

Join us as we embark on a once‑in‑a‑lifetime, large scale transformation journey by creating a National Lottery that delivers more money to good causes. We’ll talk a bit more about us further down the page, but for now – let’s talk about the role and who we’re looking for…

Studio 59 is Allwyn’s new in‑house agency. A fast, integrated hub built to elevate how we tell The National Lottery’s story. Bringing creative, production, planning and media together across a single, integrated team, we’re engineered for pace, efficiency and standout quality.

Our mission is simple: create bold, social‑first, audience‑led work that strengthens player engagement and gives The National Lottery a single, authentic brand voice. With a best‑of‑both model that blends strengthened internal talent with top‑tier external partners, we deliver dynamic, personalised content at scale.

The Planning Manager is responsible for the operational management and coordination required to deliver a clear, governed and actionable quarterly consumer plan that ensures individual propositions campaigns don't compete for the same "airtime" or audience attention, maintaining a balanced and coherent brand presence.

Reporting into the Marketing Strategy Manager, this role ensures that planning decisions are translated into structured meetings, documentation, communications and governance processes. The Planning Manager works closely with retail and digital channel teams, product team and PR & comms teams, external agency partners, and assurance functions to ensure clarity, compliance and alignment across all elements of the consumer plan.

The role is supported by VCCP and H&S planning teams, ensuring access to best‑in‑class planning expertise while embedding strong in‑house capability.

The Planning Team plays a central role in coordinating priorities, governance and delivery across Studio 59. The Planning Manager supports the effective operationalisation of the consumer plan, ensuring planning processes, forums and communications run smoothly and consistently.

Planning Operations & Coordination

• Supports all internal meetings required to reach an agreed quarterly consumer plan, including clear terms of reference, attendees, meeting roles, diary planning, minutes, actions and follow‑up
• Ensure clear and consistent communication of planning decisions to all required internal colleagues and agency partners (Studio 59 and external)
• Own diary planning, agendas, minutes, actions and follow‑up to ensure momentum and clarity

Governance, Assurance & Compliance

• Ensure the consumer plan is aligned to all assurance processes, bid requirements and relevant documentation required to support approval and delivery
• Manage required planning documentation, approvals and records associated with the consumer plan
• Support quarterly PO sign‑off processes and associated governance forums

Communication & Alignment

• Ensure clear, consistent communication of planning decisions to internal colleagues and agency partners
• Coordinate regular updates with internal agency teams and external agencies
• Ensure all stakeholders are aware of key milestones, dependencies and delivery expectations

Agency & Partner Coordination

• Work closely with VCCP and H&S planning teams to support planning development
• Ensure external planning inputs are integrated effectively into internal…