Associate Media Planning Director

About WPP Media

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world's leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships – all united by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open – we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth.

WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working.

For more information, visit wppmedia.com.

About Media Futures Group

The Media Futures Group AI Squad is a small, agile, and autonomous innovation team dedicated to charting the course for AI transformation across APAC for one of WPP's most important and strategic global technology clients.

By seamlessly integrating AI across media, creative, and production, this cross-functional squad delivers cutting-edge innovation and pioneering work to deliver more effective and efficient business outcomes.

The team's mission is to solve specific business challenges by delivering demonstrable proof of AI-enabled marketing improvements, providing strategic guideposts for the broader organization.

Utilizing best-in-class tools like WPP Open and Gemini, you will innovate and deliver award-winning creative ideas while building, testing, and scaling solutions that enhance effectiveness, efficiency, and execution for our clients.

Role Summary and Impact

The Media Planner functions as the critical execution arm of the squad, ensuring that highly sophisticated, AI-generated strategies and creative assets are actually delivered to the end consumer in the most financially efficient and commercially impactful manner possible. Your foundational expertise must be in traditional media planning with a heavy priority on digital channels. While you must be highly comfortable using AI tools (like Google Gemini) in your daily workflow, this role is designed for aggressive, hands-on upskilling: we will train you to become the undisputed domain expert in WPP's Open Media Studio (OMS) to supercharge your planning and trafficking.

Responsibilities:

• Digital Media Architecture & Planning: Develop comprehensive media architectures utilizing the WPP Open Media Studio platform. Determine optimal financial budget distribution, timing, and platform placement across core digital channels, learning to leverage OMS's embedded predictive analysis tools.
• Live Deployment & Optimization: Deploy the campaign live into the digital wild, executing the highly tactical setup, digital trafficking, and activation of programmatic and social media campaigns across self-service ad platforms (prominently Google Ads and Display & Video 360).
• In-Flight Analysis: Continuously analyse in-channel performance metrics, rapidly identifying tracking inaccuracies, tag misfires, or data integrity issues, and dynamically optimizing the financial budget allocation across continuously varying scenarios.
• AI Tool Adoption & Upskilling: Actively participate in hands-on training to integrate AI automation into your daily work. Transition away from manual trafficking by mastering WPP Open Media Studio and applying generative AI to streamline campaign reporting, insights generation, and administrative workflows.
• Governance & Compliance: Ensure al regional technical requirements and strict data governance protocols (e.g., GDPR) are strictly adhered to, while preparing highly standardized campaign reports for senior executive management.

Skills and Experience

• 3 to 5 years of dedicated experience in digital media planning, technical ad operations, or high-volume campaign management, preferably forged within a high-pressure global agency or specialized trading desk environment.
• A strong foundation in traditional media planning principles, heavily over-indexing on programmatic, search, and social digital channel execution.
• Hands-on, technical proficiency and active certifications within the Google Marketing Platform ecosystem, specifically covering Display & Video 360, Campaign Manager, and Google Ads.
• Thorough, mechanical understanding of tracking pixels, universal tags, and Google Tag Manager.
• AI Baseline: A strong baseline comfort utilizing generative AI (particularly Google Gemini) in your daily personal or professional life to accelerate basic tasks, coupled with a high eagerness to be formally trained on enterprise-grade AI planning systems.
• High-level financial acumen, showcasing past experience managing massive, multi-country campaign budgets, executing complex billing reconciliations, and successfully navigating regional commercial complexities.

Key Competencies

Absolute Precision: Tactical execution focus with an uncompromising, zero- defect approach to digital trafficking and campaign QA.

AI-Native Execution & Transformation: Moves beyond a simple willingness to learn; proactively deconstructs manual legacy processes and rebuilds them using AI-automated systems. Instinctively leverages generative AI and advanced platforms to solve planning bottlenecks, automate heavy reporting, and accelerate execution timelines.

Highly Analytical Mindset: Capable of instantly diagnosing in-flight campaign data, spotting anomalies, and pivoting media spend dynamically.

Financial Rigor: Deep comfort with the granular intricacies of digital advertising platforms, billing mechanics, and budget pacing

Life at WPP Media & Benefits

Our passion for shaping the next era of media is powered by our commitment to Be Extraordinary, investing in our employees to inspire transformational creativity. We also Lead Optimistically, firmly believing in and Championing Growth and Development for every individual. This commitment allows WPP Media employees to leverage the extensive global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, build vital professional connections, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising.

We Create an Open environment built on trust and respect, where everyone feels they belong and has opportunities to progress. This inclusive culture is fostered through a variety of employee resource groups and frequent in-office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our comprehensive benefits package reflects this commitment, including competitive medical, 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 characteristics. We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection in this open and supportive environment. 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 that while our philosophy is the same across WPP, benefits may vary by office/country.