Associate Director, Planning & Strategy

Associate Director, Strategy

Company description Starcom is the world's first standalone media agency, a storied innovator that continues to lead the way for many of the world's best brands. Starcom has long been the professional birthplace and proving ground for marketing leaders – CEOs, CMOs, sales leaders, and technology pioneers – and we continue to drive the industry with peerless talent and relentless innovation. From the start, we've known that achieving growth for our clients requires understanding and connecting with real people where they live and work, in ways they value. In an AI era, we remain "Guided By Humanity," a phrase that describes our foundational belief that human expertise must remain in the driver's seat, supported by the best processes and technology. With our proprietary capabilities and Publicis Media's industry-leading resources and clout, we create ideas that move people and drive transformative business outcomes for brands.

Overview The Associate Director, Strategy oversees a strategy team and manages cross-channel media strategy and planning campaigns. The Associate Director owns planning activities for complex or large spend campaigns, and is responsible for generating strategic insights while driving learnings across the full suite of the client's activities. The ideal candidate for this position will be a thoughtful decision maker and team player who loves data and has the proven ability to lead strategic planning initiatives including deck writing, budget and channel allocation and audience development. This is an energetic, collaborative team that partners with an analytics-driven client to provide guidance as they continue to grow and evolve their brand.

Responsibilities

• Strategize with internal directors and client to develop innovative, well-targeted marketing solutions
• Interface with clients and partner agencies to build strategic communication plans for targeted audiences
• Review client deliverables for quality, ensuring that recommendations and work product are sound and viable
• Own the development of strategic proposals and client facing POVs, coordinating with necessary teams to account for all relevant inputs
• Assume accountability and ownership of campaign planning for assigned client accounts
• Embrace and encourage a culture based on team work, collaboration, and support
• Develop best practices for improving communication and collaboration within the team and the group
• Lead knowledge share sessions to share and learn new strategies for optimizing and enhancing campaign performance
• Collaborate and foster relationships with key partners including clients, internal teams, and leadership
• Lead strategic planning initiatives including deck writing, budget and channel allocation, and audience development
• Serve as escalation point for teams to help troubleshoot issues
• Support development of strategic approach and experience design by delivering channel ideas and providing the link to reality of historical performance and in-market opportunities
• Responsible for management and development of Associates, Senior Associates, and Supervisors

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred, preferably with a concentration in marketing, advertising, communications, business, sociology, or consumer insights
• 5+ years of experience in media strategy/planning experience across media channels
• Previous team management experience
• Strong digital media experience preferred
• Resourceful, curious, and motivated individual with an ability to work independently as well as in a team setting
• Ability to manage timelines, projects and personnel within direct report team and across cross-functional teams
• Proven experience in successfully managing multiple work streams at one time
• Strong organizational, communication, and time-management skills
• Excellent presentation skills to effectively lead meetings in-person with key clients
• Detail-oriented with the ability to multi-task and manage priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite with strong understanding of Excel and PowerPoint
• Experience working within media systems/platforms (Kantar, MOAT, Prisma, ComScore etc.)

Additional information Starcom is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our employment decisions are made without regard to actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability, medical condition as defined by applicable state law, genetic information, marital status, military service and veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws and ordinances.