Associate Director, Planning

ROLE OVERVIEW

Croud is a global, full-service digital marketing partner. Through a seamless combination of data, technology and creativity, our teams drive business performance and long-term growth for ambitious brands.

This is an exciting opportunity for a highly intelligent, charismatic and creative thinking individual who is passionate about innovating to join our team in New York City.

Croud is recruiting a Planning Associate Director to help develop, coordinate, and lead our planning offering in New York. Together we want to create a new type of outcomes planning process: one that is based on an understanding of channel / network relationships, minimum sufficiencies, intelligence data surfacing actionable insights, forming a connection to brand from our performance heritage, and actively preparing our clients and solutions for the next iteration of the media landscape. Simply put, Media Planning, Reinvented.

Located in the heart of Soho, our New York office is home to a group of highly-skilled digital experts, passionate about driving innovation and delivering great work for clients. With a rapidly expanding team and client portfolio, Croud offers hands-on experience working with some of the world's leading brands across every industry sector.

Find out more about Croud here!

We are investing in Strategy & Planning as a priority arm of the business, and we want to add to our quickly growing US team with additional leadership.

This role within the Strategy & Planning team is to create solutions that act as the connective tissue to drive for our clients & Croud. This role will be responsible for improving our client’s business by creating plans that connect brand, marketing, and commerce. 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. We’re looking for someone who can apply creativity to an intelligence based discipline and who can successfully develop and integrate channel outcomes based planning.

The right hire will share Croud’s values:

• Passion: loving what you do and being driven to excel with each new project/client

• Imagination: meeting challenges creatively and ready to try new ideas

• Integrity: accountable and always excellent to one another

RESPONSIBILITIES

• As a Planning Associate Director, there is no such thing as a typical day as you will constantly be challenged to build brands, push partnerships & bring new thinking. Accelerating & mastering all media & campaign planning.

Objectives of Role:

• Defines high level strategy and holistic management of the media plan development, implementation, and execution

• Be an ambassador in the development of scenario planning, forecasting, diminishing returns, minimum sufficiencies & all key channel planning tools that will build clients' businesses

• Lead strategic planning initiatives including deck writing, budget and channel allocation, and audience development

• Support development of strategic approach by delivering channel ideas and providing the link to reality of historical performance and in-market opportunities

• Establishes & oversees team’s planning process including research, strategy, evaluations and recommendations of media vehicles and tactics, through plan development, presentation, execution and follow-up

• Identifies key target insights based on client brief necessary for formulating strategic recommendations, and ensures alignment into broader long-term goals

• Maintain an in-depth knowledge of the client business and competitive landscape

• Ensure teams adopt best in class tools, techniques, and systems to deliver plan recommendations aligned to client’s objectives and expected business outcomes

• Demonstrate an intimate, and strategic, understanding of how consumers interact with channels and technology, while championing across internal agency teams

This role would sit within our US Management team and feed into teams internationally. We want you to be a part of the Croud leadership team and community, contributing to our proposition and driving the business forward.

The successful candidate in this role as Planning Associate Director will report to the VP of Strategy & Planning and work closely with Croud’s Biddable team, Media Measurement Director and VP of Client Leadership.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

• Essential skills and knowledge for the role includes:
  
  • Strategize with internal directors and client to develop innovative, well-targeted marketing solutions
  • 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
  • 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
  • Serve as escalation point for teams to help troubleshoot issues
  • Experience of campaign planning that has driven demonstrable results for clients.
  • Expected to be an expert across all media, including digital, social and traditional, demonstrating advanced knowledge in all areas.
  • Extensive experience of presenting to clients and ’selling-in’ ideas, and of working closely with senior stakeholders to understand their business objectives.
  • Great communication and presentation skills, with good attention to detail.
  • Confidence in presenting and pitching, and preparing proposals.
  • Responsible for growth and development of direct reports / team by providing clear, direct, actionable and motivating feedback
  • Team leader for client interaction while fostering positive relationships
  • Computer Skills/Software Knowledge: Microsoft Suite, Nielsen Suite, Kantar, IMS, Flowchart Software, R/F and Optimization Software, Social Tracking tools, comScore, Prisma, Mbox, MRI/GfK, YouGov, GWI. Understand its capabilities and applications to translate data into actionable insights
  • Thinks clearly and diplomatically when participating in a discussion to field complex or sensitive questions from clients/internal groups

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

• Line Manager: VP, Strategy & Planning

• Key Stakeholders: Director of Strategy & Planning, US S&P Team , US Channel Teams

• Other stakeholders: US MD, US COO

COMPANY BENEFITS

Every employee is eligible for the benefits listed on our careers site which include:

• 20 days vacation a year 12 public holidays
• Annual Performance Based Bonus
• Sales commission (If involved in a pitch)
• 401K Plan after 3 Months (Match up to 2% of your contributions at 100%)
• Full Paid Medical Insurance (including dental and vision)
• Home office chair and monitor
• Free Citi Bike membership
• Recruitment referrals bonus
• Classpass membership contributions
• Fruit, breakfast cereals, snacks, soft drinks and tea & coffee all provided
• Quarterly team offsites / Regular socials
• Agile working policy

COMPENSATION

Salary Range for this position is $115,000 - $130,000 per year.

Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position, market considerations, budgetary considerations, tenure and standing with the Company (applicable to current employees), as well as the employee’s/applicant’s skill set, level of experience, and qualifications.

Standard hours are from 9.00am to 5.30pm, there’s flexibility if agreed in advance with your line managers (it may also be necessary on occasions to work outside of these hours).

Croud is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the grounds of a person's gender, marital status, race, religion, color, age, disability or sexual orientation. All candidates will be assessed based on merit, qualifications and their ability to perform the requirements of the role.