GLOBAL SENIOR PLANNER, Royal Canin – EMEA EssenceMediacom is GroupM’s newest and largest agency, committed to delivering marketing breakthroughs for brands. It has disrupted the old models across media, creative, innovation and analytics to find new opportunities for advertisers and deliver truly integrated media solutions. Born out of two pioneering agencies, EssenceMediacom fuses Essence’s performance, data, analytics, and creative technology DNA with MediaCom’s scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise. As part of WPP, the world's largest marketing communications services group, and GroupM, WPP’s consolidated media investment management arm, we have access to the richest data, most robust benchmarks, and most advanced capabilities in the market. This helps us provide comprehensive solutions to all marketing challenges. Our ‘breakthrough’ ambition is underpinned by our commitment to ‘continuous learning .’ We aim to ensure our people fulfil their potential by investing in their whole-person wellbeing, careers, and capabilities, which in turn helps grow our clients’ businesses. EssenceMediacom, with 10,000 people across 120 offices in 96 markets, is one of the world’s leading communications specialists, with billings of more than US $21 billion (Source: COMvergence, 2021). Its global client roster includes adidas, Coca-Cola (TCCC), Dell, Google, Hasbro, Mars, NBC Universal, P&G, Richemont, Shell, Sony, and Uber. Find out more at www.essencemediacom.com. Alternatively, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Reports to: Planning Manager The role This role is to work within a centralised European planning team across the Royal Canin brand in 16 markets. The team’s main role is to develop appropriate full-funnel media plans based on globally defined strategy for each of our markets and deliver that brief for deployment, supporting them in seeing that through to successful execution. We expect the candidate to have planning experience, but this could come from a traditional comms or digital background as Royal Canin is a fully digital account. Ideally, we would like someone with strategic thinking capability who is not afraid to get stuck into data and get hands-on within reporting tools. The candidate should be motivated by creating smart and forward-thinking connected digital communications plans to help solve problems. This is a key client facing position that requires strong relationships and communication skills as well as an excellent organised approach and strong attention to detail. The successful individual will be expected to manage a direct report as well as working seamlessly with cross-functional teams, to promote harmony across the account. As a Senior Planner, you will work with the team to ensure global strategic guidelines are appropriately applied to local plans, while ensuring local nuances are reflected. The Senior Planner is responsible for work coordination with the Manager, Planner and Exec in the team and will report into the Global Manager, working closely with the entire team on the planning processes from brief to execution to reporting with local buying teams for the clients in each market. Accountabilities include: Client Management Lead calls and meetings with specific clients in your patch of markets to understand their business, and discuss performance and future activations Support the creation of rationale for a media plan, any optimisation decisions and their outcomes Lead delivery of post-campaign analysis and insights Deliver reconciliation information regarding media delivery Media Planning Work with Manager and Planner to research audience, media touchpoints and source of growth opportunities Interrogate historic performance data to determine or optimise the existing opportunity and key variables which might improve the effectiveness of our media plan Grow understanding of key data sources including MMM data and start to be able to interrogate and apply learnings Create media plans via planning templates and manage booking sign off Ensure media plans contain direct links to KPIs detailed in the media strategy Work with the Global team to identify opportunities to implement “test and learn” strategies across local market plans Monitor performance of live campaigns to identify key wins/challenges Meet regularly with digital partners to broaden knowledge and understanding of the latest developments and how these couple be tested or implemented across existing and future briefs Help to generate relevant and innovative ideas and understand available tactics, e.g. use of data, technology, creative and trading techniques, to drive volume and efficiency Provide media specialists with their brief – budget, audience, phasing, targets and any other relevant information to support their detailed in-channel planning Execution Support in aggregation of output from media specialists – planning; reporting; insight/analysis Supply reconciliations of delivery across the plan from each media owner/media specialist which the Planners directly booked Reporting & Optimisation Work with the buying teams to interpret performance data and decide on optimisation opportunities Generate key charts/slides which demonstrate performance, test learnings and next steps Ensure strong commentary that gives insight and action (beyond what the result/trend is) Team Management Work with and develop the Exec, making sure they understand the targets, media solutions and analysis techniques required to maximise effectiveness of our plans Work with and develop the Exec to provide strong media delivery and financial reconciliations Manage the media specialists to ensure they are correctly briefed and supported in their scope of work Work with Finance team to reconcile and deliver efficient PO to invoicing process A bit about your skills and experience: The successful candidate will be ambitious and collaborative with a can-do attitude. They will want to embrace the culture at EssenceMediacom and likewise on Royal Canin, and be excited by the opportunity to get stuck in and learn from a welcoming and friendly team. Summary of requirements; Experience in a media agency (either planning or digital) Experience in client management and servicing skills Experience managing a media budget for clients It is essential that the candidate has a good basic understanding of the digital landscape/tools Excellent presentation skills (writing and delivery) Strong communication and ability to hold a room Experience managing global media partners Ideally, hands-on experience using digital platforms and reporting tools such as Google Analytics, Data Studio and PowerBI would be advantageous Personal attributes Strong team player, shows relevant initiative and pro-activity Positive and passionate approach that motivates the team & champions team successes Winning mentality, striving to exceed expectations Self-driven, passionate for new ideas and solutions Extremely organised with strong attention to detail Effective and calm under pressure Ability to respect deadlines and project manage team, inter agency partners and clients against a clear plan Able to multitask and change priorities rapidly, flexible Flexible to the ever-changing requirements of working within a multi-client team Possess the skills to solve problems promptly. If facing challenges, strong communication skills to raise with line manager/team lead in an effective way Analytical capabilities – comfortable with data to provide strategic recommendations by using all available data