Role Summary and Impact 

This is an exciting opportunity for a seasoned and strategic Planning Director to lead innovative, integrated media for our client. You will play a pivotal leadership role in shaping media strategy and driving impactful campaigns. Beyond strategy, you will be accountable for the overall quality of planning output, seamless campaign execution, and inspiring work that cuts through in a competitive and fast-evolving category. We are looking for a visionary thinker who combines strategic depth with operational excellence, and who can lead and elevate a high-performing team.

Skills and Experience 

What you will do:

• Integrated Media Strategy & Planning: Building from global brand strategy, you will lead the development of holistic, insight-driven media plans spanning both digital and traditional channels. This encompasses both Brand and Performance media, ensuring plans are rooted in consumer understanding and aligned to business objectives.
• Campaign Excellence & Execution Oversight: Provide strategic direction and hands-on oversight across Brand and Performance media campaigns. Champion best-in-class execution standards across key digital platforms including Meta, TikTok, Google, and Programmatic. Guide and support the wider planning team to ensure rigorous campaign setup and delivery.
• Client Leadership & Stakeholder Management: Serve as a senior point of contact for the client, building trusted, consultative relationships with key stakeholders. Lead senior-level client conversations with confidence, demonstrating a strong understanding of the client's business, brand, and growth ambitions.
• Market Leadership: Cultivate strong, collaborative partnerships with WPP Media teams across local markets (India, Thailand, and Philippines). Drive effective ways of working, providing strategic guidance and ensuring consistency of output across the region.
• Campaign Performance & Optimisation: Take full ownership of campaign performance, overseeing reporting frameworks, in-flight optimisation, and KPI delivery. Champion a culture of analytical rigour and continuous improvement across the team.
• Account Operations & Commercial Management: Ensure smooth account operations including PO trackers, monthly billing inputs, and reconciliations. Support commercial accountability and ensure cost guarantees are met.
• Creative & Strategic Leadership: Actively drive the development of bold, inspiring ideas that are aligned to the client's brand positioning. Lead the presentation of forward-thinking strategic recommendations to both internal and client stakeholders, fostering a culture of creativity and innovation within the team.
• People Leadership: Mentor, develop, and inspire junior and mid-level team members. Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performance team culture that reflects WPP Media's values.

Measures of Success:

In 3 Months:

• Establish strong, trusted relationships with senior client contacts, internal teams, and key media partners.
• Develop a thorough understanding of the client's business, brand architecture, media approach, and historical campaign performance across all channels.
• Begin shaping the strategic planning agenda, contributing senior-level perspectives and proactively identifying early opportunities for improvement.
• Ensure rigorous KPI-setting and tracking frameworks are in place across all active campaigns.

In 6 Months:

• Take full strategic ownership of the account's media planning output, leading senior client conversations and quarterly business reviews.
• Drive proactive, forward-looking strategies that enhance campaign performance and unlock new growth opportunities — including audience innovation, channel diversification, and emerging media formats.
• Establish clear team ways of working and performance standards that deliver operational excellence.

In 12 Months:

• Deliver best-in-class client servicing, evidenced by strong client satisfaction and retention.
• Ensure all commercial commitments and cost guarantees are met.
• Be recognised as a strategic leader both by the client and internally, championing media innovation and delivering measurable business impact across the full planning-to-measurement cycle.
• Actively contribute to talent development, with demonstrable growth seen within the team.

What you will need:

• At least 10+ years of integrated media experience, with a proven track record in a senior planning or leadership role.
• Deep expertise in digital media planning and buying; knowledge of offline/traditional media channels is strongly advantageous.
• Demonstrated experience leading client relationships at a senior level, ideally within a multi-market Southeast Asian environment.
• Strong strategic acumen with the ability to translate business objectives into compelling, insight-led media strategies.
• Proven ability to challenge, influence, and provide intelligent counsel to both clients and internal stakeholders.
• Experience developing integrated communication strategies within a media or marketing environment.
• Exceptional organisational, operational, and numeracy skills with strong attention to detail.
• A proactive, solutions-oriented mindset with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Passionate about the media and communications industry, with a keen interest in staying ahead of the ever-evolving media landscape.
• Strong people leadership skills with experience building, managing, and inspiring high-performing teams.
• Proficiency in spoken Mandarin would be advantageous for this role, given the nature of stakeholder interactions within the APAC markets for this client.

Life at WPP Media & Benefits 

Our passion for shaping the next era of media includes investing in our employees to help them do their best work, and we’re just as committed to employee growth as we are to responsible media investment. WPP Media employees can tap into the global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, grow their networks, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising. We have a variety of employee resource groups and host frequent in-office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our benefits include competitive medical, group retirement plans, 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 particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers. 

We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. 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 read our Privacy Notice (https://www.wppmedia.com/pages/privacy-policy) for more information on how we process the information you provide. 

While we appreciate all applications received, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.