Role Overview

The Manager, KOL Planning leads the strategic planning function for influencer marketing across multiple brands and categories. This role owns the development of integrated creator strategies, oversees planning quality, mentors the planning team, and partners with senior clients and internal stakeholders to deliver commercially impactful influencer campaigns.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development of end-to-end influencer marketing strategies across multiple client accounts.
• Translate business and marketing objectives into creator-first campaign strategies that drive measurable outcomes.
• Define creator ecosystem strategies including audience segmentation, platform roles, creator tiering, content architecture, and campaign phasing.
• Lead category, cultural, consumer, and creator landscape analysis to identify strategic opportunities.
• Oversee creator selection methodology and ensure recommendations are backed by data and strategic rationale.
• Guide campaign planning across awareness, engagement, advocacy, and conversion objectives.
• Present influencer strategies and recommendations to senior clients with confidence and clarity.
• Partner with Account Management, Creative, Media, and Execution teams to ensure strategic alignment throughout campaign delivery.
• Establish planning frameworks, best practices, and processes across the KOL Planning function.
• Mentor and develop junior planners while reviewing and elevating planning outputs.
• Drive thought leadership by monitoring platform updates, creator trends, and emerging social behaviours.
• Lead influencer strategy for new business pitches and agency growth opportunities.
• Evaluate campaign performance to identify optimisation opportunities and improve future planning.

Requirements

• 6–8 years' experience in influencer marketing, social strategy, or integrated communications.
• Proven experience leading influencer strategy across multiple brands or categories.
• Strong commercial understanding of creator marketing, pricing, platform capabilities, and campaign effectiveness.
• Excellent strategic thinking, analytical, and storytelling skills.
• Confident presenter with experience engaging senior clients and stakeholders.
• Experience managing or mentoring junior team members.
• Advanced proficiency in PowerPoint, Excel, and influencer analytics platforms (e.g. CreatorIQ/Tagger/Fabulate/Modash or equivalent).

Leadership Expectations

• Coach and develop planners to strengthen strategic thinking and planning quality.
• Improve planning processes, frameworks, and knowledge sharing.
• Build trusted relationships with clients through strategic expertise and proactive thinking.