Account Director, Connections Planning

Role Objective We are recruiting for an Account Director who is an exceptional and driven media planner, to join our Connections Planning team. You will be working on the Ford account in the UK - the biggest auto advertiser and one of the biggest accounts at Mindshare. We work in a unique 'full service' model meaning that the media teams collaborate closely with creative and account management teams within the Ford agency structure (primarily working with VMLYR). Therefore we foster a fully integrated team approach across media, creative and client, working together across the 3 team locations - 2 days (Mon-Tue) at Ford's Dunton office (a short taxi from Shenfield on the Elizabeth Line- Travel costs are covered), 1 day (Wed) at VML Sea Containers House and 1 day (Thu) at Mindshare Rose Court. About the role In terms of your day to day, the bulk of your time will be spent on planning exciting, award-winning campaigns as well as working with channel specialists to make those plans a reality. This involves everything from defining the approach to audience, designing the connections plan across all relevant touchpoints as well as working on content creation and measurement. More detailed information below:

• Ford are laser focused on driving sales, so there is a strong focus on the performance of our plans, so all teams are responsible for making sure they are delivering as planned
• Knowing the tools and means to build and target audiences in addressable and non-addressable media to validate the media approach ensuring that the defined audience can be reached at the scale required
• Designing an approach that outlines how and where we will connect with defined audiences - especially hard to reach / low media engagement audiences - in media for brand and performance campaigns.
• Connecting the dots between the data we, the client, media owners and other internal teams hold to plan most effectively.
• Designing the connections ecosystem & plan, working closely and collaboratively with channel specialists and wider agency teams from a paid, owned and earned perspective
• Day to day management of campaigns and annual planning as a key liaison between clients and channel specialists
• Designing measurement & testing framework to inform as well as measure and optimise the campaigns when live
• Management of others to develop their skills
  
  You show a breadth of understanding of media channels (especially online) and can discuss the role they play within a comms strategy
• Have an interest in both brand and performance campaigns with some knowledge of ecommerce
• You are a tool 'wizard'...well not quite but excellent knowledge of audience research and planning tools (e.g. TGI & Touchpoints) is a must and awareness of / familiarity with alternative sources (such as media owner tools & data) is a plus
• Ability to draw clear insights and implications for media (i.e. connecting the outputs of different insight systems successfully)
• Demonstrate a passion for media and understanding of what makes a great media campaign, tangibly showcasing excellence in planning craft.
• Take responsibility for the upfront work that needs to happen in order to deliver a great, clear and concise universal brief to the specialist teams that hits the clients' brief on the head
• You care about proving your campaigns work! How? By being able to create a holistic measurement framework relevant for your brand and applicable to every campaign that is digestible (setting KPI's methods I.e., which tool/system, necessary tracking) and plan for adaptation/optimisation
• You are confident in presenting with passion and conviction, managing senior client relationships, running all agency team sessions and collaboratively leading client projects and tackling challenging conversations.
• You are excited to work as part of a team; immediate, wider department and specialists as required. Leading by example though presence and contribution. Taking the responsibility for working in a collaborative, inclusive way
• You demonstrate excellent attention to detail and accuracy in output and meeting deadlines. As well as strong organization to meet client expectations, manage workflow for self and junior team members.
• Demonstrate a proactive desire to continually improve own knowledge and wider skill set
• You are open minded, flexible and have a challenger mindset.