Associate Director, Planning (12 Month Mat Cover FTC)

WPP Media · London, United Kingdom

  • Junior
  • Full-time
  • Posted 2026-09-15
  • Confirmed live on 25 September 2026

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Job description

About WPP Media

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships – all united by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open – we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth. 

WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working.

For more information, visit wppmedia.com.

3327 - Associate Director, Planning - UK (12 Month Mat Cover FTC)

About us

Want to build the UK’s most exciting brands at the bleeding edge of AI and culture?
Welcome to &Accelerate at T&P.

We are not a traditional, slow-moving agency. We reject lengthy SLAs, red tape, and siloed thinking. Instead, we operate on a simple, powerful belief: modern marketing requires the lightning speed of Artificial Intelligence (AI) fused with the unstoppable intuition of Human Intelligence (HI).

Born as a pioneering, high-growth unit within T&P and backed by the massive scale of WPP, &Accelerate is an incubator for scaling legends.

We work in flat, agile, “&-shaped” teams where creative, media, data, and technology live under one roof. By leveraging WPP’s premier tech platform, WPP Open (representing a massive $500M annual investment in AI), we supercharge our thinking and fast-track marketing tasks so we can spend more time doing what humans do best: being brilliantly creative, strategically daring, and commercially unstoppable.

Our Two-Gear Philosophy

We believe in moving at the speed of culture. To do that, we operate in a unique Two-Gear Model:

• The Strategic Gear: Crafting the big, long-term brand ideas that stop people in their tracks.

• The Tactical Gear: Running a daily, reactive content engine that hacks the social interest graph and moves at the exact speed of cultural trends.

We’re building a place where you can thrive.

Ultimately, we are our people. We believe the journey of building great brands should feel just as good as the results. We reject the traditional agency grind in favour of a nurturing, inclusive, and transparent culture where you get board-level exposure, rapid career progression, and the freedom to challenge the status quo.

If you are commercially minded, allergic to bureaucracy, and constructively impatient - this isn’t just a job. It’s your launchpad.

About the Role

We are looking for an ambitious, modern Account Director to step into the engine room of &Accelerate and lead the day-to-day delivery for two of our most prestigious, forward-thinking client portfolios: Karo Healthcare and SC Johnson.

As an Account Director, you won't just manage client accounts - you will shape how these legendary brands show up in culture. Operating within our flat, integrated team structure, you will sit at the crossroads of creative, media planning, performance, and AI. You will be responsible for orchestrating our HI + AI model to deliver seamless, high-velocity campaigns, managing client relationships with gravitas, and mentoring a talented, multidisciplinary team of Account Managers and Executives.

This is a pivotal leadership role for a strategically-minded, hands-on account handler who is ready to reject traditional agency silos and drive the future of integrated brand growth.

The Clients

You will be leading brands that are household names, tasked with injecting them with the speed, purpose, and cultural relevance of an insurgent start-up.

• Karo Healthcare (featuring E45): A trusted giant in skincare. We famously took E45 "from the back of the bathroom cabinet to the front of culture" through our groundbreaking, inclusive campaign, This Is Me. This Is My Space, supporting transgender and gender-diverse individuals. The campaign won the highly prestigious Channel 4 Diversity in Advertising Award, driving a massive 57% increase in branded search volumes, 4.3% sales growth, and a 10% rise in brand reputation.

• SC Johnson (featuring ECOVER): The original pioneer of ecological cleaning. We are helping this iconic green brand lead the modern conversation around sustainability. By hacking the social interest graph and moving at the speed of culture, we make eco-friendly living accessible, bold, and highly relevant to today's consumers.

Key Responsibilities

• Client Partnership & Growth

• Own Key Relationships: Be the trusted partner for senior brand leads across Karo and SC Johnson, acting as an indispensable adviser who deeply understands their businesses, verticals, and competitors.

• Drive Integration: Seamlessly bridge the gap between media, creative, performance, and technology, bringing "The Power of &" to life on a daily basis.

• Unlock Innovation: Work alongside the Client Lead to identify growth opportunities, pitching br

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