Associate Director

Village Marketing•New York, NY

22d•$60,000 - $140,000

About The Position

Village Marketing, part of WPP, is an advocacy-based marketing shop that builds brands through people. We focus on positioning brands in the lives of consumers, shifting from promotion to advocacy, audience to community, transaction to relationship, and message to conversation. We leverage creators who live and work in the social space throughout every step of our process. Sample clients include Boll & Branch, The Coca-Cola Company, Ford, Nike, HelloFresh, Hellmann’s, AXE, and Mackenzie-Childs. WPP is a trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands, uniting media intelligence, data solutions, creativity, production, enterprise solutions, and strategic counsel powered by the agentic marketing platform, WPP Open. This role is designed for someone eager to expand their influence within the creator and experiential space while driving executional excellence across campaigns, events, and creator programs. As a senior account management role, the Associate Director acts as both a client-facing lead and an internal team manager, ensuring strategic alignment, seamless communication, and precision in delivery. The ideal candidate thrives in fast-paced environments, is highly organized, and excels at bridging creative strategy with operational follow-through.

Requirements

5–7 years of experience in Marketing, Social Media, Partnerships, Influencer, and/or related fields.
Proven experience managing teams and overseeing multiple accounts concurrently.
Strong understanding of influencer marketing, paid partnerships, and campaign management.
Experience with large-scale programs or events preferred.
Excellent communication, organizational, and time-management skills.
Fluency in Google Drive, Microsoft Office, and influencer or social analytics platforms.
Passionate about mentorship, collaboration, and building strong client and team relationships.

Responsibilities

Lead internal team brainstorming sessions for assigned campaigns to generate impactful and strategic ideas.
Translate campaign strategy into actionable campaign plans and creative briefs, ensuring messaging and direction align with broader brand goals.
Partner with the Director to develop bespoke influencer marketing strategies, rescopes, and upsells that align with client objectives.
Provide strategic points of view on market trends, competitors, and audience behavior relevant to brand and audience.
Maintain alignment between creative concepts, influencer activations, and campaign goals throughout execution.
Lead campaign strategy development including approach, budget flighting, and storytelling frameworks.
Leads online and offline creator programs, including brand activations (i.e. music festivals/creator trips), ensuring oversight of strategic direction without leading day-to-day execution.
Oversee outreach, vetting, contracting, and communication across assigned campaigns.
Lead the full content lifecycle including briefing, deadlines, content reviews, and client delivery.
Oversee influencer tracking documents and calendars to maintain clarity across deliverables and approval timelines.
Partner with Legal to ensure contracts, deliverables, and usage rights are complete and compliant.
Ensure influencers are on-brand and that all content aligns with campaign messaging, creative intent, and performance goals.
Lead paid plan development, ensuring that rates align with budget, strategy, and CPM benchmarks, and that partner selection ladders back to client objectives.
Oversee predictive modeling based on performance data and identification of campaign benchmarks to inform future recommendations.
Lead negotiation of high-reach paid partnerships using data and performance insights to inform decision-making.
Oversee influencer briefing materials, ensuring alignment with creative strategy and client goals.
Manage celebrity briefings and ensure coordination between talent, creative, and client teams.
Ensure timely influencer content reviews and approvals with clear, strategic feedback loops to the client and creators.
Lead the development of campaign wrap reports and presentation decks with guidance from the Director.
Oversee collection of performance data, engagement metrics, and qualitative feedback from creators and audiences.
Build clear visuals and summaries that highlight campaign KPIs and insights.
Drive the team to connect metrics and storytelling in alignment with client business objectives.
Analyze campaign results to identify optimizations and elevate key insights and recommendations for future activations.
Act as the main point of contact for specific workstreams or activations, managing communication and expectations with mid-level clients.
Lead client kickoffs, campaign updates, and status meetings, ensuring clarity across deliverables and timelines.
Anticipate client needs, proactively identifying roadblocks or concerns and presenting solutions to leadership.
Communicate client feedback clearly to internal teams, ensuring action items are understood and implemented.
Analyze client business goals and key performance pillars to position yourself as a trusted strategic partner.
Manage and mentor Senior Managers and Coordinators across assigned projects, fostering professional growth and accountability.
Delegate tasks effectively and review for accuracy, alignment, and quality before delivery.
Lead smaller internal workstreams or pods, managing communication, timelines, and priorities across functions.
Oversee creation and updates of team DOLs, ensuring workload balance and alignment with team strengths and development areas.
Lead regular check-ins with your team to ensure deliverables are on track and resourcing is adequate.
Collaborate cross-functionally with creative, media, legal, and talent teams to ensure seamless campaign execution.
Flag bandwidth, resource, or performance challenges to the Director or Senior Director in a timely manner.
Support the Director and project managers with staffing grids, scopes, and budget trackers.
Ensure campaign billing closures are accurate, with all numbers reconciled across documentation including accounts receipt sheet.
Maintain oversight of billing trackers to ensure alignment with contracted scope, focusing on usage, reimbursable costs, and influencer fees.
Review and validate all billing formulas and fees before submission to Accounting.
Support Directors with quarterly financial reviews and campaign overviews.
Manage contract creation and review for creators, ensuring accuracy and risk mitigation.
Review all Manager and Senior Manager contracts and redlines for compliance and alignment with client guidelines.
Escalate complex redline issues or legal concerns to senior leadership.
Draft first-pass SOW exhibits in partnership with leadership and Legal.
Lead onboarding and training for new Senior Managers joining the account.
Support onboarding of new Associate Directors, ensuring alignment with account processes and client expectations.
Assist in creating and refining onboarding materials and process documentation for team members, ensuring consistent training on client background, history, and goals.
Ensure all projects and teams are operating within scope and deadlines, proactively identifying roadblocks and presenting solutions.
Support new business efforts or special projects across clients as needed.
Stay informed on cultural, platform, and influencer trends, and regularly share insights and POVs with the team.
Uphold Village’s values through collaboration, mentorship, and strong relationship-building with both clients and colleagues.