Senior Director, Planning

Adelphi Group • New York, NY

7d • $120,000 - $230,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director of Media Planning leads the agency’s planning practice, sets strategic standards across the agency, and drives client outcomes through integrated, full-funnel thinking. The role owns the P&L for assigned strategic accounts, leads and mentors a planning team, and serves as a strategic voice with clients, agency leadership, and across the agency.

The position develops the agency’s integrated media planning philosophy, establishes planning standards and proprietary frameworks, and contributes to thought leadership and the evolution of agency offerings. It leads client strategy and account growth, builds strong planning teams, partners with cross-functional departments, and supports pitches and business development. The role combines strategic leadership, client partnership, talent development, and financial accountability to strengthen both client outcomes and the agency’s planning practice.

Requirements

• 15+ years of media planning experience.
• 5+ years in a senior leadership role managing planning teams and/or P&L.
• Proven track record leading integrated campaigns that drive brand growth and performance results.
• Deep expertise across traditional, digital, social, programmatic, and emerging media channels.
• Strong understanding of media measurement, attribution, analytics, and effectiveness research.
• Demonstrated ability to develop talent and build high-performing, strategic planning teams.
• Experience leading new business development and shaping agency offerings.
• Proficiency with media planning and analytics tools, and comfort with data-driven decision-making.
• P&L management experience, including ownership of revenue, margin, and profitability.
• Ability to connect media strategy to business outcomes, consumer psychology, and long-term brand equity.
• Ability to lead strategically, make difficult decisions, mentor teams, and raise standards.
• Ability to challenge clients respectfully, support recommendations with data and logic, and build trust.
• Business acumen to balance strategic ambition with financial discipline.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, including the ability to explain complex strategy clearly and build alignment.

Nice To Haves

• A point of view on how advertising works and a record of shaping industry thinking through writing, speaking, or influence.
• Familiarity with effectiveness research such as Binet & Fields, Byron Sharp, and IPA effectiveness, and ability to apply it to planning.
• Experience building a planning practice or elevating planning capability within an agency.
• Experience challenging conventional wisdom and moving clients toward more sophisticated strategies.
• Comfort with ambiguity, change, and the tension between strategic purity and commercial reality.
• Interest in mentoring others, raising planning standards, and building a planning practice.
• Ability to attract top talent and create an environment where planners want to grow.

Responsibilities

• Develop and champion the integrated media planning philosophy across client relationships and new business.
• Set planning standards and best practices for strategy, measurement, and client partnership.
• Build proprietary frameworks and methodologies that differentiate the agency’s planning approach.
• Lead thought leadership and position the agency in industry conversations about effectiveness, media strategy, and consumer behavior.
• Work with agency leadership to evolve services, capabilities, and the client value proposition.
• Own P&L for assigned strategic accounts and drive revenue growth, profitability, and client satisfaction.
• Lead account strategy at C-suite level and act as a business partner and strategic advisor to clients.
• Challenge client briefs, identify gaps in media strategies, and propose comprehensive solutions.
• Build custom media architectures based on business objectives, competitive dynamics, and consumer journeys.
• Ensure integrated planning translates into seamless execution and measurable business results.
• Build and lead a high-performing planning team, including Associate Directors and Planners.
• Mentor leaders and emerging talent in integrated, systems-based thinking.
• Establish planning processes and standards that elevate work across the practice.
• Develop career paths and succession plans, and attract top planning talent.
• Foster continuous learning on research, effectiveness studies, and media landscape changes.
• Partner with Creative, Insights, Analytics, and Commerce to embed planning in agency work.
• Lead integrated pitch teams and new business development, positioning planning as a foundation of agency strategy.
• Collaborate with Buying, Research, and other departments to ensure strategic plans are executed effectively.
• Shape client briefing processes to embed full-funnel thinking into scoping, planning, and measurement.
• Contribute to new business pitches and RFP responses.
• Identify growth opportunities in existing accounts and propose expanded scope and services.
• Build a reputation as a thought leader through industry events, research, and contributions to planning discussions.

Benefits

• Professional development, including investment in research, certifications, and industry engagement.
• Competitive compensation and benefits.
• Equity participation, based on agency structure.
• Opportunity to lead a talented planning team and influence agency-wide planning.
• P&L accountability and opportunity to drive business growth.
• Platform to contribute to industry thinking through research, conferences, and industry engagement.
• Partnership with agency leadership to evolve capabilities, services, and client value proposition.
• Exposure to marquee clients, complex business challenges, and strategic opportunities.
• Collaborative culture where strategic thinking is valued.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed