Senior Investment Associate

WPP Media•Chicago, NY

14h

About The Position

WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalization at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working. The Senior Investment Associate handles day-to-day management (negotiating, managing, and executing) of the digital and integrated video spend and negotiations for their assigned clients. You will provide strategic market insights, trends, and pricing benchmarks, oversight, and management of spending across major vendors while monitoring client budgets and adherence to KPIs. Work closely with Planning teams to ensure that final buys deliver on the approved plan objective and strategy. As the Senior Associate, Client Investment, you will implement media negotiations and buying/activation for one or more assigned accounts. You will provide strategic market insights, trends, and pricing benchmarks, oversight, and manage spending across major vendors while monitoring client budgets and adherence to KPIs. You will also work closely with Planning teams to ensure that final buys deliver on the approved plan objective and strategy.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in advertising, marketing, business administration, and communications; OR equivalent professional work experience.
1+ years of prior digital or Video investment experience desired.
Thorough understanding of the media landscape and fast-moving digital trends.
Strong quantitative and analytical/results-oriented skills.
Solid negotiation skills and tactics.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to work in a team environment that promotes collaboration.
Adept at communicating effectively across all levels.
Ability to multi-task, work successfully with teams, and work under pressure.
Excellent time-management and follow-through skills.
Advanced proficiency in Excel with intermediate PowerPoint and Word skills.
Strong understanding of interactive research tools.

Responsibilities

Integrate with the Communication/Strategic Planning team to gain insights on objectives, KPIs, strategies, audiences, etc. to ensure tactical buys deliver against goals.
Participate in vendor RFP selection.
Help manage RFP process (all digital channels, where applicable).
Help centrally manage negotiations/rate tracking/planning costs/benchmarking/budget management of assigned account(s).
Demonstrate better pricing, efficiencies, and impact by consolidating buys across partners, Agency and GroupM.
Manage vendor relations (Inventory avails, IOs, notify if included/excluded from buy).
Develop Partner Scoring Model (ranking for buy development).
Gain approval for all supply sources on tactical buys internally.
Develop tactical buy with larger Investment team.
Assist the Associate with entering the partner buys into Buy platforms, sending out IO/Contracts and preparing campaign for launches (trafficking, setting up ad serving, etc.).
Ensure all buys are entered correctly into Prisma (naming conventions, budgets, placements, compliance, updates, etc.), campaign launches, and delivery/pacing is occurring.
Build relationships and meet with vendors on an ongoing basis to provide updates and/or recommendations.
Create Partner POVs.
Keep current on partner and marketplace innovations, ad models, and technologies.
Proactive in following up on client team requests with a key awareness of client deadlines.
Follow key investment tenets around KPIs.
Actively participate in department projects/committees.
Estimate, update and adjust all ratings per demographic, per quarter.
Analyze upfront network proposals and create recommendation books.
Issue order letters.
Negotiate all rates, special placement and added value per the determined strategy.
Negotiate optimum buys in terms of cost efficiency, goals delivery and vendor agreements.
Ensure the documentation of all negotiations, makegoods and credits.
Ensure the accuracy of Donovan inputting, buys and order forms.
Analyze buy performance, i.e. post-buys, positioning reports.
Collaborate with Analytics to identify and activate buy optimizations.
Track media expenditures to ensure agency and budget compliance.
Manage monthly billing.
Run commercial time period rotation and pod position reports.
Oversee management of commercial inventory allocation and maintenance process, including monitoring audience delivery, and negotiating makegoods.
Maintain communication with Communications Planning team to ensure timely delivery of requests.
Maintain working relationships with vendors to ensure quality buys.
Collaborate with the media team members to resolve media billing issues.
Attend media presentations internally and outside the Agency.
Maintain up to date knowledge of the national broadcast marketplace and its opportunities.
Assist the Associate and help guide them on their roles and responsibilities, their workload and development.
Build and maintain strong relationships with media, technology, analytics and GroupM teams as well as media and technology publishers.
Foster camaraderie within the Investment team and with all key stakeholders they support.
Educate media teams on the investment process.
Provide guidance to team members and nurture/promote team environment.
Train employees on tools and best practices.
Be capable of working successfully within a team as well as independently.