VP, Comms Planning

VaynerMedia LLC•New York, NY

About The Position

We’re looking for a VP of Communications Planning to lead integrated communications strategy for a major CPG client within a social-first agency model. Our approach is grounded in a clear operating model: strong insights create relevance, relevance earns attention, and attention drives behavior. This role is responsible for ensuring that every communications plan is built from real human insight—translated into culturally resonant ideas that capture attention and drive measurable business outcomes. Equally critical to success in this role is a deep, instinctive understanding of culture. The right candidate doesn’t rely solely on research to “find” relevance—they are actively embedded in culture and able to recognize it in real time. They bring a point of view shaped by participation, not observation, and can translate fast-moving cultural signals into immediate strategic and creative opportunities. This is not a “plan and hand off” role. You will work closely with creative, media, and analytics teams to ensure ideas are not only strategically sound, but built to earn attention in-market—and continuously improved based on performance. Reporting into the Strategy Lead, you’ll own communications planning across the CPG account, partner closely with senior leaders in media planning and buying, and lead a team of strategists to elevate how we think and work, in addition to supporting other accounts within the group.

Requirements

10–15+ years of experience in communications planning, media strategy, or integrated brand planning
Strong experience leading communications strategy for large, complex CPG businesses
Proven ability to uncover compelling human insights and translate them into effective communications and creative direction
Deeply attuned to culture, with the ability to recognize and apply emerging cultural signals in real time
Experience working closely with creative teams and contributing to idea development and iteration
Deep understanding of how platform dynamics and creative execution influence attention
Proven ability to partner closely with media planning and buying teams
Experienced leader with a track record of developing strong strategic thinkers
Clear, compelling storyteller with strong client presence

Nice To Haves

You don’t stop at the plan—you care how the work shows up in the world
You have a genuine, lived-in understanding of culture—not just awareness, but participation
You know what makes ideas resonate in culture and earn attention in-feed
You use performance and cultural signals as inputs—not just reports
You connect insight, idea, execution, and outcome seamlessly
You build teams that think, test, and evolve

Responsibilities

Champion Insight-Led, Culturally Fluent Planning
Lead the development of sharp, actionable insights grounded in human behavior, cultural context, and platform dynamics
Bring a real-time understanding of culture—identifying emerging signals, shifts, and conversations without over-reliance on traditional research cycles
Ensure every communications strategy is rooted in a clear, defensible insight that translates into culturally relevant creative expression
Operationalize Insight → Relevance → Attention → Behavior
Translate insights into communications strategies that create cultural and contextual relevance
Design plans that earn attention through meaningful engagement—not just paid exposure
Define how attention will drive specific brand and business behaviors
Shape Creative Through a Communications Lens
Partner closely with creative teams to ensure ideas are designed to earn attention within platform and cultural realities
Contribute to the development of creative territories, content systems, and channel-native executions
Bring a strong point of view on what will work in-feed, in culture, and in context—not just in theory
Support Test, Learn, and Iterate in Market
Stay close to live work, partnering with analytics and creative teams to understand what is driving attention and why
Identify patterns in performance and translate them into creative and communications optimization
Champion a test-and-learn approach where strategy evolves based on real-world feedback and cultural response
Own Communications Planning for the Account
Lead full-funnel, cross-channel strategy across campaigns, launches, and always-on activity
Define the role of channels across paid, owned, earned, and creator ecosystems
Build communications architectures that reflect how people actually discover, engage, and act
Bridge Strategy and Media Execution
Partner with VP-level leaders in media planning and buying to translate strategy into actionable, optimized media plans
Align communications strategy with investment decisions, platform mix, and in-market performance
Lead and Grow a Team
Manage and mentor a team of communications planners/strategists
Coach junior team members on how to identify insights and connect them to cultural relevance, creative ideas, and communications strategy
Instill a consistent approach grounded in insight, relevance, attention, and behavior
Drive Integration Across Functions
Ensure tight collaboration across strategy, creative, media, influencer, and analytics
Champion a connected ecosystem across content, media, creator partnerships, and cultural touchpoints
Champion Measurement & Learning
Define success across the full chain: insight strength, cultural relevance, attention quality, and business outcomes
Build clear test-and-learn agendas and learning frameworks
Translate results into forward-looking strategic and creative recommendations