Associate Director, Media Planning

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 . 2690 - Associate Director, Media Planning Role Summary and Impact EssenceMediacom, part of WPP, is a new breed of media agency. Grounded in analytics & insights and powered by data & technology, we believe in the power of media and creative to drive breakthroughs for the world’s best brands. We help clients understand the modern marketing paradox and discover the breakthroughs brands need to win with their consumers. We are designed for the new communications economy — built on data & technology, built for people & algorithms, built around diverse schools of thought, built to test & learn at scale, and, crucially, built to evolve. Position Summary Our Media Planning Account Directors will create and oversee the successful delivery of media campaigns working closely with the Account Managers on the team. They demonstrate expert knowledge of the overall media landscape and available research, using these to inform and communicate planning recommendations. Reporting to a Business Director, they have oversight and responsibility for the day-to-day management of media plans and their proper implementation, working to fulfil the client’s media strategy and objectives in the context of changing market conditions. They are responsible for ensuring budget is used optimally to deliver the desired results, via effective planning, in-flight cross-channel optimisations, and insightful post campaign analysis to inform future campaigns. About Airbnb We’re proud to have the Airbnb account at EssenceMediacom since 2019. We took on the account in 2019 with just five global markets and our media budget was under $400M. Since then, our relationships with Airbnb have strengthened and expanded; in ‘26 we’re looking after over 20 markets (6 in EMEA) and our global media budget will be over $600M. All this change means it’s an exciting time to join the team and working for Airbnb! With the business growing we are looking to bring new leadership skills to help both our teams and clients navigate this change and growth, identify new opportunities to deliver breakthroughs and efficiencies, while continuing to strengthen our relationship driving Brand Love for Airbnb. The regional media and marketing teams at Aribnb are mainly UK based, have strong relationships with the agency and often join our team and work from our offices each week. About the team The Airbnb Planning team is a small team currently made up of a Business Director, two Planning Account Directors, two Account Managers and a Senior Planning Exec. We work very closely with our Client Leadership, Activation and Analytics teams as well as our Global counterparts. The Client and the Role Airbnb is a unique brand with its offering to consumers and we want to show consumers in various markets that travelling with Airbnb and being hosted, is the best way to travel. This is a Global account, with clients in the US and local divisional clients whom we speak to daily. We work hand in hand with our WPP Media colleagues across the region. The account is fast paced and requires at times quick turnarounds and management of various markets within EMEA (UK, FR, DE IT, ES, NL & SE). The account is always evolving and in 2026 we are focusing more of the regional activity to locally led programmes and projects. Previously, all EMEA media was led out of the UK office, but for this year, almost 50% of the ATL activity will be owned by the local teams, its therefore changed the responsibilities of the Planning Account Director role to forge even closer relationships with the regional teams, ensuring complete transparency of activity and be the thread that ties the EMEA media for Airbnb together. Our clients are savvy media marketeers and have a passion for creative. Creative positioning needs to land with the brand qualities and authenticity of Airbnb and their audience, therefore quality, premium formats and its environment are a given when planning. Airbnb are always keen on pushing the boundaries and showcasing exciting media opportunities through strategic and clever media planning. They want to stand out and showcase the best of what Airbnb can offer to their audience. Skills and Experience A self-starter and quick to think on their feet Great at building relationships with clients (locally and in the US) but also internal and external Essence…