Client Planning Manager

Job Description:

Dentsu is an integrated growth and transformation partner to the world’s leading organizations. Founded in 1901 in Tokyo, Japan, and now present in over 145 countries and regions, it has a proven track record of nurturing and developing innovations, combining the talents of its global network of leadership brands to develop impactful and integrated growth solutions for clients. Dentsu delivers end-to-end experience transformation (EX) by integrating its services across Media, CXM and Creative, while its business transformation (BX) mindset pushes the boundaries of transformation and sustainable growth for brands, people and society.

CARAT is an important part of our world-class offering -an award-winning media, content and branding agency that uses its peerless understanding of the passions, motivations, and behaviours of real people to bring brands and their customers together. Carat is privileged to work with some of the most eminent companies in the world.

We’re hiring for a Client Planning Manager as part of Carat in London, to work across the VodafoneThree account.

Purpose of the Role

Vodafone are one of the world’s leading mobile communications providers, operating across 26 countries and partnering with networks in more than 55 others. Globally, they serve almost 444 million customers, including millions across the UK. They also made history by completing the first ever mobile phone call on 1 January 1985, connecting London to their Newbury HQ. In 2024, Vodafone UK announced a landmark merger with Three UK, creating a new combined business designed to accelerate 5G rollout, strengthen network performance, and deliver long‑term investment into the UK’s digital infrastructure.

Carat have been working with Vodafone since January 2020, and following the merger have recently been awarded the additional remit of Three and Smarty. This marks an incredibly exciting moment for the telecoms sector, with the combined business bringing new scale, ambition, and opportunity. Our partnership focuses on working in a fundamentally different way from the traditional client–agency model, ensuring unrivalled integration, work that cuts through and delivers meaningful impact, and meets both brand and commercial objectives.

In this position, the Manager will provide support to the Account Directors and senior team alongside mentorship to Account Execs. The manager will deliver high-performance campaigns and will deliver innovation, and varied campaigns - alongside exceptional client servicing. Support briefing of all planning solutions into specialist teams both in agency and inhouse and effectively assist translation of strategic plans into strong activations. You’ll partner with clients, external agencies, as well as internal teams within dentsu to foster great relationships and deliver innovative, impactful, data-driven media plans that drive brand fame. Supported by the senior team around you, build your planning expertise by developing a strong grasp of media theory, and consult multiple sources to validate & support media recommendations. You will build understanding of commercial opportunities and trading focuses to ensure investment is guided towards the most appropriate partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Exhibit first class project management skills which support the delivery of multiple live and upcoming campaign workstreams through effective mobilisation of agency and inhouse specialists, effectively prioritise and ensure all key deliverables and deadlines are met.

• Support the delivery of outstanding client service for your clients and build trusted partnerships with them. Respond in a timely and accurate manner to requests for information, and work seamlessly with internal stakeholders and colleagues across the network in order to deal with their requests.

•  Maintain a collaborative and respectful relationship with our specialist internal, and client inhouse teams which brings them upstream of key challenges and allows them to innovate and excel within their respective channels.

• Master the Dentsu CCS suite of tools and use them to plan, optimise and rationalise our responses to clients briefs.

• Demonstrate a strong understanding of the client’s products and services, and stay abreast of the changing dynamics within their industry and competitive set.

• Responsible for actively mentoring and supporting Account Executives on the account, providing support building their media and tools knowledge, client servicing brilliant basics, and prioritisation of tasks.

• Comfortable presenting own work, and leading meeting content both on teams and in face-to-face meetings, taking meeting notes, responding to questions both in the moment and as follow ups.

• Support the finance process on the account ensuring your contributions are smooth and error-free, obtain POs in an accurate and timely manner, ensuring the PO tracker is kept up to date and that all spend commitments are adhered to by the media teams.

Qualifications + Skills

• Experience within a media role or agency, client facing is preferable alongside people management experience.

• Experience developing media strategies across the full media landscape, including AV, digital, OOH and partnerships.

• Well-versed in media planning within an agency environment and experienced with planning tools.

• Experience managing annual high-level budgets with multiple campaigns / bursts.

• Excellent client stakeholder management, skilled at translating information between clients and media teams to deliver the best outcomes.

• Clear and effective communication style

What we offer

• This is a permanent role. 

• The team is based in our London office but operates under flexible working arrangements. The team are currently in the office every Wednesday and Thursdays as a minimum.

• As well as a competitive salary, you’ll enjoy a benefits package that you can tailor to your needs.

Inclusion and Diversity

At Dentsu, we embrace diversity and inclusion, valuing the unique perspectives and contributions of every individual. We believe that diversity fuels creativity and innovation, benefiting our employees, partners, and communities.

We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic. Beyond recruitment, we strive to create an environment where everyone feels respected, supported, and empowered to bring their authentic selves to work.

We recognize the importance of work-life balance and are open to discussing flexible working arrangements for all roles. If you need reasonable adjustments due to a disability or medical condition during our recruitment process, please contact us at [email protected], quoting the reference number of the role that you are applying for. Your needs will be handled with respect and confidentiality to ensure an inclusive and accessible experience.

This job description is a summary of the essential functions of the job, not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all job responsibilities, tasks, and duties. The responsibilities, tasks, and duties of the jobholder might differ from those outlined in the job description. Other duties, as assigned by the supervisor, might be part of the job. 

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