Associate Director, Media Planning Operations

Job Description
The Media Planning Operations Associate Director is responsible for managing the team that handles our client’s budget-related process and workstreams, reporting into the Director of Client Operations. The Associate Director develops and implements processes and best practices to ensure client success with a strong focus on tools and systems and the ideal candidate will have robust experience in budget management, financial oversight, team leadership, and knowledge with Guideline (MediaTools).
The Associate Director understands the planning process and the media buying/planning systems used. The ability to problem-solve and work well with the various internal and client teams is a critical aspect of this role.
General Responsibilities:
Work with the VP &
Director to ensure an account playbook is developed to bring the client Scope of Work to life
Support Planning Ops Supervisors on all workstreams
Manage Financial Deliverables as they relate to planned or forecasted budgets
Develop, train and improve processes to ensure data integrity and implement best practices across the agency
Share ideas and solutions for pain points/problems in processes;
work alongside internaland external teams to develop best practices, enhancements, and tools to improve them
Build and maintain the MediaTools nomenclature and maintain taxonomy consistency across the portfolio
Validate the accuracy and completeness of all entries in MediaTools, ensuring up-to-date records at all times
Do quality QA checks around all media systems
Work on solutions to automate (PowerBi, PowerPivot, VBA coding)
Manage the Authorization approval structure, following the process and hierarchy dictated by the client, and ensure that monthly audits are completed.
Be the main point of contact for reporting all financial management
Support Client Ops Managers in process, best practices, prioritization, and accuracy
Build relationship and rapport across all disciplines - schedule regular check ins with leads to track budget movements accurately
You’re Working Style Should Be:
Love working with numbers, crave organization and strive for accuracy
Able to balance numerous, simultaneous work streams
Aligned with taking the time to teach others how to do something vs. doing it for them
Motivated to ensure a competent team, who has fun while achieving accomplishments
Organized, detail-oriented, good with time management, obsessed with accuracy, a strong critical thinker, and able to juggle multiple tasks.
Good at building relationships – a creative problem solver, a customer service expert, a great team player.
A strong communicator – able to write clearly, speak professionally, and translate data analysis into insights.
Excited by the idea of diving deep into data, including new technologies where benchmarks are just beginning to