Director, 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 . 3710 - Director, Planning Role Overview As Strategy Director for OpenConnect, you will be the driving force behind the strategic comms planning output across BT Group’s complete brand portfolio, spanning consumer powerhouses (EE, BT, Plusnet) and BT Business. Reporting directly to the VP/Head of Strategy & Comms Planning, you will take operational charge of the planning floor, transforming upstream business logic into world-class, insight-led comms strategies that inspire both creative agency partners and senior client marketers. This role is purpose-built to transform our day-to-day strategic craft. Historically, our challenge has been moving beyond tactical execution, mechanical planning, and dense data slides. Your mandate is to revolutionise our narrative storytelling, unearth genuinely motivating human and cultural insights, and package complex strategies into crisp, executive-ready presentations that command authority. Sitting at the intersection of media, data, and creative, you will ensure our strategies are not just written, but deployed, partnering seamlessly with creative agencies across the BT Group roster to deliver unified, culture-shaping work. Key Responsibilities Elevating the Strategic Output Shape the Comms Output: Take direct ownership of the quality, consistency, and rigour of all comms planning deliverables emerging from the planning cohort across EE, BT, Plusnet, and BT Business. From Information to Insight: Move the team away from surface-level observations and data dumping. Unearth sharp, tension-led insights (category, cultural, consumer, and company) that unlock unexpected media behaviors. Stage 1 Architecture: Translate Stage 0 portfolio growth strategies into clear, actionable comms ecosystems, defining distinct role-for-channel tasks, full-funnel journeys, and Get/To/By frameworks that guide activation. The Applied Strategy Mandate: Champion applied discipline over theoretical deck-building. Ensure strategies actively steer media channel choices, investment weights, and creative formats ("If our strategy isn’t actionable, it’s useless"). Executive Packaging & Narrative Storytelling Rewriting the Narrative: Radically elevate the standard of strategic storytelling across the team. Replace tactical, jargon-heavy decks with compelling, commercially grounded narratives that captivate marketing directors and executive leaders. Executive Packaging: Master the art of the synthesis. Package complex media systems, technical mechanics, and multi-brand nuances into succinct, punchy, C-suite ready narratives that clearly articulate the "So What?". Visual & Verbal Clarity: Coach the planning cohort on visual layout, storyline momentum, and presentation delivery, setting a new benchmark for what an OpenConnect strategic deliverable looks and feels like. Creative Agency Partnership & Ecosystem Integration Inter-Agency Roster Leadership: Act as a strategic partner to creative and BT strategists across the BT Group roster. Build collaborative, high-trust working relationships that dismantle agency silos. Upstream Creative Collaboration: Where possible, engage early in the creative development cycle to influence ideation, ensuring creative platforms and media channel architectures complement, push, and ampli