Connections Planning Director

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.

Explore your future with WPP Media. If this role isn’t 100% aligned, apply anyway and we’ll add you to a specific Talent Pool so we can collaborate on future available positions across our brands.

Join a Team Shaping the Future of World-Class Marketing

Open Era is a world-class partnership between WPP Media and Suncorp, one of Australia’s largest and most iconic insurance groups. This bespoke agency model brings together the best minds, tools, and technologies to shape the next chapter of growth - powered by openness, intelligence, and orchestration.

We’re building a team that thrives on:

• Openness: To change, to collaboration, to accountability.
• World-Class Standards: Delivering the best work from Australia, for Suncorp.
• True Partnership: Working with transparency and healthy tension - we challenge for better every time.
• Growth Mindset: Focused on outcomes, performance, and policy impact.
• Future Focus: Never complacent, always evolving to meet what’s next.

• Data & Analytics – Translating complexity into clarity.
• Technology & AI – Accelerating ambition through innovation.
• OESP Connections Planning - architecting brand ecosystems to deliver brand and performance goals.
• Performance Planning – Driving measurable results and strategic growth.
• Media Activation - sweating every detail of a media execution to optimise for the growth potential.
• Sports & Entertainment – Shaping how Suncorp brands connect with Australians through iconic moments in sport and entertainment.

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This is your chance to be part a model that’s not just fit for today - but resilient for the future. If you’re open to growth, open to challenge, and open to shaping what’s next, Open Era is where you belong.

The connections planning team at Open Era bridges the gap between our strategy and investment teams. Our role is to turn insightful strategies into actionable media plans that deliver growth for Suncorp. Connections planners think big picture, collaborating with multiple teams, stakeholders and agencies to ensure campaigns are fully integrated.

• Architect the Big Picture: Step away from the tactical weeds of implementation and focus on bridging the gap between high-level strategy and actionable media plans.
• Define the Comms Task: Work closely with the strategy team to translate brilliant insights into clear, actionable communications tasks across the entire consumer journey.
• Lead the Agency Village: Orchestrate overarching, integrated campaigns across paid, owned, earned, shared, and retail touchpoints, collaborating seamlessly with creative, digital, and PR partners.
• Apply Marketing Science: Utilise your deep understanding of marketing science theories (like flighting, recency, and effective reach) to design future-fit, highly effective media architectures.
• Inspire and Elevate: Mentor a team of bright planners, fostering a culture of strategic excellence and helping them elevate their high-level comms planning craft.

A visionary, big-picture thinker with a deep passion for marketing science, a gift for cross-agency collaboration, and the drive to architect brilliant, end-to-end consumer journeys will absolutely thrive in this role. We’re also looking for;

• A Strategic Mastermind: You bring 8+ years of experience with a distinct focus on high-level communications planning rather than day-to-day media buying or implementation.
• A Marketing Science Advocate: You have a deep, proven understanding of marketing science literature and know exactly how to apply those theories to overarching media strategies.
• An Integrated Visionary: You see the entire board, understanding how media plays into the broader marketing plan and how brand and performance work hand-in-hand to drive business outcomes.
• A Collaborative Leader: You have a stellar track record of leading complex, multi-stakeholder campaigns and acting as a trusted, strategic advisor to senior marketing clients.
• A Proactive Innovator: You are endlessly curious, always exploring how to connect data, technology, and emerging channels into the upstream planning process to solve complex client challenges.

We want you to have the best opportunity to show us your skills and talents, please let us know if there is anything we can do to make the application/interview process work for you. Should you require any adjustments throughout the process, please collaborate with our hiring team who will be happy to assist.  

Research shows that candidates from underrepresented backgrounds often don't apply for roles if they don't meet all the criteria. Here, we strongly encourage you to apply if you’re interested: we'd love to know how you can positively impact our team with your experience! We believe that diversity is vital and positively influences the environment in which we operate. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment that is free of discrimination, harassment or bullying. Race, colour, ancestry, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or veteran status have no bearing on our hiring decisions, we encourage all applicants. 

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