Client Strategy & Planning Manager

Client Strategy & Client Manager

Commercial

Permanent

Office location: Manchester (Hybrid Working), Other UK locations considered.

Salary Range: From £35,000 plus bonus & benefits

For more information please email TalkingCareers@itv.com

Your work matters to millions.

Shaping culture is in the DNA of ITV. So, it's not surprising that you'll find us in every home in the UK, our productions are famous all over the world and we're at the forefront of the digital streaming revolution.

When you join us, you enter a fun working environment. With opportunities to learn, to grow and make a real difference. Small enough that your impact's felt in the business, but big enough that your impact reaches millions of people.

Come develop your skills, change TV and the course of your career. Don't just watch it. Be part of it. Join ITV.

Your impact sends ripples.

The ITV Nations & Regions' Client Strategy & Planning Team

The team sits within the ITV Nations & Regions' Commercial division and supports all 9 regional offices outside of London with an overall remit to help ITV build closer and more strategic relationships with its advertisers which in turn drives ITV revenue growth.

We work with the Business Development teams to proactively and reactively answer advertiser briefs and challenges, ensuring our ideas are rooted in comms planning, creative strategy and outcomes measurement. We also have a key role in proactively engaging clients with cultural insight pieces, measurement innovation and category insight that stimulates reasons to partner with ITV. Working within the Nations & Regions Commercial team means working across a huge variety of categories, covering brands of all shapes and sizes, creating an exciting backdrop for strategy and planning.

The role

You'll be in charge of building deeper, longer term strategic relationships with advertisers and agencies that position ITV as a key strategic partner for growth, in turn driving ITV revenue growth.

As Manager, you'll draw on specialist internal teams (e.g. our measurement and innovation team) to make the most of ITV's insight into its audiences and programmes and use this to inspire effective and creative campaigns.

You will develop meaningful contact strategies and communications plans with our priority clients that in turn help justify ITV's place on plans. This role requires someone who can lead the conversation, think long term, bring together the best bits of ITV, and focus the teams' efforts across the most mutually rewarding work for our clients.

As a key strategic partner to clients and agencies you will confidently make the case for why ITV should play a significant role within their wider media mix with unrivalled support and advice on effectiveness challenges as diverse as; the commercial return of linear TV, TV's halo effects on other media channels, how to approach TV with a test-and-learn mindset, the ability of TV to alter brand perceptions and preference, the role that ITV partnerships play in driving disproportionate returns for a brand's overall TV spend, TV's impact on boosting auction-bought media (e.g. paid search), the growing role of VOD (ITVX) in achieving business outcomes and changes in consumer behaviour.

It's a busy and demanding but highly stimulating role. In any given week you could be involved in campaigns for some of the nation's biggest advertisers, you could be helping to persuade some of the UK's newest advertisers to trial TV as part of their marketing mix, you could be involved in thinking about how to position Love Island or Corrie to advertisers, you could be beta testing a new measurement solution to prove the value of ITVX or you could be writing a think piece about a macro theme.

Key Responsibilities

• As client lead across multiple accounts and agencies working with different Business Development teams across the Nations & Regions, you will take day to day responsibility for the quality of our teams' strategic output across those accounts. You should strive to ensure your clients make the best of our advertising products - whether that's at the insight, activation, or measurement stage.
• You will be actively curious, building meaningful conversations with your clients which mean you are seen as a true strategic partner. From these conversations, you will know which specialists from ITV Commercial can best help the client achieve their objectives.
• You will develop the strategic plan for your priority clients, "mapping" out a contact strategy that ultimately helps justify ITV's place on a client's plan and ensures we are seen as a key strategic partner.
• You will proactively spot areas/themes where we need to develop a strategic point of view to help serve your clients, and support the development of that thought leadership by bringing together the right individuals and resources.
• You will also contribute to creating a strong effectiveness and measurement culture within the sales team, providing broad omnichannel measurement expertise whilst also getting upstream of measurement product developments and creating a positive feedback loop for both outcomes and insight.
• You will build a close and trusted partnership with your designated Nations & Regions Business Development teams, acting as the first point of contact for that team and their clients and they should look to you for strategic leadership.
• You will be an expert in finding the centre of gravity on a brief using a blend of research sources to get to killer insights that unlock the role for ITV.
• You will actively seek out ways to impact other areas of Commercial, building relationships with key stakeholders across those units, and ensuring that the CS&P reputation is held in high regard across the floor, whether that's Business Development, Trading, Activation, Creative Development and Partnerships or Digital.
• Working closely with the CS&P Controller to ensure your Business Development patch is running optimally and that we are getting closer to the right customers, and that we grow the reputation of both ITV and our team.

Skills you'll need (minimum criteria)

• Proven expertise as a Strategist/Planner working in a media/comms/creative agency or consultancy for a minimum of 3 yrs
• Attained media planning qualifications through the likes of the IPA, Thinkbox Masters and/or specific media owner training programmes
• A solid understanding of the TV and wider video market
• Strong insight & data /research skills, must be comfortable using industry tools such as Nielsen Addynamix, YouGov Profiles, TGI, Techedge, Brand Index, Touchpoints.
• Solid working knowledge of creative & media effectiveness, comms planning and creative processes.
• A confident communicator with demonstrable networking skills with an ability to quickly develop strong working relationships with colleagues / external partners
• Strong written and verbal communication skills capable of building persuasive arguments
• Strong presentation skills (powerpoint, storytelling, flex in presenting style to clients, teams and in front of large audiences).
• Agile, adaptable and flexible in approach, listening to others to collaborate
• Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to collaborate with others.

Other things we're looking for (key criteria)

• Curious, tenacious and proactive
• Commercial awareness and acumen
• Excellent attention to detail - organised, efficient and effective
• High quality standards - 'good enough never is'
• Conceptual and comfortable in the grey
• Brave - confident to challenge the norm, not risk averse and aim to break new ground

ITV is for everyone.

ITV strongly encourages applications for this role from Deaf, Disabled and/or Neurodivergent people. As a Disability Confident Leader, if you meet the minimum criteria for a role and you have declared that you are disabled, we'll guarantee to take you to the next stage* (minimum criteria above).

We're happy to discuss any support/personalisation you may need during our application and selection process as part of our reasonable adjustments. Drop us a line if you require anything at talkingcareers@itv.com.

Find out more about applying with a disability.

* There may be a few exceptions where we are not able to take all eligible candidates to the next stage due to the volume of applications.

Because those who make an impact deserve to be rewarded for it.

ITV offers some great rewards and benefits including:

• Flexible working with a range of options
• Generous holiday allowance, plus you can buy more
• Annual bonus opportunity
• Competitive pension contribution
• Save as you earn - with an opportunity to buy ITV shares
• Wellbeing and volunteering days plus a wide range of opportunities to help you live a balanced and healthy life

More about our benefits

Please note, on occasion we may receive a very large volume of applications which means applications for a role may close earlier than the referenced closing date. We'd encourage you to apply as soon as possible if interested.

Closing date 4th February 2025]]>