Sr. Director, Planning Innovation & Enablement

Job Description:

Dentsu is a global network, with 67,000 people around the world, coming together to deliver end-to-end experience transformation. We integrate our services across Media, CXM and Creative while pushing the boundaries of transformation and sustainable growth for our brands, people and society. Through innovation, we ensure the impact our clients need to drive growth, while also generating a positive effect in the industry. We are seeking a Senior Director, Media Planning and Product Enablement ideally based out of New York City or Chicago.

You will elevate our planning product by driving adoption of innovative planning processes and tools, enabling teams through structured training and coaching, and translating planning excellence into clear, compelling storytelling for new business pitches.

This role sits at the intersection of planning strategy, innovation enablement, and new business communication, partnering across strategy, planning, activation, and analytics to ensure our approaches are modern, consistent, and differentiated.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Planning Innovation Expertise

• Serve as the internal expert on innovative planning processes, tools, data sources, and platforms, translating their capabilities into practical application for client work.

• Identify where new tools/approaches should be integrated into planning workflows to improve quality, insights, and effectiveness.

• Evaluate evolving techniques and industry trends to ensure planning outputs reflect modern best practices.

2. Training, Adoption & Enablement

• Deliver structured training programs (team trainings & playbooks) to ensure rapid and consistent adoption of new tools and processes.

• Create learning materials including tool guides, workflows, demos, and FAQs.

• Partner with Client and Planning leads to set adoption goals and create repeatable enablement frameworks.

• Act as a coach and advisor to planning teams, helping them apply new processes in active client work.

3. New Business Pitch Storytelling

• Translate planning tools and processes into clear, compelling pitch narratives that help differentiate the agency.

• Contribute to RFP/RFI responses and Creds content by articulating how our planning product, capabilities, and tools drive client outcomes.

• Help shape pitch storylines, ensuring planning insights and innovation tie seamlessly to audience strategy, channel approach, and business impact.

4. Cross-Team Partnership & Execution Excellence

• Collaborate closely with additional stakeholders (i.e. activation leads) to ensure planning guidance is actionable and flawlessly executed.

• Maintain awareness of industry dynamics, cultural trends, and evolving media opportunities.

Qualifications:

• 11+ years of integrated media planning experience across traditional & digital channels.

• Prior experience participating in or supporting new business pitches a plus.

• Exceptional communication and presentation skills; able to translate complex tools into clear, benefited narratives.

• Experience developing or delivering team training or enablement programs a plus.

• Leadership experience managing or coaching teams.

• Bachelor’s degree required.

#LI-EB1 #LI-Hybrid

The annual salary range for this position is 155K- 175K Placement within the salary range is based on a variety of factors, including relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and other factors permitted by law.

Benefits available with this position include:

• Medical, vision, and dental insurance,

• Life insurance,

• Short-term and long-term disability insurance,

• 401k,

• Flexible paid time off,

• At least 15 paid holidays per year,

• Paid sick and safe leave, and

• Paid parental leave.

At dentsu, we believe great work happens when we’re connected. Our way of working combines flexibility with in-person collaboration to spark ideas and strengthen our teams. Employees who live within a commutable distance of one of our hub offices, currently located in Chicago, metro Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York City, are required and expected to work from the office three days per week (two days per week for employees based in Los Angeles). Dentsu may designate other Hub offices at any time. Those who live outside a commutable range may be designated as remote, depending on the role and business needs. Regardless of your work location, we expect our employees to be flexible to meet the needs of our Company and clients, which may include attendance in an office.

Location: New York

Brand: Dentsu Media

Time Type: Full time

Contract Type: Permanent

Dentsu is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. We do this without regard to race, color, national origin, sex , sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religious practices and observances, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

Dentsu is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to, among others, individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to search and apply for a career opportunity with us, please send an e-mail to ApplicantAccommodations@dentsu.com by clicking on the link to let us know the nature of your accommodation request and your contact information. We are here to support you.