Associate Account Planning Director

Principal Responsibilities & Duties

• Work collaboratively with peers in related strategy disciplines (research & business analytics) to deliver meaningful and insightful support for assigned projects.
• Engage with agency brand leadership and clients to understand business objectives, competitive challenges, and lead brand strategy development for the team.
• Develop a business plan for consumer insights and account planning, helping formalize the role of account planning within the agency, and strengthening the vision for LNC’s strategic intelligence and consumer insights.
• Identify and create professional training opportunities for the account planning team, including periodic reading assignments and data-sharing sessions.
• Oversee operations of assigned accounts, focusing on the mentorship and skill growth of teammates, and manage projects during and after assignments.
• Design and serve as one of the principal investigators for consumer insight-building primary research, including ethnographic studies and consumer panels.
• Collaborate with marketing/advertising professionals and academic consultants to develop market segmentation models for multicultural and total market communities.
• Participate in new business pitches by preparing industry-related consumer insights for prospective clients.
• Contribute to the preparation of presentations on market and consumer data for existing clients, new pitches, and other public engagements such as conferences.

Background/Experience/Education/Skills

• Looking for a passionate student of human nature, an investigator at heart, and a keen observer with the ability to assess situations in an unbiased manner
• Marketing, Advertising, or advanced social science degree, preferably with a specialization in the Hispanic consumer market.
• 6-8 years of research, planning, and managerial experience.
• Experience working as an account planner in an agency environment, with strong knowledge of agency processes.
• Previous involvement in new business pitches; dynamic presenter with the ability to engage clients.
• Preferably fluent in English and Spanish (both verbal and written).
• Excellent communication, presentation, and persuasion skills.
• Experience with the U.S. Hispanic market preferred (including familiarity with primary and secondary data sources).
• Strong understanding of human behavior and consumer psychology.
• Superior observation skills and the ability to separate personal biases from observed consumer behaviors and attitudes.
• Affinity for fieldwork and the capacity to immerse in the community to extract actionable insights.
• Ability to distill data and observations into actionable insights and prioritize these insights for communication development.
• Interest in social development, behavioral trends, and market dynamics.
• Proficiency in MS Office, particularly PowerPoint and Excel.
• Organized, analytical, and a strong consensus-builder.
• Familiarity with secondary databases (MRI Simmons, Mintel, Nielsen, Yankelovich, and others).