Journey Planner

Role purpose

• Owns the translation of strategy into a connected media ecosystem. Takes the growth strategy and audience direction from the Strategist and turns it into a PESO journey, channel role architecture, audience activation logic, phasing, budget principles and specialist briefing pack.

Scope of role

• Audience activation logic
• PESO ecosystem planning
• Channel role definition
• Journey and moment mapping
• Budget allocation rationale
• Specialist briefing
• Integration of vertical channel plans
• Plan-level measurement questions
• Plan-level implications of under-delivery or variance

Responsibilities

Core accountabilities

• Translate growth strategy into a connected media journey.
• Define how the growth audience can be reached, influenced and moved across paid, earned, shared, owned and commerce touchpoints.
• Build the media ecosystem architecture.
• Define the role of each channel before specialists create detailed plans.
• Create the Specialist Briefing Pack for channel specialists.
• Integrate vertical channel plans into one coherent media plan.
• Ensure the plan ladders back to the JTBD and strategic growth objective.
• Define plan-level measurement questions with the Measurement Lead.
• Own the plan-level implication if a channel under-delivers or materially over/under-performs.

Mandatory artifacts owned

• Audience Activation Blueprint: Converts growth audience into media, platform, context and signal logic.
• PESO Ecosystem Plan: Defines how Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned and Commerce work together.
• Channel Role Framework: Defines the job of each channel before detailed planning starts.
• Journey / Moment Map: Defines consumer moments, occasions, touchpoints and sequencing.
• Budget Allocation Logic: Explains why budget is allocated across channels.
• Specialist Briefing Pack: Gives channel specialists audience, KPI, role, budget, timing and output requirements.
• Integrated Media Plan: Combines specialist outputs into a single coherent plan.
• Plan-Level Variance Note: Explains total-plan implications of delivery or KPI variance.

Key handshakes

• Channel Specialists: receives strategy from the Growth Media Strategist and hands over the Specialist Briefing Pack.
• Measurement Lead: receives strategy and plan inputs and hands over plan-level KPI questions.
• Buying Ops: receives the client-approved integrated plan and hands over a booking-ready plan.
• Client Lead / Strategist: receives outputs from Channel Specialists and hands over the integrated media plan.
• PCA team: receives input from the Measurement Lead and hands over plan-level learnings and future implications.

Decision rights

• PESO ecosystem architecture.
• Audience activation logic.
• Channel role definition.
• Budget allocation rationale.
• Specialist briefing quality.
• Integration of channel plans.
• Plan-level implication of delivery variance.

What this role is not

• Building every detailed vertical channel plan personally.
• Acting as TV planner, OOH planner, search specialist, social specialist and programmatic specialist all at once.
• Loading plans into billing systems.
• Supplier invoice reconciliation.
• Vendor onboarding.
• Tagging and trafficking campaigns.
• Producing raw dashboards.

Qualifications

Required competencies

• Communications planning: Translate strategy into ecosystem architecture.
• Audience activation: Convert growth audiences into channel and platform logic.
• Channel understanding: Strong understanding of ATL, digital, social, commerce and performance channels.
• Integration: Stitch specialist outputs into one plan.
• Briefing discipline: Write clear specialist briefs.
• Budget logic: Rationalise investment allocation.
• Measurement thinking: Connect planning choices to measurable outcomes.

Experience requirements

• 3–6 years in integrated planning or communications planning.

KPIs

• Ecosystem quality: Strength of PESO plan and channel role clarity.
• Specialist handoff: Reduction in specialist rework due to unclear briefs.
• Plan integration: Quality of final integrated media plan.
• Audience activation: Evidence that audience logic translates into actionable channel plans.
• Measurement readiness: Plan has KPI and measurement logic before activation.
• Rework reduction: Fewer late-stage changes caused by planning gaps.