Executive Planning Director

Established in 2004, OLIVER is the world’s first and only specialist in designing, building, and running bespoke in-house agencies and marketing ecosystems for brands. We partner with over 300 clients in 40+ countries and counting. Our unique model drives creativity and efficiency, allowing us to deliver tailored solutions that resonate deeply with audiences.  

As a part of The Brandtech Group , we're at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge AI technology to revolutionise how we create and deliver work. Our AI solutions enhance efficiency, spark creativity, and drive insightful decision-making, empowering our teams to produce innovative and impactful results.  

Role:  Executive Planning Director

Location:  Manila, Philippines

About the role:  

We are seeking an exceptional Regional Executive Planning Director to define and lead the strategic planning vision across APAC. This is a senior regional leadership role responsible for shaping the future of planning at OLIVER APAC, elevating the discipline across markets, and ensuring our strategic product drives both creative excellence and business growth.

The ideal candidate is an influential planning leader with deep regional experience, a strong point of view on the future of strategy in the era of AI and agentic, and the ability to build high-performing communities of talent across diverse markets. This person will partner closely with regional and market-level leadership, including C-suite stakeholders, to create strategic roadmaps for growth, innovation, and thought leadership.

What you will be doing:  

1. Set the Vision and Roadmap for Strategic Planning Across the Region:

- Define and articulate the strategic planning vision for OLIVER APAC, aligned with the agency’s business ambitions and AI-first, agentic operating model.

- Build and lead a regional roadmap for the strategic planning department, including capability development, best practices, tools, frameworks, and innovation priorities.

- Champion the role of strategy as a core driver of creative excellence, client impact, commercial growth, and transformation.

- Identify emerging consumer, cultural, technological, and category trends across APAC and translate them into actionable strategic opportunities.

- Ensure planning outputs are data-informed, culturally relevant, and designed for an increasingly AI-enabled marketing ecosystem.

2. Build a Robust Regional Council of Strategic Planners:

- Create, convene, and lead a strong council of strategic planning talent from across APAC markets.

- Foster a connected, collaborative planning community that shares insights, methodologies, and best practices across the region.

- Establish standards of excellence for planning, including strategic rigor, storytelling quality, and measurable business impact.

- Identify, mentor, and develop top planning talent, building a strong succession pipeline for the function.

- Promote a culture of curiosity, innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning throughout the regional planning discipline.

3. Support C-Suite Leaders on Strategic Growth Roadmaps and Thought Leadership:

- Partner with regional and market-level C-suite leaders to develop strategic roadmaps that support business growth, client acquisition, capability expansion, and market positioning.

- Help shape senior-level narratives and strategic recommendations for key clients, prospects, and internal leadership teams.

- Contribute to thought leadership that strengthens OLIVER APAC’s reputation in strategy, AI-enabled marketing, in-housing, and next-generation agency models.

- Represent the planning function in senior leadership discussions, new business opportunities, and high-profile client engagements.

- Translate business challenges into clear strategic frameworks and actionable opportunities for agency and client growth.

Additional Responsibilities:

- Collaborate with regional or in-market creative, client servicing, and new business teams to deliver integrated strategic thinking.

- Support major pitches and regional growth initiatives with high-level strategic direction and compelling narratives.

- Drive the adoption of AI-powered strategic tools, workflows, and planning methodologies where they create meaningful value.

- Ensure strategic thinking reflects the complexity and diversity of APAC markets while maintaining a coherent regional point of view.

- Define and track success metrics for the planning function, demonstrating impact on client outcomes, agency growth, and talent development.

What you need to be great in this role:  

- Significant senior-level experience in strategic planning, brand strategy, communications strategy, or a related discipline within agencies, consultancies, or in-house environments.

- Proven success leading strategy teams across multiple markets or regions, ideally within APAC.

- Strong understanding of the APAC cultural, consumer, and commercial landscape.

- Demonstrated ability to build and scale communities of practice, talent networks, or regional centers of excellence.

- Experience partnering with senior executives and C-suite stakeholders on business strategy, growth planning, and transformation initiatives.

- A clear and compelling perspective on the future of planning in an AI-first, agentic marketing environment.

- Excellent communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to influence senior audiences internally and externally.

- A collaborative leadership style with the credibility, empathy, and ambition to inspire teams across diverse markets.

Qualification:

- Experience in multinational agency networks. 8-10 years as a planning director, ideally.

- Familiarity with bespoke in-housing models and embedded agency structures is a plus.

- Exposure to AI-enabled strategy development, marketing transformation, or operational innovation.

- Experience creating thought leadership, industry POVs, or public-facing strategic content.

Req ID: 16339

#LI-DB1 #LI-Hybrid

Our values shape everything we do:  

Be Ambitious to succeed   

Be  Imaginative to push the boundaries of what’s possible   

Be  Inspirational to do groundbreaking work   

Be  always learning and listening to understand   

Be  Results-focused  to exceed expectations   

Be actively pro-inclusive and anti-racist across our community, clients and creations   

OLIVER, a part of the Brandtech Group, is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive working environment where all employees are encouraged to reach their full potential, and individual differences are valued and respected. All applicants shall be considered for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, neurodivergence, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by local laws.    

OLIVER has set ambitious environmental goals around sustainability, with science-based emissions reduction targets. Collectively, we work towards our mission, embedding sustainability into every department and through every stage of the project lifecycle.