Associate Media Director, Integrated Media Planning

About the role

The Associate Media Director of Integrated Media will be an extension of our leadership team across the Integrated Media group, bringing a higher level of strategic expertise across both traditional and digital media channels and senior support and experience for activation and buying processes.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the development of integrated media strategies and full media plans across traditional (TV, radio, print, OOH) and digital (social media, programmatic, paid search, etc.) channels.
• Align media strategies with client objectives, target audiences, media and industry landscape while supporting campaign goals.
• Develop strategic and effective tactical plans that align with the integrated strategy and channel mix.
• Manage and provide input on media briefs to ensure strategies and integrated plans align with the client’s core business goals and are structured to effectively achieve objectives.
• Conduct research and analysis for assigned clients, including audience insights, competitive landscape, consumer journey, market trends, and industry/category knowledge.
• Ensure the development of clear, actionable insights to inform and enhance the Integrated Media plan.
• Understand the agency's research tools and know how to leverage them to create strategic media plans.
• Provide support into the evolution of our tools and products to enhance our planning and strategy capabilities.
• Develop points of view (POVs) and maintain a clear understanding of the evolving media landscape, emerging technologies, and other critical factors shaping the industry.
• Create learning agendas within the measurement plan to guide insights and optimization efforts, ensuring clear hypotheses, methodologies, and timelines are established.
• Supervise and take ownership of final reporting outputs by collaborating with activation and account teams, ensuring reports are maintained and insights are developed effectively.
• Establish and maintain goodwill and strong working relationships with the client, including regular calls, visits and check-ins to ensure the agency is meeting their needs.
• Understand plans to the degree necessary to answer most questions. Work with teams across the agency to ensure timely signoff and feedback from clients.
• Develop and maintain key vendor relationships, forming partnerships and seeking innovative approaches/opportunities.
• Guide RFI/RFP efforts with new and existing vendors, gather and synthesizing proposals, plans and rates with teams.
• Manage, mentor, and motivate activation strategy team members to encourage professional development while providing guidance.
• Proactively and collaboratively work with Performance and Spot Activation teams to manage, plan and execute campaigns, and bring forward new ideas to expand on media opportunities.
• Provide negotiation guidance and tactics to activation strategists.
• Oversee media agreements and contracts with outside media vendors.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to develop and maintain strong professional relationships with clients, colleagues, and vendors.
• Proven ability to analyze data and market research to identify trends and make data-driven decisions.
• Proficient in media planning tools and software, as well as analytics platforms (GA4, Commspoint, Nielsen, MRI, Bionic, Media Tools, Media Ocean, etc.).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly to clients and internal teams.
• Able to build and maintain strong relationships with clients, team members and other stakeholders in our agency.
• Flexibility to adapt to changing client needs, industry trends, emerging media channels and internal structure changes.
• 5 - 7 years in planning & executional roles for media, publisher/vendor, or communications discipline (digital, content).
• 5- 7 years of experience in a traditional and digital media planning/buying position at an advertising/media agency.
• Experience delegating assignments to junior staff and providing oversight on project development, deliverables and adhering to timelines.
• A bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university, with a degree or concentration in advertising, marketing, or communications preferred.