Manager, Media Planner

Our values start with our people. Join a team that values you! Bring your talents to Ross, a leading off‑price retail chain with over 2,200 stores, a strong track record of success and growth, and a commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion. Our corporate headquarters are in Dublin, CA, with buying offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston, and eight distribution centers nationwide. In 2023 we generated $20.4 billion in revenue and are a Fortune 500 company dedicated to continuous learning and development for our teams.

General Purpose

The Media Manager is responsible for developing and executing integrated media strategies that drive brand awareness, shape brand perception, and increase store traffic for Ross. This role partners closely with internal cross‑functional teams and external agency partners to translate business objectives into effective, data‑driven media plans across traditional and digital channels. The manager leverages insights from campaign performance, consumer behavior, and market trends to inform strategic decisions and optimize media investments, balancing analytical rigor with creative thinking to deliver strong business outcomes.

Essential Functions

• In‑House Media Leadership: Build internal media planning capability across traditional, digital, and paid‑social channels; serve as the strategic in‑house media lead; improve internal ownership, agency oversight, and cross‑functional planning; translate business priorities into clear media briefs, audience strategies, testing plans, and performance expectations; develop channel mix, audience targeting, geographic, and campaign flighting strategies.
• Paid Social, Audience & Content Strategy: Partner with brand, creative, and social teams to align content, messaging, and formats to priority audiences and campaign objectives; support paid‑social strategy, including audience targeting, content testing, platform learnings, and performance optimization; identify opportunities to improve content‑to‑audience fit across channels, markets, and campaign types.
• Campaign Execution & Optimization: Oversee end‑to‑end campaign execution, including timelines, approvals, and asset readiness; monitor in‑flight performance and implement optimizations to improve effectiveness; ensure delivery against media plans, managing under‑delivery and campaign adjustments; manage and optimize large‑scale media budgets with strong financial stewardship.
• Agency & Internal Operating Model: Serve as primary day‑to‑day partner to media agencies; strengthen the internal media operating model by improving briefing, planning, feedback, optimization, and reporting processes; ensure agencies deliver strategic recommendations, not just executional plans; proactively identify capability gaps, process improvements, and opportunities to increase media effectiveness; lead regular status meetings and ensure alignment on priorities and performance expectations.
• Testing, Measurement & Learning Agenda: In partnership with the analytics team, develop and manage a test‑and‑learn roadmap across audiences, creative, channels, markets, and media tactics; use campaign results, MMM, brand lift, platform reporting, and other measurement inputs to recommend optimizations and future investment shifts; partner with analytics and agency teams to define hypotheses, success metrics, readouts, and implications for future planning.
• Market & Industry Expertise: Stay current on media trends, consumer behavior, and competitive activity; evaluate emerging platforms, technologies, and opportunities to enhance media effectiveness; provide thought leadership on implications for Ross media strategy.

Competencies

• Building Effective Teams
• Developing Talent
• Collaboration
• Leading by Example
• Communicates Effectively
• Ensures Accountability & Execution
• Manages Conflict
• Business Acumen
• Plans, Aligns & Prioritizes
• Organizational Agility
• Strategic Thinking
• Analysis & Judgment
• Decision Quality
• Drives Results

Qualifications & Special Skills

• 4–6 years of experience in brand or agency media planning.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel (pivot tables, lookups, large datasets, modeling, scenario planning).
• Experience analyzing campaign performance and translating data into insights and recommendations.
• Familiarity with media measurement tools (platform analytics, MMM, brand lift studies).
• Strong strategic thinking and problem‑solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced, ambiguous environment.
• Effective collaboration and communication skills across cross‑functional teams and external partners.
• Detail‑oriented with strong organizational and execution skills.
• Demonstrated ability to balance data‑driven decision‑making with creative thinking.

Education / Certifications

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Advertising, Business, or a related field; an advanced degree is a plus.

Physical Requirements

Work primarily in an office environment on a computer. Requires sitting, standing, walking, hearing, talking on the telephone, attending in‑person meetings, typing, and handling paper/files. Consistent timeliness and regular attendance are required. Vision: ability to see information in print and/or electronically. Travel to agencies and corporate offices is required. The role requires regular in‑office presence for team interaction, meetings, collaboration, client support, mentoring, coaching, and feedback, though duties can be performed using a combination of in‑office and remote work.

Supervisory Responsibilities

None.

Pay

The base pay range for this role is $113,200.00 to $192,400.00, dependent on experience, skills, qualifications, education, certifications, seniority, and location. This range is one component of the total compensation package; other rewards vary by position and location.