Associate Director, Media

Allen & Gerritsen•Boston, MA

About The Position

The Associate Media Director plays a critical leadership role in bringing A&G's media philosophy to life. This role involves leading the development of integrated, insight-driven media strategies that deliver against client business objectives while elevating the craft of media across the agency. The Associate Media Director will serve as a strategic partner to clients, a collaborator across creative, analytics, strategy, and account teams, and a mentor to junior media talent. This role requires strong strategic thinking, operational excellence, and the ability to translate complex ideas into clear, compelling media narratives. The individual will be deeply involved from strategy through execution, owning media plans, guiding tactical decisions, and ensuring work is delivered with consistency, quality, and impact. The goal is to ensure work is not just effective, but Unignorable.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Advertising, Marketing, Communications, Media, or equivalent relevant experience
6+ years of media planning and buying experience in an agency, publisher, or client-side environment
Proven experience leading media strategy and client-facing presentations
Strong analytical and quantitative skills with attention to detail
Experience across platforms including Google Ads, Meta Business Manager, Google Campaign Manager, Google Analytics, and other social and search tools
Ability to manage multiple priorities with strong organization and time management
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Positive, accountable, and collaborative working style

Responsibilities

Apply strategic rigor and executional excellence to develop and deliver integrated media plans that drive measurable business outcomes.
Lead the development of integrated, cross-channel media strategies and plans aligned to client goals and KPIs.
Translate audience insights, competitive context, and performance learnings into clear strategic narratives.
Oversee tactical media planning including channel selection, flighting, partner recommendations, and budget allocation.
Serve as final reviewer for key planning and buying documents including authorizations, flowcharts, trafficking sheets, and media orders.
Ensure accuracy and excellence across campaign setup, pacing, optimization, and billing.
Monitor performance across channels including social, search, video, display, TV, and OOH, partnering with Analytics and Strategy to identify optimization opportunities.
Research and synthesize audience behavior, media consumption habits, and emerging platform trends.
Stay current on media products, platforms, and innovations through active relationships with publishers and partners.
Ask smart questions that push thinking beyond standard reach-and-frequency planning.
Explore new approaches, channels, and partnerships that enhance effectiveness and client outcomes.
Collaborate with creative, strategy, and analytics teams to ensure media ideas enhance and amplify creative work.
Champion media environments that align with the emotional context of the message and audience mindset.
Contribute innovative thinking to both client work and new business efforts.
Act as a primary media point of contact for clients, building trusted, collaborative relationships.
Set clear expectations for timelines, deliverables, and accountability across teams.
Manage workflow for self and junior team members, ensuring quality and consistency.
Coach, mentor, and support the growth of junior media talent through feedback and guidance.
Be an A&G ambassador by championing collaboration, culture, and agency processes.