Media Supervisor

The Shipyard•San Diego, CA

3d•$95,000 - $105,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Shipyard is seeking an experienced and motivated Media Supervisor to join its San Diego team. The Media Supervisor directs the planning team’s work, develops team members, and ensures media plans are delivered accurately and to a high standard. The role combines expert media planning and execution with growing contributions to strategy development and leadership. The Supervisor is accountable for both the quality of the team’s output and the development of junior planners. This hybrid work-from-home and in-office position requires the candidate to live in San Diego or be able to commute to the San Diego office once per week. The role includes managing media plans and budgets, guiding planning and execution, contributing to strategy, leading client presentations, managing relationships with clients and media partners, and directly coaching and managing junior team members. Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S. without visa sponsorship.

Requirements

Expertise in media planning and execution, including deep fluency across media channels and strong financial acumen.
Ability to direct planning work and lead others in delivering accurate, high-quality media plans.
Ability to contribute meaningfully to media strategy development and apply audience, planning, and performance data to strategic decisions.
Strong communication skills, including the ability to lead client-facing presentations with authority, clarity, and confidence.
Ability to build and manage effective client, vendor, partner, and cross-functional relationships.
Experience or ability to directly manage, coach, and develop junior planning team members.
Must live in San Diego or be able to commute to the San Diego office once per week.
Must be authorized to work in the U.S. without visa sponsorship.

Responsibilities

Demonstrate knowledge of digital and traditional media and use it to develop strategically sound, defensible plans.
Set standards for rigorous use of planning tools, including MRI/Simmons, GWI, YouGov, Commspoint, SimilarWeb, and MediaRadar, and translate their outputs into strategic insights.
Lead media billing and workflow processes and ensure accurate, timely budget management.
Serve as an internal expert on publishers, media marketplace dynamics, and emerging opportunities.
Review, quality-check, and guide work produced by Media Coordinators, Media Planners, and Senior Media Planners.
Own media plan development for assigned accounts, including audience definition, channel mix, and budget allocation aligned with media strategy.
Lead partner and publisher RFP processes, including shortlisting and directing partners on deliverables.
Contribute to media strategy by identifying insights, defining strategic channel roles, and explaining how channels support the strategy.
Use audience, planning, and performance data to identify insights and draw actionable conclusions.
Identify emerging media opportunities and make proactive recommendations.
Mentor junior planners in strategic and critical thinking through regular work reviews and coaching.
Lead client-facing presentations of media strategies and recommendations.
Develop and review presentation materials that communicate recommendations clearly and accurately.
Explain plan details clearly to clients with varying levels of media sophistication.
Give junior team members constructive feedback on their communication.
Represent the media team’s perspective in cross-functional discussions.
Build and maintain trusted client relationships and serve as a day-to-day contact for media plans and execution.
Manage media vendor and partner relationships to create value and competitive advantage for clients.
Partner with the media investment team on strategic alignment from plan development through campaign execution and optimization.
Collaborate with analytics, creative, communications/PR, brand planning, and client engagement teams.
Develop junior team members’ partnership skills through coaching and shared client and vendor interactions.
Directly manage Media Coordinators and Media Planners, providing direction, feedback, and coaching.
Set performance expectations and hold team members accountable fairly and consistently.
Identify team members’ strengths and development areas and create opportunities for growth.
Conduct regular one-on-one meetings focused on growth, challenges, and career development.
Recognize strong performance and address performance issues constructively.
Foster a team culture of curiosity, high standards, and mutual support.