VP, Client Services, Media

fingerpaint•Cedar Knolls, NJ

About The Position

We’re a different type of media partner. Most of us came from large media organizations, many within holding companies. We were looking for a better way of working, where we could leverage both our expertise and our imaginations. Where media strategists and activation specialists harness the power of content, intentional placements, and outcomes-based buying to drive exceptional performance. Better than what we've ever experienced. Our best-in-class, never-paint-by-number approach to omnichannel and media planning and activation delivers efficiency and amplifies successes for our diverse set of clients. We are seeking a highly motivated and talented VP of Client Services to lead a portfolio of pharmaceutical brands within our media practice. This role requires a strategic mind, strong financial acumen, and the leadership presence to run a business, not just a workstream. Your responsibilities will span account management and media strategy, with a focus on owning and growing strong client relationships. You will own the health of your accounts end to end: the client relationship, scoping and the fee forecast, the resourcing plan, and the operating rhythm that ensures work kicks off when it's supposed to and lands as promised. Your objectives include driving innovation and growth with assigned brands and campaigns, fostering collaboration among clients and agency partners, and mentoring the media team to elevate their strategy, storytelling, and healthcare insights. As the cross-functional business lead, you will also be responsible for ensuring that media strategies are properly integrated within larger marketing initiatives, such as omnichannel and creative executions, and that client priorities are translated into clear internal direction and pulled through to the work.

Requirements

10+ years of relevant experience at a pharmaceutical / health & wellness advertising agency (as media agency-of-record) with 5+ years in client-facing roles
Deep understanding of and experience in HCP and DTC media buying and planning across digital, traditional, and point-of-care (channels include but are not limited to: programmatic, paid social, paid search, online video, native, health endemic, print)
Ability to be a manager, liaison, thinker, and problem-solver
Effective presentation, mentorship, and relationship building skills
Proven experience in digital targeting, data privacy, cross-channel engagement strategy, omnichannel activation, and claims-based attribution
Understand brand fundamentals (positioning, messaging, creative concepts) and how they all work together
Excellent communication skills for presenting ideas to clients, senior executives, and internal teams with varying levels of media acumen
Strong writing and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects effectively and within tight deadlines

Responsibilities

Serve as the senior client partner across HCP and DTC brand teams, owning the relationship at the brand lead level and the daily operating cadence, keeping a pulse on shifts in the client's business (new indication launches, partner agency changes, creative pushbacks, budget reallocations) and connecting them immediately to strategy, scope, and workstream implications.
Lead client meetings, oversee development and delivery of client deliverables, and serve as the agency lead for annual tactical / brand planning cycles.
Act as the connective tissue between the agency’s media strategy, engagement strategy, and analytics functions, and the client’s brand and commercial analytics teams.
Translate deep knowledge of the client’s business, category, and competitive set into clear direction for internal teams and recommendations the client trusts and acts on.
Provide strategic oversight of omnichannel planning, media strategy and activation across search, social, programmatic, and partner-direct channels, pressure-testing recommendations before they reach the client.
Ensure the media strategy is integrated with brand planning, creative, and broader marketing initiatives, and that the media team is driving innovation and sharing points-of-view on emerging channels and trends.
Oversee the media planning process end to end, from brief through client presentation, holding the team accountable to a compelling, data-driven recommendation and stepping in on partner negotiations and escalations when the business requires it.
Identify and cultivate opportunities for organic account growth, using data and performance insight to build the business case.
Lead the agency's response on new business opportunities within the category, shaping the strategic narrative and directing the team's development of channel and measurement approach.
Champion the agency's point of view on pharmaceutical media, developing and stewarding category insight and thought leadership for both client and industry audiences.
Lead annual budget planning, building flat and plus-up scenarios with line-item rationale and framing financial trade-offs for brand leadership.
Own the financial health of the business in partnership with project management: weekly fee burn against SOW, fee and out-of-pocket forecasting, and early escalation of risk with a recommended path forward.
Drive the full SOW lifecycle in partnership with project management (scope development, mid-year assessment, change orders, finance QA, and client execution), including estimates for out-of-scope and in-flight work.
Ensure the business is staffed correctly: forecast capacity, seniority, and channel skill mix against the pipeline, and partner with discipline leads on allocation and ramp.
Own the operating rhythm, ensuring projects kick off on their committed dates with approved briefs and assigned resources, and client priorities are sequenced, communicated internally, and pulled through to the work.
Mentor and develop the team, raising the bar on strategy, storytelling, healthcare insight, and professional standards in all client deliverables.
Drive professional standards across all client communication, surfacing issues early with a recommended path forward and owning follow-through on open items before they reach the client.