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VP, Media Strategy

Kansas City, MO / Chicago, IL / Austin, TX / Denver, CO / New York, NY

In this role, you act as a senior client leader, leading a team in the development of Media Strategy & Tactical Media Recommendations, that deliver upon client objectives while striving for a high level of creative media thinking. You will work closely with others across MissionOne Media and BarkleyOKRP client experience teams, and you will partner closely with clients.

 

Qualities:

 

  • Curiosity and Skepticism:  You are always asking, “WHY?” You have an internal drive to learn more and expand your knowledge. You consider situations from multiple perspectives, and use that to navigate and solve challenges as they arise.
  • Strategic, Creative Problem-Solving: You are analytical and enjoy working with data to derive insights. You use insights and knowledge to develop robust strategies and visions for team success. You love coming up with creative solutions to new and old problems alike.
  • Initiative & Accountability: You are a gritty self-starter driven to find answers, solve tough problems, and overcome challenges. You proactively bring solutions to challenges, and instill this mindset in your team. You build senior-level client relationships, and use that understanding to ensure media deliverables surpass client expectations. You manage team bandwidth, and build the business case for team growth.
  • Communication & Storytelling: You can easily communicate complex information or nuanced situations. You know what details are necessary and what details to leave behind. You can marry data and storytelling to articulate a compelling vision.You are a confident media leader, and build relationships that establish you as a first point of contact that other disciplines turn to when they need media support.
  • Adaptability: You can comfortably adjust in evolving or ambiguous situations, and you coach your team to be flexible. You use creativity to tackle new and existing challenges. You have a firm grasp on changes in the media landscape, and you use that to evolve ways of working to ensure the team is set-up for the future.
  • Self-Development: You’re reflective and self-aware. You seek opportunities to learn and develop yourself and others. You identify gaps in team performance, and put together plans for how to level-up team performance. You can put together & implement plans for long-term team growth and development.

Requirements: 

  • Keep a pulse on and manage the bandwidth across the team based on all active client projects, ensuring clear delegation of work to manage projects and team growth.
  • Acts as a final reviewer and approver of all work the team completes, managing up to SVP as needed.
  • Manage senior client relationships, leading client communication on key media projects and acting as a key point of integration across other departments internally (such as Data & Analytics, CRM, Strategy, Creative, PR.)
  • Establishing a strategic vision for key clients, and ensures all team deliverables fit that strategic approach.
  • Creative media ideator, able to join cross-department brainstorms and provide a fresh perspective on unique media opportunities that drive break-through, and creates tight alignment to creative messaging. Coaches team on how to push the needle beyond expected media moments.
  • Manages a team, and will balance the need for delegation with support for the projects and plans they’ve been assigned
  • Provides honest feedback to the team on media deliverables, ways of working, competencies and soft skills to continually improve the client experience and grow team members. 
  • Build and maintain strong working relationships with internal teams, including client experience, activation, data & analytics, CRM, strategy, and finance
  • Integrate with Strategy & Audience teams to ensure the creation of robust audience profiles that integrate data to create a clear picture of the person we’re looking to reach, supporting the audience development work the team completes.
  • Use competitive intelligence tools to identify category white space and drive the direction of a media strategy, and identify unique ways to illustrate competitive impact on media.
  • Sets a team priority for flawless budget management, ensuring ways of working and processes deliver toward this priority.
  • Support the team in client billing, including partnership with Activation and Finance teams to improve billing process and solution for any challenges that arise.
  • Crafts team POVs, both internal and external, based on trending topics impacting the media landscape, category or market trends, and crafting them to clearly articulate the anticipated impact to clients.
  • Acts as a reviewer and approver for media reports, ensuring it articulates a clear POV based on performance trends and implications.
  • Read industry trades and engage with the Media Team to stay current on all media trends, and how those trends present opportunities for clients.
  • Has thorough knowledge of key media planning tools, such as Vivvix, Pathmatics, MRI-Simmons, SRDS, SQAD, Nielsen NMI/IMS, Guideline Planning, and others.
  • Identifies the need for, and leads the development of, strategic analyses on audience, geography/market approach, media vendor information necessary to develop the media plan recommendation that best delivers upon the client’s goals and objectives.
  • Identifies the need for and prepares non-media projects and recommendations, including but not limited to competitive audits, target audience profiles, geographic analyses, etc.
  • Drives organic growth opportunities across Media, Data & Analytics, and CRM, and crafting a strategic approach to securing new organic growth opportunities.
  • Supports in new business growth, joining as the client’s Media Strategy lead, and helping to deliver recommendations based on set assignment.
  • Maintains a positive rapport with media vendor partners, creating partnerships that help to support team knowledge and ensures client recommendations reflect the latest technologies and opportunities that keep BarkleyOKRP at the forefront of the latest media trends. 
  • Works closely with the Activation team to ensure flawless implementation of all approved media recommendations.
  • Presents and represents media to senior-level clients.
  • Leads the team to prepare budget recommendations based on client goals and objectives.
  • Demonstrates a complete understanding of the client’s business, maintaining familiarity with the history, present organization and procedures of the client, as well as conditions of the industry.
  • Provides an energy level that brings new and exciting ideas, motivating other team members.
  • Keeps a pulse on the status of all client work, and manages up with key leaders.
  • Continually evaluates processes, workflows and resources for ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the team, then creating and implementing plan for ways of working optimization.
  • Evaluates current Planning resources and proactively bring proposals to SVP, Media Strategy for any additional tools needed to stay on top of current trends, and ensure we’re delivering best-in-class recommendations to clients.
  • Updates SVP, Media Strategy on status of current accounts on an ongoing basis, elevating key issues or concerns as they arise.

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree or equivalent in a related field 8 or more years of media planning experience required
  • Able to apply a strategic filter to solve client challenges
  • Strong knowledge of traditional media channels with an understanding of digital is preferred, but not a requirement
  • Ability to think critically and apply a strategic approach to all plans or projects
  • Experience in leading and managing a team
  • Ability to work effectively with a variety of internal teams and business groups, including Creative, Media, Data & Measurement, Project Management and Finance
  • Ability to communicate effectively within a team environment as well as with outside media sales reps
  • Displays a passion for media and advertising
  • Strong organizational and mathematical skills (including basic media math)
  • Ability to multi-task and deliver work on-time for set deadlines
  • Must be prepared for a fast-paced environment and be comfortable making decisions

BarkleyOKRP’s Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

  • We believe being radically diverse and inclusive is the key to becoming one of the world’s great creative idea companies. By embracing everything that makes our partners who they are and what makes them unique to the world around them, we create the conditions and capacity to help creative, original thinking thrive. 
  • BarkleyOKRP is committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging as part of our corporate strategic goals, supported by a formal DEI+B program, Employee Resource Groups, Director of Diversity leadership and agency commitment to The Brand Lab, Creative Accelerator, Fellowship, MAIP, and BLAC. 

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