Associate Media Director, Media Strategy

We’re RPA: an independent advertising agency that puts People First. It’s a unique philosophy for a different kind of agency: where we aspire to create work that truly matters to people, for brands that respect and value people, with a team we empower and treat like people. And we do it all in the heart of sunny Santa Monica, California.  

Why You’ll Never Want to Leave 

Our People First philosophy means creating a culture where people like you can thrive, do meaningful work, and — we hope — stick around  for a while. In an industry known for high turnover, people at RPA seem to recognize the value of an environment that truly wants to support our Associates’ lives and career growth. 

Who You’ll Be Collaborating With 

Every day, you’ll be teaming up with a diverse, enthusiastic, multi-disciplinary team of professionals with a smart sense of humor and a strong desire to grow and develop. 

Job Summary

RPA is seeking an Associate Media Director, Media Strategy to join the Media Planning team. As an Associate Media Director, you will lead the development of media strategy and recommendations for Honda Dealer Associations across traditional and digital media channels.  

You will collaborate with the Regional Account teams to ensure all media planning efforts ladder up to established, overarching business objectives at the individual dealer level. You will oversee the strategic media planning process and budget allocations across linear, streaming, digital, programmatic, social, and search channels. Your responsibilities will include but not limited to overseeing annual media planning process, leading media strategy development, guiding strategy team throughout media planning process, collaborating with subject-matter experts, investment and research teams, and presenting final plans to regional account teams and Dealers. Presentations and meetings often require travel. You will participate in cross-agency process development to improve workflows, streamline efforts and consolidate across similar efforts, and work closely with Honda Tier 1 teams to create cross-tier synergies.

What You’ll Be Working On 

• Lead the development of RPA-managed Honda Dealer Association media recommendations
• Be available to travel across the US for Dealer meetings and with Regional Account Directors
• Collaborate with Regional Account Directors who are day-to-day contacts for each DAA
• Oversee and lead day to day client requests with internal teams and departments
• Drive innovation and identify key opportunities to leverage for the brand
• Identify and understand appropriate utilization of media KPIs/success metrics from performance analyses to help inform future recommendations
• Troubleshoot and problem solve for key client requests
• Train, mentor, manage, and oversee growth of media strategy team
• Oversee management of budgetary tasks and billing responsibilities
• Foster relationships and build strong rapport with clients
• Oversee the development of client POVs upon request
• Regularly and proactively read trades, stay informed, and provide updates of new media trends and developments in the media landscape

How You’ll Excel In Your Role 

• Thorough knowledge of media landscape and ability to identify key trends
• Strong written, verbal, communication, and presentation skills
• Strong management skills - provide leadership, guidance, training, and effective delegation
• Solid analytical skills, and attention to detail
• Ability to think “big picture” strategically and creatively
• Capacity to work on high volume of assignments concurrently and flexibility to shift priorities as necessary
• Solid interpersonal skills – ability to work and lead within a team environment, can speak confidently and regularly to senior level clients and outside sales rep community
• Proficient with key industry tools such as Telmar-MRI/Scarborough research, Lumina/Guidelines, Vivvix (formerly Kantar), IHS Polk, MediaOcean/Prisma/OMNI, and NMI

This is an exempt position and is not eligible for overtime compensation. 

The semi-monthly salary range for this position is $4,583.33 - $5,000.00, with an annualized equivalent of $110,000 - $120,000 DOE.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, at RPA we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other classification protected by Federal, state, or local law.