Job Description
Our client, a full-service digital marketing agency, is seeking a Senior Media Planner to join their team on a full-time basis. This is a hands-on, digital-first planning role supporting a large tourism account, with additional exposure to clients across tourism, technology, and consumer verticals.
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This person will take approved media strategies and turn them into fully executable plans - owning channel mix, budgets, flighting, flowcharts, materials, and ongoing reconciliation across digital and traditional media. The ideal candidate is highly detail-oriented, comfortable managing significant budgets independently, and has experience negotiating directly with media vendors.
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Type: Full-Time, Salaried
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Location: Hybrid onsite Monday/Wednesday for candidates within 60 miles of downtown Chicago; fully remote candidates may be considered in IL, FL, GA, IN, MI, MN, NV, SD, or TN.
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Salary: $75,000–$100,000 DOE
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Responsibilities
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- Build and own multi-channel media plans, translating approved strategies into detailed budgets, flowcharts, flighting, and campaign plans
- Plan across digital and traditional channels including paid social, programmatic, CTV, streaming audio, OLV, publisher direct, print, OOH, broadcast, and airport media
- Own working media budgets from initial allocation through revisions, pacing, authorizations, invoicing, and final reconciliation
- Maintain highly accurate budget trackers and flowcharts, adjusting monthly allocations to align with approved plans
- Review and approve media invoices, proof of performance, and associated documentation for accuracy
- Negotiate annual vendor contracts across traditional media channels including OOH, broadcast, and airport placements
- Request and evaluate vendor performance metrics for custom media placements
- Manage media specifications, creative calendars, materials tracking, tagging, and trafficking requirements
- Partner closely with creative, strategy, analytics, account, and project management teams to keep deliverables, timelines, and budgets aligned
- Handle ongoing client requests, media POVs, plan revisions, and optimization needs
- Independently manage multiple accounts, deadlines, and priorities while knowing when to escalate issues to senior leadership
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Qualifications
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- 4+ years of media planning experience, with a strong emphasis on digital media
- Demonstrated hands-on experience personally building media plans, flowcharts, budgets, and flighting from approved strategy
- Strong financial accountability with experience owning budget pacing, revisions, media authorizations, invoice approvals, and reconciliation
- Direct experience independently negotiating vendor contracts; OOH, broadcast, airport, or similar traditional media experience strongly preferred
- Advanced Excel skills with the ability to independently build and manage complex budget trackers, flowcharts, and reconciliation documents
- Experience planning across multiple digital and traditional media channels
- Strong working knowledge of paid social platforms and digital media ecosystems
- Experience with Strata, Mediaocean, or a similar media planning platform is a plus
- Tourism, travel, destination marketing, or other multi-market account experience is highly preferred
- Exceptional attention to detail and comfort working with complex budgets and financial data
- Proven ability to independently manage multiple accounts, deadlines, and workstreams without sacrificing accuracy
- Strong cross-functional communication and collaboration skills
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