Media Director

Job Description

Job Description

Media Director

The Media Director leads Morrison's media practice and is responsible for the strategy, planning, buying, and performance of paid media across all channels for Morrison's clients. This is a client-facing leadership role that requires equal parts strategic thinking and hands-on execution, a modern understanding of how media works across the full mix, and the ability to turn data into decisions. The role is also central to how Morrison evaluates and adopts AI-driven tools, media innovation, and emerging technology, ensuring clients stay ahead as the media landscape evolves. The Media Director reports directly to the President of the agency and manages a team of two to three.

Function

• Report to the President.

• Lead the media discipline at Morrison, owning strategy, planning, buying, and performance across all paid channels.

• Manage two to three direct reports, including media planners and buyers.

• Serve as the senior media voice in client relationships and new business pitches.

• Partner closely with creative, account, strategy, and technology teams to ensure media and creative work together.

Responsibilities

Media Strategy and Planning

• Develop media strategies grounded in client business objectives, audience data, and channel performance.

• Lead media mix modeling to inform how budgets are allocated across channels, with a clear point of view on what the data is saying and why.

• Apply a modern, channel-agnostic approach to planning: paid search, social, programmatic, CTV, audio, OOH, and traditional where it earns its place.

• Stay ahead of platform changes, emerging channels, and shifts in audience behavior that affect how Morrison's clients should be spending.

• Educate the broader agency on new media platforms, tools, and approaches as they become relevant.

Buying, Execution, and Performance

• Direct all aspects of the media process from research and planning through negotiation, buying, billing, reconciliation, and post-analysis.

• Continually optimize active media buys against client KPIs, making data-backed adjustments in real time.

• Deliver post-buy reporting and insights that go beyond the numbers and connect performance back to business outcomes.

• Leverage technology and automation to improve efficiency, targeting precision, and reporting quality across campaigns.

Client Leadership

• Serve as the senior media lead on assigned accounts, building trust through clear communication and accountable performance.

• Present media plans, performance updates, and strategic recommendations with confidence and clarity.

• Develop a deep understanding of each client's business, category, and competitive landscape.

• Identify opportunities to grow client relationships through expanded media scope and smarter investment recommendations.

Team Development and New Business

• Manage, mentor, and develop a team of two to three media professionals.

• Participate in new business pitches as Morrison's media lead, contributing strategy and credibility.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with media partners and reps.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.

• 10+ years of media experience, with a minimum of three years managing a team.

• Deep experience in media mix modeling and data-backed budget allocation.

• Hands-on experience across both digital and traditional channels, with a bias toward digital and performance media.

• Proficiency with media research and planning tools, ad platforms, and reporting infrastructure.

• Comfortable with technology: knows which tools to use, how to evaluate new ones, and when automation beats manual.

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into clear strategic recommendations.

• Excellent presenter and communicator, internally and with clients.

• Agency experience is highly preferred.