Associate Media Director (Pharma)

Associate Media Director

As an Associate Media Director, you are the strategic bridge between our clients' business goals and our media team's execution. You aren't just managing plans; you are leading a vision. You will serve as the primary point of contact for high-level clients, guiding them through the complex media landscape with precision, creativity, and data-driven insights.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned media professional with a "player-coach" mentality—someone who can architect a sophisticated multi-channel strategy one hour and mentor a rising Media Planner the next. This role requires deep experience in pharmaceutical marketing, including an understanding of regulatory considerations, healthcare audiences, and pharma-specific media strategy.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Innovation

• Visionary Planning: Lead the development of holistic media strategies that align with brand goals, ensuring every tactic drives measurable business impact within the pharmaceutical landscape.
• Forward-Thinking: Drive media innovation by identifying and implementing key initiatives such as AI/ML integration, custom algorithms, and omni-channel audience segmentation.
• Thought Leadership: Stay at the forefront of industry trends (including pharma-specific regulations and advancements) to author and socialize POVs, keeping both the internal team and clients ahead of the curve.
• New Business: Partner with new business team to support growth efforts, contributing to brainstorms, tactical strategy, and high-stakes pitches—particularly within pharma and healthcare verticals.

Client Partnership & Advocacy

• Trusted Advisor: Serve as a strategic partner to senior-level clients (CMOs and Procurement), translating complex media data into actionable business narratives, with a strong understanding of pharmaceutical marketing dynamics.
• Education & Guidance: Lead "Media 101" sessions and Media Days to empower clients with a deeper understanding of the landscape, including pharma-specific considerations such as compliance and audience targeting.
• Performance Storytelling: Oversee high-level reporting and campaign wrap-ups that clearly demonstrate value-add wins, savings, and ROI.

Team Management & Culture

• Mentorship: Directly manage a diverse team (Planners, Supervisors, AMPs), creating personalized growth plans and fostering a culture of high performance and "team happiness."
• Operational Excellence: Standardize workflows and templates across brands to ensure efficiency and consistency.
• Resource Management: Work with leadership to build staffing scenarios, ensuring proper resource utilization and agency profitability.

Partner & Vendor Relations

• Strategic Negotiation: Lead large-scale account or agency-wide negotiations with media, data, and measurement partners, including those specific to healthcare/pharma.
• Financial Stewardship: Oversee media budgets in partnership with Account leads, ensuring fiscal responsibility and optimal payment terms (Ts and Cs).
• Framework Development: Guide teams in evaluating partner proposals using scorecard-based frameworks and SQAD benchmarking.

Qualifications

• Experience: 5–8 years in media planning with at least 2+ years of direct people management experience.
• Pharma Experience (Required): Demonstrated experience working on pharmaceutical and/or healthcare brands, with a strong understanding of regulatory environments, compliance, and audience nuances.
• Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills; ability to present persuasively to C-suite executives.
• Expertise: Deep knowledge of the media landscape, competitive tools, and emerging technologies.
• Soft Skills: Strong negotiation and influence skills, a high level of attention to detail, and the ability to remain calm and effective under pressure.

Education: Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, or a related field (preferred).