Media Director

Company description

Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game—they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a “me-too” product into “yes-please.”

The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring clients’ market positions are uniquely owned. Heartbeat designs their organization around a 100% integration model, housing media, strategy, med comms, creative, technology, and even point of care/population health under the same roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. They price work based on outcomes, not outputs. Their innovative model delivers not only alignment, but powerful orchestration, greater efficiency, and maximum impact for every dollar spent—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.

That’s the philosophy, here’s the creds: 250+ employees between NYC & LA; 6 agency leaders with decades of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the Mannys, MM&M Awards, OMMAs, and Clios; an industry-leading commitment to diversity and inclusion (with a Med Ad News D&I Champion nod to match); and a President who dared to be quoted as saying, “We celebrate people who stand up and say, ‘You know what? This is dumb.' Damn straight.

Overview

We’re Heartbeat, the marketing agency for Healthcare Challenger Brands and the brave clients behind them. And hopefully you’re our next Media Director, leading integrated media strategy and delivering game-changing campaigns for consumers & HCPs.

Read on to learn more about what qualities we’re looking for in a new member of the crew and why you’re gonna dig working with us.

Responsibilities

How you’ll strengthen the team:

Essential Functions

• Provide senior leadership across integrated media strategy, planning, buying, and optimization for multiple accounts

• Partner with Client Services, Production, Creative, Strategy, Analytics, and other disciplines to develop integrated media solutions aligned with client business objectives and brand goals

• Lead and develop the media team, setting clear expectations, providing strategic guidance, and building channel expertise tied to client goals

• Maintain a deep understanding of each client’s business, including market dynamics, business priorities, audience needs, and competitor strategies

• Own and grow senior client relationships by providing proactive counsel and demonstrating a strong understanding of healthcare, media, and client business challenges

• Report into a Group Director or senior media leader, providing visibility into account health, staffing, financials, opportunities, and risks

• Lead Media Directors, Media Supervisors, Media Planners, and Assistant Media Planners across multiple accounts

• Drive innovative, forward-thinking media solutions that address client business challenges and create measurable impact

Campaign Execution & Maintenance

• Provide senior oversight of campaign timelines, client authorizations, vendor deliverables, creative specifications, and asset delivery to ensure accurate and timely execution

• Ensure the accurate creation and maintenance of insertion orders, media placements, and supporting documentation

• Guide the use of research, audience, marketplace, and performance data to inform planning, buying, and optimization decisions

• Oversee pacing, delivery, placement, and flight-date management, escalating issues and guiding negotiations for credits or billing adjustments when necessary

• Oversee staffing and workload across brands, delegate strategically, and coach team leaders to strengthen media expertise, management capability, and career development

• Lead research and strategic development for audience analyses, media recommendations, competitive presentations, and new business opportunities

Qualifications

What you’re bringing with you:

Across 8+ years of experience, you know what it takes to lead integrated media strategy, planning, and activation. These are the core skills you’ve totally nailed:

• Extensive understanding of marketing concepts, specifically within pharmaceutical, HCP, and patient markets

• Deep experience leading pharmaceutical media strategy and planning across online, offline, traditional, and emerging channels

• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams, develop talent, and manage senior media professionals

• At least 8 years of media agency experience, including integrated strategy, planning, buying, implementation, analytics, and optimization

• Experience managing Media Directors, Media Supervisors, Media Planners, and Assistant Media Planners across multiple accounts

• Strong working knowledge of ad servers, MRI, Kantar, and Google Analytics

• Ability to set priorities across multiple accounts, balance competing timelines, and ensure highquality delivery

• A proven track record of earning client and team trust through sound strategic, creative, and analytical leadership

• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with clients, agency partners, vendors, and internal teams

• Demonstrated command of media research resources, measurement approaches, capabilities, and limitations

• Strong financial, mathematical, and analytical skills, including oversight of media budgets and investment decisions

• Demonstrated ability to translate audience, marketplace, and performance insights into actionable media strategy

• Strong executive presence, communication skills, and attention to detail.

Additional information

Our Publicis Groupe motto “Viva La Différence” means we’re better together, and we believe that our differences make us stronger. It means we honor and celebrate all identities, across all facets of intersectionality, and it underpins all that we do as an organization. We are focused on fostering belonging and creating equitable & inclusive experiences for all talent.

Publicis Groupe provides robust and inclusive benefit programs and policies to support the evolving and diverse needs of our talent and enable every person to grow and thrive. Our benefits package includes medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401K, as well as parental and family care leave, family forming assistance, tuition reimbursement, and flexible time off.

If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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Compensation Range: USD $121,315.00 - USD $194,220.00/Annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 12/7/2026.