Associate Media Planner

Location: Irvine, CA, hybrid onsite Type: 1 year contract with potential for extension Compensation Range: $40-$45/hr W2 As an Associate Media Planner, you play a critical role in translating media plans and emerging business initiatives into compliant, execution-ready campaigns. Working closely with Media Planners, Media Managers, Operations, Finance, Procurement, Legal, Data Privacy, vendors, and account teams, you coordinate contracting, campaign activation, documentation, financial tracking, and issue resolution. You help clarify requirements and dependencies, maintain accurate records, flag risks related to timing, budget, compliance, and resourcing, and support continuous optimization across media initiatives. Location: Irvine, CA, hybrid onsite Type: 1 year contract with potential for extension Compensation Range: $40-$45/hr W2 As an Associate Media Planner, you play a critical role in translating media plans and emerging business initiatives into compliant, execution-ready campaigns. Working closely with Media Planners, Media Managers, Operations, Finance, Procurement, Legal, Data Privacy, vendors, and account teams, you coordinate contracting, campaign activation, documentation, financial tracking, and issue resolution. You help clarify requirements and dependencies, maintain accurate records, flag risks related to timing, budget, compliance, and resourcing, and support continuous optimization across media initiatives. Responsibilities Support the development and implementation of media strategies, plans, and activation recommendations alongside Media Planners and Media Managers. Own and maintain campaign documentation, including media calendars, contracting status trackers, finance and invoice trackers, creative trackers, buy authorizations, work orders, insertion orders, and purchase-order records. Coordinate end-to-end media contracting and change requests, including intake, vendor onboarding, work-order and POCN development, data-privacy requirements, QA, signature routing, SNAPP submission, approvals, and final filing. Coordinate campaign activation and advertising-material trafficking; confirm specifications and handoffs, monitor launch readiness, verify placements are live, collect proof-of-performance screenshots, and maintain accurate campaign records. Serve as a day-to-day contact for media vendors and internal partners across Procurement, Legal, Data Privacy, Finance, Operations, and account teams; clarify next steps, required information, owners, and dependencies, and resolve issues promptly. Track and report campaign spend, budget status, purchase orders, invoices, monthly amounts, savings, and variances; reconcile records and elevate financial risks or discrepancies. Ensure work complies with pharmaceutical, privacy, procurement, contracting, and media-delivery requirements; proactively flag risks related to timing, budget, resourcing, approvals, and dependencies. Support reporting, optimization, and planning discussions by gathering launch updates, placement documentation, vendor inputs, and campaign-status information. Provide day-to-day executional support to Media Planners and Media Managers, help establish efficient intake-driven workflows, and contribute to onboarding or guidance for junior team members and interns as assigned. Qualifications Bachelor's degree in marketing, advertising, communications, or related field. 2-4 years of experience in media planning/buying or campaign operations. Exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, sound judgment, and the ability to manage multiple deadlines and dependencies. Proficiency with Microsoft 365, especially Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and shared tracking tools. Excellent written and verbal communication, vendor-management, and cross-functional relationship-building abilities. Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, regulated environment, proactively escalating risks and resolving issues. Equal Opportunity Employer: Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, National Origin, Age, Genetic Information, Disability, Protected Veteran Status, or any other legally protected group status. At Cella, a randstad digital company, we welcome people of all abilities and want to ensure that our hiring and interview process meets the needs of all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation to make your application or interview experience a great one, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io. Pay offered to a successful candidate will be based on several factors including the candidate's education, work experience, work location, specific job duties, certifications, etc. In addition, Cella by randstad digital offers a comprehensive benefits package, including: medical, prescription, dental, vision, AD&D, and life insurance offerings, short-term disability, and a 401K plan (all benefits are based on eligibility). This posting is open for thirty (30) days. It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability. Qualified applicants in San Francisco with criminal histories will be considered for employment in accordance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. We will consider for employment all qualified Applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. #J-18808-Ljbffr