Polaris Campaigns: Senior/Media Buyer

Polaris Campaigns: Senior/Media Buyer

Polaris is a Latino owned, progressive media strategy agency dedicated to providing innovative solutions to candidates and causes. We believe in building a collaborative environment where we can provide our expertise to our clients to best achieve their goals. We want to work with people who are bold enough to think differently and who hunger for knowledge.

Department: Media Planning

Reports to: Director of Media

Effective date: May 2026

Classification: FTE, Hybrid, DMV based

Term: Through at least November 2026

Senior/Media Buyer Overview:

The Senior/Media Buyer is responsible for planning and executing digital and linear advertising campaigns for clients. This includes researching and identifying appropriate target audiences, negotiating rates and placing media buys, and monitoring and analyzing campaign performance.

A successful Polaris employees will:

• Be dedicated to the success of progressive causes and candidates: This person identifies with the ethics and philosophy of progressive and Democratic causes and understands the role that Polaris plays in advancing causes such as social justice, women's rights, workers' rights, freedom of expression and marginalized communities.
• Take initiative: This person comes to the table with a proactive, problem solving mindset and is solutions oriented. This person can hold others accountable and contributes to a positive and healthy working environment where everyone is comfortable being themselves.
• Be collaborative and communicative: This person has a track record of collaborating and communicating effectively within an organization. This includes collaborating across departments and areas of expertise, along with successful collaboration with external partners.
• Work smart and hard: This person is passionate about building Polaris from the ground up, which means working smart and hard. This person thinks strategically about systems and understands that the way that things have been done in the past is not always the best or most efficient way of executing a task or project.
• Be a subject matter expert: This person has prior expertise in their field and lends that expertise to the success of Polaris and all Polaris clients. This person believes in continuous learning and values the input of other subject matter experts on the Polaris team, along with external partner experts.
• Be hungry to learn and grow: This person will come in with a desire to add to their skill set especially with regards to cross-screen strategy with the understanding that we are breaking down the silos of traditional media buying

Senior/Media Buyer Responsibilities:

• Execute buys across programmatic, social, and managed service digital channels
• Experience and proficiency in a DSP such as the Trade Desk, DV360, StackAdapt, etc.
• Extensive experience in the Google Ads platforms especially YouTube and Search
• Comfortable assessing strengths/weaknesses of different platforms, data vendors and managed service partners
• Attention to detail to manage large budgets in a fast moving environment and reconcile accordingly
• Interest or experience in the changing media landscape including traditional media such as linear TV and radio
• Develop and implement strategies to achieve clients' advertising goals and objectives
• Conduct research and analysis to identify appropriate target audiences and media outlets
• Negotiate rates and place media buys on behalf of clients, ensuring the most cost-effective and efficient use of advertising budget
• Monitor and analyze campaign performance data to identify opportunities for improvement and make data-driven decisions
• Communicate effectively with clients and internal teams to ensure that campaigns are executed according to plan
• Stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and technologies, and implement them as appropriate
• Collaborate with other members of the media team to develop integrated advertising plans
• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior members of the media team

Senior/Media Buyer Qualifications:

• 4+ years (or 2 election cycles) of media buying/negotiations experience including in the key platforms (DSP, Google Ads, Meta).
• Prior experience with linear, specifically TV, is highly preferred.
• Experience working with audience/research software such as Catalyst, TargetSmart, L2, Comscore, etc.
• Strong math skills, ability to interpret research data, and excellent proofreading skills
• Ability to move at the speed of political with tight deadlines in a constantly changing environment
• Ability to negotiate with vendors while maintaining positive professional relations
• Strong understanding of political media buying, planning, and research
• Strong negotiation skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and project management skills
• Experience with data visualization and reporting tools such as Dataroma, Google Looker Studio, or similar
• Experience working in the progressive political sphere strongly preferred
• Applicants who do not have exact equivalent experience are encouraged to apply.

Senior/Media Buyer Compensation:

• $70,000 - $100,000 annually depending on experience
• Employer sponsored healthcare, including 100% paid medical, dental, vision and life insurances
• Paid time off policies such as vacation, sick and holiday
• 3% automatic Safe Harbor retirement contribution
• Polaris provided laptop

We value diversity, equity and inclusion. Polaris Strategies is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, or covered veteran status.