Director of Media Planning

This is a Full Time Job

This role is critical in developing and leading holistic full-funnel Media strategy & planning across all media channels & platforms to increase brand awareness, retention & acquisition of ESPN brands & platforms. The ideal candidate is a creative thinker who utilizes collaboration in the highest form to drive business results. This position reports to the Senior Director Media Planning. This role is in New York, NY.

Responsibilities:
• Analyze market trends, fan insights, and competitive landscape to identify opportunities and develop innovative media approaches
• Develop strong partnerships with external media buying agencies and key media partners to maximize spend & alpha testing opportunities
• Develop a comprehensive media strategy that aligns with business objectives
• Steward effective communication and understand needs of marketing teams, internal stakeholders, and external league partners ensuring team is set up to effectively execute campaigns across ESPN O&O and paid media channels
• Partner with Research & Analytics teams to evaluate performance and make data-driven decisions to influence future strategies
• Encourage a culture based on teamwork, collaboration and intellectual ownership to drive results as well as manage, coach, and mentor managers and employees to inspire career growth
• Provide digital marketing & creative thought leadership based on media results across ESPN Marketing
• Collaborate with Sports Marketing departments to drive audience expansion and reach across various properties

Qualifications:
• Minimum 10 years of experience in strategy and planning for large media campaigns
• Minimum 3 years of experience in leadership and development, directly leading, managing, and growing teams
• Experience with Performance Marketing, focusing on the path to purchasing objectives
• Experience in engaging, managing and building relationships with senior and executive level leaders
• A progressive mindset with proven success driving a business forward with innovative ideas
• Excellent verbal and presenting skills to be an effective and persuasive communicator
• Experience w/ audience targeting, data & tagging needs; implementation, reporting and measurement
• An eye for emerging industry trends and topics, with an ability to shape business-building opportunities
• Fluency in managing cross-functional collaborators to deliver unified work
• A data-driven mentality, with a hunger to continuously refine strategy, performance and opportunity through insights
• Deep understanding of the media landscape, consumer behavior, media consumption, and how to connect strategic thought leadership with activation across both digital and traditional channels

Preferred Qualifications
• Creative thinker who enjoys finding creative solutions by bringing brands together in unique and unexpected ways
• The ideal candidate should be passionate, take initiative, have superior relationship skills, effectively multi-task, and is detail oriented
• Sports/entertainment experience preferred
• Demonstrates strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills with an ability to translate complex data into actionable insights in a clear and concise manner
• Driven self-starter who is comfortable working both independently and collaboratively across multiple departments and disciplines in a fast-paced environment

Required Education
• Bachelor's degree in marketing, business, or a related field

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