Freelance, Associate Director, Media Planning at DEPT® | Chicago, IL

DEPT®

Freelance, Associate Director, Media Planning

Chicago, IL (Remote)

Salary Not AvailableSenior Level5+ years expFull time

Posted 2 months ago

Top 1% of applicants do these two things.

The other 99% submit and hope. You're about to do something different.

Job Summary

Own end-to-end connections strategy to unify communications, content, and commerce while leading cross-functional teams to design integrated, experience-led solutions that drive immediate results and long-term brand equity.

Growth & Experience Ownership: orchestrate paid, owned, earned, and shared touchpoints into cohesive consumer journeys.
Insight-to-Action: translate data into frameworks that influence senior decisions and demonstrate holistic impact beyond channel attribution.
People & Thought Leadership: mentor strategists and articulate a differentiated, integrated strategy to win new business.

Job Description

Responsibilities: Define end-to-end connections strategies grounded in audience, cultural, and behavioral insights—linking communications, content, and commerce into a unified system.
Responsibilities: Architect full-funnel ecosystems that integrate paid, owned, earned, and shared touchpoints to deliver cohesive and connected consumer experiences.
Responsibilities: Partner with clients as a strategic growth advisor, identifying opportunity space, shaping business challenges, and unlocking new opportunities beyond media investment.
Responsibilities: Orchestrate the interplay between brand building and performance, ensuring immediate impact while compounding long-term brand equity.
Responsibilities: Lead cross-functional teams (Strategy, Creative, Media, Data, Technology) to develop experience-led solutions, not just channel plans.
Responsibilities: Translate data and insights into clear narratives and actionable frameworks that influence senior stakeholders and drive decision-making.
Responsibilities: Establish holistic measurement approaches that connect exposure, engagement, and outcomes—moving beyond siloed channel attribution to true effectiveness storytelling.
Responsibilities: Drive innovation in how we connect with audiences, continuously evolving frameworks, tools, and approaches to stay ahead of changing behaviors and platforms.
Responsibilities: Play a leading role in new business and thought leadership, articulating a differentiated vision for integrated strategy and connections planning.
Responsibilities: Mentor and elevate a team of strategists, fostering systems thinking, curiosity, and strategic rigor in their work.

Requirements: 5-7 years of experience in omni-channel media strategy and planning, with a proven track record of leading large-scale accounts.
Requirements: Experience in "Connections Planning" or Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), with a deep understanding of how content and media intersect.
Requirements: Expert-level proficiency with media research and audience profiling tools (GWI, MRI, ComScore, Pathmatics, etc.).
Requirements: Demonstrated success in managing 360-degree sponsorship or tentpole campaign planning.
Requirements: Strong leadership presence with the ability to influence senior clients and navigate complex multi-agency (IAT) environments.
Requirements: A data-driven mindset paired with creative intuition—you know how to back up big ideas with hard numbers.
Requirements: Proven experience in managing and growing direct reports, building a culture of excellence and curiosity.
Requirements: An expertise in both B2C & B2B as well as enterprise client experience.
Requirements: While DEPT® is a remote-first company, this role requires candidates to be able to work Central time zone.

DEPT®

3.6 Glassdoor

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Coach, eBay, and OpenAI. Certified B Corp and Climate Neutral since 2021.

Founded in 2016

Amsterdam, North Holland, NLD

4.5K employees (1,449 in marketing)

www.deptagency.com

68% recommend to a friend

85% CEO approval