Sr. Manager, Media Planning & Activations

Aquent is partnering with a global leader in travel management, renowned for shaping the future of its industry. This organization is building a world-class brand marketing team, with social media at its core, to elevate its brand, deepen cultural relevance, and drive measurable business impact. This is an exciting opportunity to join a team where your expertise will directly influence how the brand connects with audiences across traditional and digital media, setting new benchmarks for engagement and growth.

Are you a dynamic and strategic media expert ready to make a significant impact? We are seeking a visionary leader to drive media plan strategy, development, activations, and measurement for integrated brand campaigns, with a strong emphasis on social media. In this hands-on role, you will be instrumental in translating compelling brand narratives into platform-native storytelling, guiding agencies, external partners, and internal teams with clarity, conviction, and data-backed insights. You'll join a passionate team, work with world-class creative, and contribute to a leadership vision that embraces media as a powerful tool to enhance creativity and push boundaries, ultimately shaping the future of how this industry-leading brand connects with its global audience.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and evolve bold, innovative strategies for digital media platforms, providing recommendations for enhancement.
• Build growth frameworks for each social channel, optimizing for reach, engagement, retention, and community building.
• Create social-first media plans that are actionable and measurable to drive social conversation and engagement.
• Maintain a forward-looking perspective on platform changes, algorithm shifts, and emerging behaviors to drive media innovation.
• Lead brief development for internal teams and agency partners.
• Work in tandem with creative counterparts to build an integrated campaign approach.
• Help identify moments for real-time social activation, from cultural tentpoles to mini social campaigns.
• Champion a test-and-learn approach for media placements, platforms, objective and audience recommendations, and creative optimizations.
• Share findings and news, keeping informal teams up to date on the evolution of media technology and strategic recommendations.
• Work with creative teams to ensure consistent, high-quality output across channels, built for the media plan.
• Utilize analytics tools to understand performance, audience behavior, and content effectiveness.
• Translate insights into actionable recommendations for continuous improvement.
• Partner closely with marketing, creative, social, and performance teams to gain alignment and set objectives.
• Support full-lifecycle alignment, sharing best practices with channel and strategy owners to amplify high-performing content across audiences and channels.

Must-Have Qualifications

• 5-8 years of experience in media planning and/or strategy within a brand setting or agency.
• Proven success driving brand campaigns and media planning at an integrated level with multi-million dollar budgets.
• Demonstrated ability to translate brand and business objectives into effective media strategies.
• Experience with analysis, reporting, and in-depth knowledge of digital media platforms.
• Developed integrated advertising campaigns across various channels including OOH, digital, social, TV, OLV, Connected TV, audio, and more.
• Knowledge of data-driven media technology and programmatic buying.
• Deep understanding of social behavior, best practices, and platforms.
• Expert knowledge in the digital media space, including analytics, reporting, optimizations, and media buying.
• Strong briefing skills, with the ability to articulate strategic clarity and direction.
• Data-driven mindset, capable of interpreting analytics and turning insights into action.
• Strong communication skills and comfort presenting ideas to senior stakeholders.
• Ability to maintain accurate financial records and tracking.
• Ability to analyze data, optimize, and ensure campaign goals are being fully met.

Mindset & Qualities for Success

You are curious and plugged into cultural shifts, bringing a bold, proactive, and imaginative approach to your work. You are comfortable experimenting, refining, and iterating quickly, always seeking new ways to innovate. A collaborative and low-ego team player, you are focused on lifting the entire team and the brand to new heights. You possess a passion for advertising, marketing, data storytelling, and emerging digital formats. Success in this role will be evident through clear growth in platform reach, engagement, and the creation of retargeting pools. You will establish a clear approach to digital media and demonstrate a deep understanding of the landscape and industry, driving breakthrough moments that enhance cultural relevance and earned attention. Your optimization strategy will be built on an established test-and-learn approach, and your insight-driven decision-making will significantly influence brand marketing at large.

About Aquent Talent

Aquent Talent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world's biggest brands.
Our eligible talent get access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match. We also offer free online training through Aquent Gymnasium. More information on our awesome benefits!
Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We're about creating an inclusive environment-one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.