Lead Media Thinker

Thinkerbell; Sydney; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Measured Mondays

Magic Hour

Mind Expansion Project

Job summary

Thinkerbell in Sydney seeks a Lead Media Thinker to drive integrated media strategies, planning and buying, working across a team of Thinkers and Tinkers. The role blends paid, owned, and earned media to deliver measurable outcomes for clients.

You’ll partner with creative teams to fuse media with compelling storytelling and behavioural insights, guiding client objectives with data-driven decisions. You will bring 8+ years of experience, excel in leadership and collaboration, and contribute to

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in media, consultancy or related fields.
• Background in consultancy, adland, social or media agencies.
• Analytical mindset with strong problem-solving abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead integrated and media squads, developing media strategies and overseeing execution.
• Project leadership across retainers and projects, ensuring on-time delivery and budget awareness.
• Promote collaboration across squads, integrating paid, owned and earned media ideas.

Skills

Media strategy

Strategy development

Leadership

Collaboration

Behaviour change

Job description

Thinkerbell is looking for a Lead Media Thinker ( Client Director / Senior Planning Director) to join our team of Thinkers and Tinkers in Sydney.

HOW YOU’LL CREATE MEASURED MAGIC

So, what the hell is a Thinker? We're glad you asked. A Thinker is a strategy-account-servicey type of person who often comes from a background of consultancy, adland, social or media agencies, and is really really smart. They ask a lot of questions and listen very carefully for the answers. They're problem solvers and know how to drive business results. They can manage processes and are business minded, and they know how to get shit done.

THE TASK AT HAND

As a Lead Media Thinker, you'll be passionate about how media connects with consumers and using behaviour change to help clients achieve our clients objectives. You'll be a key lead in our business across all things media- online, offline or down the line. You'll have an analytical brain, a love for communications and be a gun at playing a bit of media plan jenga. You'll be naturally inquisitive, have a desire to dissect a challenge and not afraid to have an opinion. You'll be working hand in hand with our creative Tinkers to deliver our unique creative media offering to create our special blend of alchemy. This role is a paid media Thinker but you will also work closely with the Owned and Earned Thinkers.

You are supported by a Head Media Thinker and ideally have around 8+ years of experience.

You’ll have three big things to do:

1. MEDIA STRATEGY, PLANNING AND BUYING

You’ll lead integrated and media squads, developing media and communications strategies and overseeing their implementation. This will start with understanding your client's business inside out, having an interest in and understanding of marketing science and behaviour change principles (and if you don't know these, an interest to learn!). You'll also be integral in the development of media plans, being quality assurance in our implementation and ensuring measurement and learning is baked into all of our work. You'll be best friends with our media partners and have a curious mind, looking for ways we can optimise and improve our work.

2. PROJECT LEADERSHIP

You’ll be a core squad member, bringing your expertise across retainers and projects. You'll have excellent attention to detail, be financially minded and be able to keep a piece of work on track. Sometimes you'll lead work for our clients and sometimes you'll feed into work as part of an integrated squad - either way you'll be collaborative, clear on the outcomes and able to problem solve with a smile.

3. INTEGRATION AND COLLABORATION

We don't do silos at Thinkerbell, which means you'll be expected to think outside your craft (paid media). We want to hear your creative ideas, we'll want you to bring an Earned Thinker into a Paid project if it's the right thing to do and foster this mindset across the squads you lead. You'll take a collaborative mindset into everything you do, never solving a problem in isolation and integration will be your middle name, smashing down silos right alongside us.

LIFE AT THINKERBELL

Thinkerbell represents the coming together of scientific enquiry and hard core creativity - or as we like to call it, 'Measured Magic'. We are an agency of Thinkers and Tinkers and have extensive experience in the worlds of media (paid, owned, earned, and shared), research, strategy, CX and creative execution. We have helped some of Australia's best known and most loved brands find their inner magic.

We promise to push you out of your comfort zone, and nurture your inherent brilliant qualities at the same time. The Institute of Measured Magic is our training and development program where we keep brains sticky with internal and external tailored training throughout the year. We also develop personal Measured Magic Indicators (MMIs are our version of KPIs) to ensure everyone is growing in their role and beyond.

We kick off every week with Measured Mondays, our all agency, super-wip and finish every Friday at 4pm with Magic Hour, where we get creative and weird together.

AND on top of your regular leave, everyone also gets a Mind Expansion Project per year, up to 5 consecutive days of extra leave per year for you to expand your mind and explore something new (that is something you wouldn't normally do and something you've never done before), and then share back your experience with the agency. Pretty interesting eh? What would you do?