Senior Media Director, Media Strategy

saltxc; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Salt XC's Salt Media division in Toronto is seeking a Senior Media Director to steer strategic media investment for North American CPG clients. You will lead a team of media managers and directors, translating briefs into integrated plans grounded in channel logic and ROI.

You will own cross-channel strategy, set optimization roadmaps, and ensure campaigns meet KPIs. The role combines senior leadership with hands-on problem solving and a commitment to mentorship and data-driven performance.

Qualifications

• 8–12 years of experience in media planning, buying or investment strategy.
• 5+ years in a senior media leadership role.

Responsibilities

• Lead plan development and investment approach across your portfolio, grounded in strategic rationale.
• Set standards for I/O accuracy, spec compliance, and buy execution across the team.
• Own relationships with key media platforms and partners, escalating issues as needed.
• Partner with Account leadership to align media investment with broader strategy and business objectives.
• Own cross-channel strategy and plan alignment to connect media with brand and business goals.
• Guide team on segmentation and audience logic, ensuring sharp targeting as channels evolve.
• Lead post-campaign reporting and learning agendas to improve future plans.
• Coach and develop direct reports, fostering growth and accountability.

Skills

Media planning

Media buying

Investment strategy

Senior leadership

Job description

ROLE: SENIOR MEDIA DIRECTOR ( Financial Institution Experience)

TEAM: MEDIA

LOCATION: TORONTO (HYBRID 2X/WEEK)

COMPANY OVERVIEW

At Salt Media , we're on a mission to earn the world's attention. As the media division of Salt XC, we're building a different kind of agency where media, commerce, creative, data and technology work as a single connected team. Our people combine strategic thinking with AI-powered tools, automation and advanced analytics to help some of North America's most recognized brands solve complex business challenges and drive measurable growth. We move quickly, challenge convention, and believe the best ideas come from curious people who are empowered to experiment. If you're looking to do career-defining work alongside smart, ambitious teammates in an environment that's shaping the future of media, we'd love to meet you.

ROLE OVERVIEW

As a Senior Media Director, you'll set the strategic direction for how media investment is planned, bought, and optimized across CPG clients in North America. Operating at the intersection of media strategy and team leadership, you'll ensure every plan is grounded in strong channel logic, sound investment principles, and a clear line to business outcomes.

You'll own cross-channel strategy and plan alignment across your portfolio, setting the optimization roadmap and reporting rhythm that keeps campaigns performing against KPIs. You'll lead a team of media managers and directors - training them on tools and platforms, mentoring their growth, and ensuring the team's segmentation and audience strategies stay sharp as channels evolve.

You bring a senior media point of view that Account leads and clients rely on, and a team looks up to. You move fluidly between investment strategy and hands-on problem-solving, and you know how to translate performance data into a clear learning agenda for the whole team.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Media Planning & Buying

• Lead plan development and investment approach across your portfolio, ensuring every plan is grounded in strong strategic rationale.
• Set standards for I/O accuracy, spec compliance, and buy execution across the team.
• Own the relationship and day-to-day investment approach with key media platforms and partners, escalating and resolving issues as they arise.
• Partner with Account leadership to align media investment with broader account strategy and business objectives.

Integrated Media Strategy

• Own cross-channel strategy and plan alignment for your portfolio, ensuring full-funnel thinking connects to brand and business objectives.
• Translate client briefs into integrated, cross-channel investment approaches that scale across accounts.
• Guide Account and Creative partners on how channel strategy supports the broader campaign narrative.

Measurement, Analytics & Reporting

• Lead post-campaign reporting and the learning agenda across your portfolio, ensuring insights translate into sharper future plans.
• Build stakeholder trust in the measurement approach, aligning on what success looks like (e.g., brand-building vs. performance KPIs) before campaigns launch.
• Guide the team on complex channel plans and measurement matrices, including test-and-learn frameworks.

Media Tools & Platform Fluency

• Train and support the team on platform and tool use, ensuring consistent, fluent execution across the portfolio.
• Maintain platform reliability and troubleshoot tool-related issues that affect delivery.
• Stay current on new platform capabilities and flag opportunities to apply them across accounts.

Performance Optimization & Testing

• Set the optimization roadmap for your portfolio and drive its implementation across the team.
• Ensure consistent delivery against KPIs, stepping in to course-correct underperforming campaigns.
• Champion a test-and-learn mindset, ensuring findings are documented and applied across future plans.

Channel & Audience Expertise

• Build segmentation strategies and platform-specific audience logic that sharpen targeting across your portfolio.
• Guide the team on applying audience insights and platform data to refine channel-specific approaches.
• Stay ahead of shifts in channel and audience behavior, bringing new thinking to the team and to clients.

Leadership, Management & Administration

• Manage and develop direct reports across the media team; own performance conversations, goal-setting, and career development planning.
• Build team capability and bench strength through deliberate coaching, structured feedback, and stretch assignments.
• Model the leadership behaviors and professional standards that define Salt Media's team culture.
• Contribute to team-wide planning processes, hiring decisions, and operational improvements in partnership with departmental leadership.
• Champion a culture of accountability, clarity, and continuous improvement within your media team.

EXPERIENCE & SKILLS

8-12 years of experience in media planning, buying, or investment strategy, including 5+ years in a senior media lea