Associate Director, Media Buying

Bully Pulpit International; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) with employer match

Vacation time

Phone reimbursement

Unlimited sick time

Parental leave

Job summary

Bully Pulpit International is seeking an Associate Director, Media Buying to lead mid- to large-scale programmatic and social media campaigns. You will communicate strategy, drive execution, and mentor a growing team across multiple platforms.

Based in the U.S., this hybrid role requires collaboration with client teams and senior leadership to optimize performance and scale impact for national and international clients.

Qualifications

• Proven hands-on programmatic and social media buying experience with 4+ years in an agency setting.
• Experience across public affairs, strategic communications, advocacy, and political campaigns is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead mid- to high-spend client campaigns with independent oversight of media execution.
• Collaborate across client teams to align expectations and optimize performance.

Skills

Programmatic buying

Social media buying

Leadership

Communication

Problem solving

Campaign optimization

Google Ads

DV360

The Trade Desk

Team mentoring

Tools

DV360

The Trade Desk

Google Campaign Manager

Job description

Bully Pulpit International is an outcomes agency made up of strategists, data scientists, and artists. We come from politics, brands, and government and we communicate without barriers and measure what matters. We have more than 400 team members in six countries and thirteen offices — Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, D.C., London, Los Angeles, New York, Oslo, San Francisco, and Zürich. We apply our unique expertise across strategic communications, public affairs, research, and digital marketing to create sophisticated and customized strategies that make change possible for both American and European clients.

The Impact You Will Make

In this position as an Associate Director, Media Buying, you will act as a core contributor to team priorities, effectively communicating the strategic value, operational rigor, and "why" behind media activation goals to the broader media team. You will also help develop, articulate, and evangelize BPI's agency-wide approach to buying strategy, platform best practices, and technical execution. Additionally, you will conduct analysis into programmatic inventory, and vendor research to ensure BPI negotiates and executes highly effective, innovative, and market-leading media activations that drive measurable impact for our clients.

• Starting Salary Range: $100,000 - $110,000 (+ annual bonus)
• Expectation to work from one of our offices (Chicago, DC, NYC, SF, LA) at least 3 days a week

What The Day-to-Day Looks Like

Media Strategy & Execution

• Able to run most mid-spend clients + campaigns independently. Responsible for overseeing flawless media execution on campaigns you are supporting
• Work efficiently across numerous client teams by communicating effectively, setting and meeting expectations, securing buy-in, and creatively solving problems
• Manage and supervise campaigns hands-on across multiple verticals, channels and all major buying platforms, including Google Ads, YouTube, Meta, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok, The Trade Desk and DV360
• Be able to contribute to client reports by analyzing platform metrics, provide actionable insights, and make smart optimizations to influence performance

POV/Offering

• Identify areas for team-wide workflow and process improvements, and work with senior leaders to implement them
• Contribute to decisions on new tech and tools for the team to adopt and help effectively onboard them to the team
• Act as senior-level agency point of contact with selected ad tech partners, inventory suppliers, and data providers

Collaboration

• Act as a main point-of-contact within the team to manage client and account team requests - i.e., budget changes, campaign flighting, and audience recommendations
• Work closely with creative and insights team on execution of challenging media placements and implementation of campaign measurement
• Delegate appropriately and collaborate with media planners to support plan development

Management

• Eligible after 6 months to lead a group of and directly manage Media Buyers, Senior Media Buyers, Media Managers, and Media Supervisors
• Act as a mentor to junior team members across your accounts
• Attract, retain, and improve talent on the Buying team through effective management, mentorship, and training

Requirements

What You Bring

• Proven hands-on experience in programmatic and social media buying, preferably in an agency environment, with a track record of successful campaigns for at least 4 years
• Experience working across some of our client verticals, including public affairs, strategic communications, advocacy and political campaigns
• Proven experience in audience planning and forecasting for clients
• Strong leadership, direct team management, and training skills
• Exceptional communication and problem-solving abilities
• Hands-on experience running campaigns across all digital ad formats in multiple DSPs, including The Trade Desk, DV360, Yahoo and Amazon
• Ability to oversee ad operations and trafficking in Google Campaign Manager
• Familiarity with ad tech platforms and partners, tools, and emerging industry trends
• Excellent analytical and strategic thinking capabilities
• Demonstrated ability to meet and exceed client performance targets
• A passion for mentoring and developing team members

Benefits

BPI offers a wide range of benefits to U.S.-based employees, including 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) program with employer match up to 4%, generous time off for vacation, $50 monthly phone reimbursement, unlimited sick time, and 16 weeks of paid leave for new parents. BPI's benefits prioritize employee wellness and progressive support to our diverse workforce.

We're looking for all kinds of people.

BPI Group is an integrated public affairs agency that delivers outcomes for the top organizations and leaders around the world. With expertise in strategic communications, digital marketing, creative, research, and measurement, we offer a cohesive approach across corporate, policy, and public affairs strategy in today's interconnected world. By combining incisive strategy and deep tactical expertise, we make change possible. Our transatlantic presence includes offices across thirteen markets in the US and Europe.

We are an equal opportunity employer and make employment decisions based on individual commitment to excellence. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

BPI is dedicated to building an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible workplace that fosters a sense of belonging - so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application. We consider applications holistically and you may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!

Let's keep in touch. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter at bpigroup.com