Associate Director, Paid & Earned Media

Initial Therapeutics, Inc.; Plainsboro Township (NJ); On-site; USD 153,000 - 267,000; Full time

Job summary

Novo Nordisk is seeking an Associate Director, Paid and Earned Media to lead strategic paid media plans across therapeutic areas, aligning with brand goals. You will partner with brand leads, orchestration teams, and agencies to drive impactful, compliant campaigns that blend paid search, social, and influencer activations.

The role emphasizes test-and-learn, cross-functional collaboration, and leadership in a fast-paced environment with 20–30% overnight travel.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Marketing/Business.
• Advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years paid media marketing experience required.
• Curious, challenger mindset embracing test & learn.

Responsibilities

• Own the full Paid Media ecosystem from strategy to execution across DTC & HCP channels.
• Develop and coordinate compelling paid media plans with TA and Brand leads.
• Identify innovative opportunities and coordinate endorsement for test & learn.
• Manage agency partners for TAs and brands; optimize performance.
• Integrate insights and analytics to drive optimization and ROI.
• Lead collaboration with Orchestration and cross-functional teams on strategy.

Skills

Paid media marketing

External media agencies

Strategic planning

Strategic thinking

Analytical skills

Customer experience tactics

Regulatory awareness

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Test & learn mindset

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or Business

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

About the Department

Our Marketing & Patient Solutions group creates and delivers human-centered experiences, where innovation meets customer-centricity, driving the ultimate experience for our patients. Our focus extends beyond transactions to craft experiences as one fully integrated, aligned and connected organization that puts empathy at the center, powered by insight and foresight. We develop an end-to-end approach to strategy, focusing on every touchpoint that impacts our customers. We leverage data and insights to inform our decision-making processes, ensuring that our strategies are rooted in a deep understanding of customer needs and behaviors. Our 'test and learn’ mindset and approach enables us to iterate rapidly and refine our strategies based on real-world results.

We are building an intentional team culture that is made up of diverse skillsets, united by the shared belief that reinvention and learning is what fuels continuous growth. Do you get excited about exploring the unknown? Does the idea of driving value through human-centered design pull you in? Are you ready to experiment with us?

The Position

The Associate Director, Paid and Earned Media is responsible for paid and earned media strategies and plans for their respective therapeutic area (TA)/brand, ensuring alignment with brand positioning and objectives. This role involves managing paid and influencer agency partners, providing strategic insights, and optimizing activities to maximize impact and efficiency. Works closely with the Orchestration teams and Brand Marketers to ensure media and channel synergies. This role is responsible for planning, optimization and analysis of media initiatives. This role is responsible for planning, optimization and analysis of media initiatives.

In this role, you will be a key strategic partner to brand leads and cross-functional teams, bringing creative, culturally relevant paid media and influencer strategies to life for top-tier healthcare and consumer brands. You'll serve as a connector—between creative, data, talent, and business goals—helping to ensure smart, differentiated, and effective work. The ideal candidate will bring a culturally relevant lens to all work—constantly identifying fresh ways to engage patient and provider audiences. Candidates best suited for this role will have a deep understanding of all paid and earned media channels, and must have deep knowledge of paid search, paid social media, and influencer activations.

Relationships

The Associate Director, Paid and Earned Media reports directly into the Media Director, Paid & Earned as part of the Customer Engagement & Channel Excellence team. The role will work closely with TA and Brand leads, Orchestration teams, Experience Operations, Intelligence, Next Gen and other teams within Novo Nordisk’s Marketing organization. Cross-functional interaction also includes relations with Procurement, CI&A, Communications, Regulatory and Legal stakeholders. External relationships include relations with professional services agencies and media partners.

Essential Functions

• Brand Planning and Media Management:Own the full Paid Media ecosystem, from strategy to execution, across DTC & HCP channels, for Branded programs


• Develop and coordinate compelling DTC and HCP paid media plans with TA and Brand leads, Omnichannel colleagues and other relevant stakeholders to align with brand positioning and messaging


• Identify innovative opportunities and coordinate across stakeholders for endorsement for test & learn


• Manage agency partners for the portfolio of TAs and brands


• Integrate strategic insights and analytics into performance drivers to ensure full impact and efficiency of optimization efforts


• Work with media AOR and Orchestration to ensure appropriate planning, execution, optimization and analysis of all media activities while ensuring media buys are targeted efficiently and effectively


• Support Market Development Paid Media and Media Integration efforts in partnership with patient marketing teams and Product Communications

Influencer Strategy & Execution

Partner with Brands to integrate influencer marketing into brand programming

Develop compelling, integrated influencer plans using a mix of earned, owned, paid and shared tactics

Oversee execution of complex influencer programs, including sourcing, contracting, FTC compliance, reporting and optimization

Contribute thought leadership by identifying influencer and social trends and turning them into actionable POVs

Functional Area Leadership

Support the Director, Paid & Earned Media in cross-functional working groups and functional area specific leadership projects

Collaboration with Internal Stakeholders

Works closely with TA and Brand leads to ensure alignment on media strategy plans. Works with Orchestration teams to ensure alignment on strategy, planning and execution. Cross-functional interaction also includes relations with Procurement, CI&A, Communications, Regulatory and Legal stakeholders

Emerging Channels

Identify innovative and emerging opportunities, present to stakeholders, provide POVs and partner cross functionally to establish POCs to test and learn

Tracking and Optimization

Accountable to manage the brand/portfolio media budget in conjunction with overall media plan. Determine set-up, including testing methodologies, reporting requirements and modelling requirements, to ensure appropriate implementation and execution of plan. Develop robust and intelligent “test-and-learn” approach to campaigns and emergent trends. Partner with Commercial Effectiveness and external vendors to contract, create, measure and report on media conversion tracking. Follow internal and external procedures in managing contracts. Monitor/manage agency expenses while looking for efficiency opportunities to maximize value. Optimize spend and ensure that resources are appropriately allocated and quantities of services are maintained while costs remain on track and according to budget. Participate/host media plan specific status and optimization weekly, bi-weekly, monthly quarterly meetings when appropriate. Regularly track and reconcile expenses to ensure budget is on track

Emerging Channels

Identify innovative and emerging opportunities, present to stakeholders, provide POVs and partner cross functionally to establish POCs to test and learn

Tracking and Optimization

Strong understanding of regulatory, compliance and ethical considerations in engaging with HCPs and patientsProven track record of innovative customer experiences tactics/high impact results (based on metrics/ROI)Outstanding planning and organizational skills with exceptionally high attention to quality of detail and proven track record of results and follow upExcellent written and verbal communication skillsExcellent stakeholder management skills, with ability to influence across organizational levels and collaborate with cross-functional teams across the organizationEmbodies leadership behaviours, including authenticity, servant leadership, will, empathy, decisiveness and driving focus and simplicity

Physical Requirements

20-30% overnight travel required.

Development Of People

Supervisory. Ensure that reporting personnel have individual development plans (IDP), with annual goals and measurements that are consistent with the priorities of the business and that interim reviews are held so that their work is focused on those priorities, and they understand their level of accountability for results and the measurement process. Ensure that the IDP forms include completed learning and aspiration plans and are in place for all reporting personnel to enable the achievement of goals and capability to assume increased levels of responsibility. Manage the application and communication of all Novo Nordisk policies, procedures and Novo Nordisk Way.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business or related field preferred OR equivalent relevant experience.


• Advanced degree preferred.


• 10+ years paid media marketing experience required preferably with digital experience.


• Curious, challenger mindset, who embraces test & learn.


• Experience working with external media agencies required.


• Demonstrated ability to successfully operate in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.


• Excellent strategic planning skills along with the ability to translate into tactics and operationalize for execution.


• Knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, including Medical, Regulatory, clinical processes and market dynamics.


• Patient tactical experience planning and driving impactful customer experiences preferred.


• Proven success in developing strategy through expert understanding of paid media.


• Ability to manage complexity, including the leadership of work across competing priorities.


• Strong strategic thinking and analytical skills, with the ability to translate insights into actionable paid media strategies to guide customer experiences.


• Strong understanding of regulatory, compliance and ethical considerations in engaging with HCPs and patients.


• Proven track record of innovative customer experience tactics/high impact results (based on metrics/ROI).


• Outstanding planning and organizational skills with exceptionally high attention to quality of detail and proven track record of results and follow up.


• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with ability to influence across organizational levels and collaborate with cross-functional teams across the organization.


• Embodies leadership behaviours, including authenticity, servant leadership, will, empathy, decisiveness and driving focus and simplicity.


• Excellent leadership skills with the ability to inspire and motivate others.

The base compensation range for this position is $152,700.00 to $267,300.00. Base compensation is determined based on a number of factors. This position is also eligible for a company bonus based on individual and company performance. Novo Nordisk offers long-term incentive compensation and or company vehicles depending on the position's level or other company factors.

Employees are also eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs including medical, dental and vision coverage; life insurance; disability insurance; 401(k) savings plan; flexible spending accounts; employee assistance program; tuition reimbursement program; and voluntary benefits such as group legal, critical illness, identity theft protection, pet insurance and auto/home insurance. The Company also offers time off pursuant to its sick time policy, flex-able vacation policy, and parental leave policy.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.

Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.

At Novo Nordisk, we're not chasing quick fixes – we're creating lasting change for long-term health. For over 100 years, we've been driven by a single purpose: to defeat serious chronic diseases and help millions of people live healthier lives. This dedication fuels our constant curiosity and inspires us to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. We embrace diverse perspectives, seek out bold ideas, and build partnerships rooted in shared purpose. Together, we're making healthcare more accessible, treating and defeating diseases, and pioneering solutions that create change spanning generations. When you join us, you become part of something bigger – a legacy of impact that reaches far beyond today.