Associate Director, Planning & Strategy

Klick; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Klick Health in New York is seeking an Associate Director, Media Planning to lead digital media planning for healthcare clients across search, display, video, email, mobile, and programmatic channels.

You will develop research-backed media recommendations, partner with Analytics and Media Operations to activate campaigns, and manage budgets as a daily client-facing lead. This role demands 7+ years in media planning and strong communication skills.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in media planning for healthcare/life sciences.
• 3+ years client-facing presenting media strategy and reports.
• Experience managing media budgets, vendor relationships, and spend approvals.
• Hands-on with DCM, DoubleVerify, Bionic, or similar tools.
• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills for budgets and reporting.
• Experience planning media for US healthcare/pharma audiences.
• Comfort using AI to enhance work processes.
• Experience influencing content, creative and channel recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Develop integrated digital media plans for healthcare clients.
• Lead client-facing planning discussions with recommendations and reporting.
• Manage media budgets, vendor relationships, and campaign expenses.
• Collaborate with Analytics to optimize campaigns based on data.
• Partner with Creative/Content/Strategy/Client Services to align plans with objectives.

Skills

Media planning

Client-facing

Budget management

Analytics collaboration

Excel

PowerPoint

US healthcare

AI in workflow

Content/channel influence

US/Canada healthcare

Tools

DoubleClick Campaign Manager

DoubleVerify

Bionic

Job description

The Klick Group—comprising Klick Health (including Oxford PharmaGenesis, Klick Katalyst, and btwelve), Klick Media, Klick Applied Sciences (including Klick Labs), and Klick Consulting—is an ecosystem dedicated help life sciences brands achieve their full potential through best-in-class marketing and advertising, media, medical affairs and communications, market access, real-world evidence, and technology and analytics consulting — powered by 500+ in-house medical experts and award-winning data science and AI capabilities. Founded in 1997, we have offices in Toronto, New York, Oxford, London, Cambridge, Cardiff, Melbourne, Philadelphia, Saratoga Springs, São Paulo, and Singapore. One of the most-awarded health agencies on the planet, Klick is consistently recognized for its people-first culture as a Great Place to Work, Best Workplace for Women, Best Workplace for Inclusion, Most Admired Corporate Culture, and FORTUNE Best Workplace in Advertising. Klick also recently made history as Cannes Lions Healthcare Agency of the Year, Healthcare Network of the Year, and Independent Agency of the Year – Health.

About Klick Media

Our Media Craft ensures that Klick’s work reaches the right audiences at the right moments. This craft combines audience insight, data, and technology to drive measurable impact. Media teams continuously test, learn, and optimize to improve performance. Their work connects strategy and creativity to real-world results.

Job Description

The Associate Director, Media Planning leads digital media planning for healthcare and life sciences clients across channels such as search, display, video, email, mobile, and programmatic media. This role develops research-backed media recommendations, partners with Media Operations and Analytics to activate and optimize campaigns, and serves as a daily client-facing lead. The role also manages media budgets, vendor relationships, performance reporting, and cross-functional collaboration with Strategy, Creative, Content, and Client Services.

What You’ll Do

• Develop integrated digital media plans for healthcare clients using audience insights, channel strategy, budget allocation, and performance goals.
• Lead client-facing media planning discussions, presenting recommendations, reporting, and optimization opportunities to senior stakeholders.
• Manage media budgets, vendor relationships, media spend approvals, and campaign expenses in partnership with Media Operations.
• Collaborate with Analytics to review campaign performance, identify insights, and translate reporting into actionable media optimizations.
• Partner with Creative, Content, Strategy, and Client Services teams to align media plans with campaign objectives and measurable business outcomes.

Qualifications

Required:

• 7+ years of media planning experience, including agency experience developing digital media plans across paid search, display, video, email, mobile, or programmatic channels.
• 3+ years of client-facing experience presenting media strategy, recommendations, and performance reporting to senior clients or cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience managing media budgets, vendor relationships, campaign spend approvals, and media-related expenses for active client programs.
• Hands-on experience with DoubleClick Campaign Manager, DoubleVerify, Bionic, or comparable media planning and campaign management tools.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, including budget tracking, media plan development, reporting, and client-ready presentations.
• Experience planning media for US healthcare, pharmaceutical, life sciences, or regulated-industry clients.
• Comfort and enthusiasm for using AI as a regular part of how work gets done.
• Experience influencing content, creative, and channel recommendations within a full-service digital marketing agency.
• Experience working across both US and Canadian healthcare audiences, including patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.
• Experience translating media performance data into optimization recommendations for clients or internal stakeholders.
• Familiarity with healthcare media compliance, regulated communications, or pharma review processes.

Additional Information

This vacancy is for a backfill here at Klick Health. The base salary range for this position is between USD 95,000 - 120,000. The final amount offered will be determined based on several factors such as a candidate's work location, their unique skill set, education, and prior work experience.

#LI-Hybrid #LI-JP1

Our Commitment to Inclusion

Klick is consciously creating a culture where everyone can thrive and grow in their careers. We believe that our best work comes from our diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We strongly encourage members of historically underrepresented communities to apply, including Black people, Indigenous peoples, and other people of color, people with disabilities, people from gender and sexually diverse communities and people with intersectional identities. We're also committed to developing an inclusive, barrier-free recruitment process and work environment. Should you require any accommodation, please contact us at [e-mail] and we will work with you to meet your accessibility needs and ensure you have a positive experience.

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