Associate Media Director - Two Rivers Marketing

The VGM Group; Des Moines (IA); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading marketing agency seeks an Associate Media Director to lead media strategies and oversee execution for B2B clients. This role involves collaborating with internal teams, guiding media planning, and mentoring junior staff. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in digital marketing with a proven record in managing campaigns effectively.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional experience in media planning, buying, and analysis.
• Experience managing teams and mentoring talent in a B2B agency.
• Proven track record of successful B2B marketing strategies.

Responsibilities

• Guides strategy for media planning, audience engagement, and campaign execution.
• Mentors and develops team members to enhance their professional growth.
• Collaborates with clients to align media strategies with their marketing goals.

Skills

Leadership

Digital Marketing

Strategic Thinking

Media Planning

Analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in advertising, marketing, communications, or a related field

Job description

JOB DETAILS

Company Location: Two Rivers Marketing - Des Moines, IA
Position Type: Hybrid
Position Schedule: Full Time
Education Level: 4 Year Degree

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR

The Associate Media Director plays a critical leadership role within the Paid Media team at Two Rivers Marketing, guiding strategy, operations, and execution for agency clients.

• Defines audience strategies, media mix, and channel activation to drive brand awareness and demand.
• Oversees media execution and ensures integration across digital, traditional, and emerging platforms.
• Collaborates with clients and internal teams to align media plans with broader marketing goals.
• Supports daily media operations and contributes to consistent, high-quality campaign execution.
• Mentors team members to support growth, performance, and career development.
• Contributes to new business opportunities and organic account growth.
• Plays a role in agency-wide strategic planning and development of media capabilities.
• Requires at least 7 years of hands-on digital marketing experience, including some experience in an agency setting

WHAT OUR ASSOCIATE MEDIA DIRECTOR WILL DO ONCE THEY'RE HERE

• Supports the Executive Director, Digital Marketing Solutions and/or Director, Media in leading and evolving Two Rivers Marketing’s paid media offerings and expertise.
• Ensures the delivery of high-quality media plans that effectively target and engage audiences, drive brand awareness, and meet campaign objectives.
• Helps oversee daily operations of the paid media team, ensuring effective resource allocation and efficient campaign execution.
• Oversees paid media billing processes and budget management to ensure accuracy, efficiency, and alignment with client contracts and campaign objectives.
• Manages, mentors, and coaches media team members by providing regular feedback, fostering professional development, and helping define clear career growth pathways.
• Assists with team resourcing and account staffing to ensure media talent is aligned with client needs, project scopes, and team development goals.
• Supports recruitment and onboarding of new media team members, helping maintain and grow departmental expertise.
• Collaborates with cross-functional teams to define scopes, develop integrated strategies, and recommend approaches for paid media initiatives.
• Guides media planning and activation, overseeing budget allocation, media mix, vendor partnerships, and audience engagement strategies.
• Identifies and applies AI-driven solutions to improve media strategy, execution, and performance analysis.
• Works closely with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment between paid, owned, and earned media efforts.
• Provides strategic direction for paid media performance measurement, ensuring alignment with business goals and driving continuous improvement through innovation.
• Leads client-facing communications for assigned accounts, presenting media strategies, plans, reporting, and optimization recommendations.
• Guides the approach and framework for auditing paid media efforts and analyzes performance to identify opportunities for innovation and improvement.
• Identifies organic growth opportunities across accounts and helps develop new business proposals and service offerings to expand Two Rivers Marketing’s digital marketing practice.
• Plays a key role in agency new business pitches, providing strategic and tactical planning, budgeting support, and in-person presentations.
• Proactively monitors media trends, audience behaviors, and emerging technologies to identify and prioritize key insights that drive business recommendations for Two Rivers Marketing and our clients.
• Drives process improvements, champions technology adoption, and cultivates new media partnerships to enhance agency capabilities and client outcomes
• Plays a key role in advancing department initiatives related to media training, workflow optimization, and agency thought leadership.
• Acquires and maintains appropriate marketing certifications, attends webinars, reads industry blogs, and follows digital thought leaders to stay on top of the ever-evolving digital landscape.
• Plays a lead role in the development of THRIVE courses related to paid media.
• Completes timesheets on a daily basis.

WHAT OUR ASSOCIATE MEDIA DIRECTOR WILL NEED TO SUCCEED

• Bachelor’s degree in advertising, marketing, communications, or a related field.
• Minimum of 7 years of professional experience in media planning, buying, and analysis across online and offline channels, including experience managing teams and mentoring talent, preferably in a B2B agency environment.
• Proven track record of developing and implementing successful B2B integrated marketing and media strategies.
• Strong understanding of how media integrates with broader marketing initiatives, with the ability to think both strategically and tactically.
• Deep knowledge of digital marketing platforms, media planning tools, and audience research methodologies.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to influence and inspire teams and clients.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Strong leadership qualities with the ability to coach team members and foster a positive, collaborative environment.
• Creative thinker and problem-solver and innovator who will look for ideas and solutions through analytics, technology trends, and audience insights to influence brand/marketing strategies.
• Passion for continuous learning, innovation, and staying current with industry trends.

WHY TWO RIVERS MARKETING (A DIVISION OF VGM, GROUP)

Professionally, we're big enough to give you the opportunity to work with global B2B brands and move up in the ranks in a stable, growing company. Culturally, 2RM does things differently than typical shops. As an employee-owned agency, we put our associates first. Our commitment to work/life balance is like none other. At 2RM, you don't feel owned by your job. Like we always say, you won't live here. You'll thrive here. Our values drive how we work and who we hire. You will see these values ingrained in how we support our customers and work with team members in the work environment we've created.

This job description reflects the general duties of the job but is not a detailed description of all duties which may be inherent to the position. Reasonably related additional duties may be assigned to the individual Associate.

VGM Group, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.