Lead, Paid Media Strategy & Agency Partnerships

Mitsubishi; Franklin (TN); Hybrid; USD 115,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

401k match

Leased car program

Car allowance

Professional development

Paid time off

Hybrid work

Open workspace

Job summary

Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) seeks a seasoned Media Manager to lead paid media strategy, planning, and agency partnerships. You will guide annual, quarterly, and campaign plans, challenge assumptions, and align investments with business priorities to drive measurable outcomes.

The role requires strong analytical rigor, leadership, and the ability to turn media performance into actionable recommendations for executives. This hybrid position sits in Franklin, TN, reporting to the CMO.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressively responsible experience in media planning, media strategy, or integrated marketing.
• 2+ years of experience successfully leading and developing direct reports.
• Experience managing agency relationships and leading strategic media planning initiatives.
• Strong understanding of paid media channels including search, social, online video, CTV/OTT, programmatic display, audio, and emerging platforms.
• Experience evaluating media performance and developing strategic optimization recommendations.
• Strong analytical, presentation, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience building executive presentations and presenting recommendations to senior leadership.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Media Agency of Record to develop integrated media plans that align with MMNA business objectives, vehicle priorities, and marketing goals.
• Lead annual, quarterly, and campaign-level media planning processes.
• Evaluate and review channel strategies, audience approaches, budget allocations, flighting recommendations, and measurement frameworks.
• Ensure media plans reflect consumer insights, vehicle priorities, seasonal business needs, competitive conditions, and budget realities.
• Advocate for innovative media solutions, emerging technologies, and new partnership opportunities that improve performance and business outcomes.
• Serve as MMNA's primary strategic liaison to the Media Agency of Record and key media partners.
• Provide clear direction, priorities, and expectations to agency teams.
• Evaluate agency recommendations and hold partners accountable for performance, quality, and business results.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement across agency relationships.
• Lead strategic planning discussions, performance reviews, quarterly business reviews, and annual planning sessions.
• In partnership with CMO, manage MMNA's paid media investment across channels, campaigns, and business priorities while maintaining strict budget oversight.
• Monitor media spend, commitments, forecasts, and pacing to ensure investments remain within approved budgets and financial targets.
• Identify risks, overages, under-delivery, or reallocation opportunities and proactively recommend corrective actions.
• Oversee the Sr. Specialist, Business Accounting to support budget tracking, invoice reconciliation, accruals, and financial reporting processes.
• Champion a data-driven approach to media planning and performance management.
• Establish media performance expectations and accountability measures aligned to business goals.
• Review campaign performance, media effectiveness, and investment efficiency across channels.
• Partner with Marketing Science and Intelligence teams to ensure performance insights translate into actionable business recommendations.
• Guide optimization strategies and investment decisions across audience segments, channels, and media partners.
• Evaluate media effectiveness against key metrics including impressions, reach, engagement, KBAs, leads, website traffic, and other business objectives.
• Ensure learnings are documented and incorporated into future planning efforts.
• Manage and develop the Sr. Specialist, Paid Media and Sr. Specialist, Business Accounting.
• Partner with Advertising, Retail Marketing, CRM, and agency teams to align business priorities, communication plans, and media strategies.
• Ensure media strategies support vehicle launches, retail initiatives, brand campaigns, and enterprise business goals.
• Build alignment among stakeholders and facilitate effective decision-making.
• Serve as a trusted advisor on media matters across the organization.
• Promote operational excellence, accountability, and continuous learning within the media function.

Skills

Media planning

Media strategy

Agency management

Leadership

Analytical thinking

Executive presentations

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Job description

Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) seeks a seasoned Media Manager to lead paid media strategy, planning, and agency partnerships. You will guide annual, quarterly, and campaign plans, challenge assumptions, and align investments with business priorities to drive measurable outcomes.

The role requires strong analytical rigor, leadership, and the ability to turn media performance into actionable recommendations for executives. This hybrid position sits in Franklin, TN, reporting to the CMO.