Media & Sponsorship Manager

Baird; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 102,000 - 157,000; Full time

Job summary

Baird is seeking a Media & Sponsorship Manager to lead the strategy, planning, and execution of media and sponsorship investments across the firm. This role connects business priorities to effective media and partnership strategies, ensuring investments are well-managed, measurable, and aligned to brand and growth objectives.

Serving as both a strategic advisor and hands-on contributor, you will partner across Marketing & Communications, business units, community partners, and external vendors

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Advertising, Marketing, Business, or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 15 years of relevant professional experience with 7–10+ years of experience in media planning, buying, and sponsorship strategy.
• Financial services experience is preferred.
• Experience supporting enterprise-level initiatives and multiple business units with aligned strategies and an ability to connect marketing investments to business outcomes.
• Excellent negotiation skills and understanding of how to add incremental value and communicate that to our clients.
• Experience in leading people and building a team.
• Strong understanding of both traditional and digital media channels as well as sponsorship marketing.
• Experience and knowledge of Salesforce, RFP processes, demos and selection of media and sponsorship planning/buying software tools.
• Familiarity in using AI tools, especially for tasks like ideation and research.
• Proven ability to manage vendor relationships, work across teams and influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute media and sponsorship strategies aligned to brand and business objectives.
• Guide mix of media investments, across a broad set of channels, overseeing budget allocations and campaign timing decisions across initiatives.
• Identify emerging media and sponsorship opportunities and recommend innovative approaches while balancing stakeholder priorities.
• Evaluate, negotiate, and manage sponsorship and naming rights investments across sports, nonprofit, and community partnerships.
• Build and manage sponsorship portfolios aligned to firm and business-unit priorities.
• Translate media and sponsorship investments into measurable business and marketing outcomes.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to Marketing & Communications and business stakeholders.
• Partner with marketing colleagues to translate business objectives into actionable media and sponsorship strategies.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with vendors, partners, and internal teams.
• Monitor performance against goals and leverage data and insights to optimize outcomes.
• Manage budgets with discipline, accountability, and transparency.
• Ensure high-quality, consistent execution across multiple initiatives and workstreams.
• Lead the media and sponsorship function, including managing and developing a team while remaining actively engaged in key initiatives.

Skills

Media planning

Sponsorship strategy

Negotiation

Team leadership

Data-driven decision making

Vendor management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Advertising, Marketing, Business, or related field

Tools

Salesforce

RFP processes

Media planning software

Job description

About The Role

Baird is seeking a Media & Sponsorship Manager to lead the strategy, planning, and execution of media and sponsorship investments across the firm. This role connects business priorities to effective media and partnership strategies, ensuring investments are well-managed, measurable, and aligned to brand and growth objectives. Serving as both a strategic advisor and hands-on contributor, you will partner across Marketing & Communications, business units, community partners, and external vendors to deliver integrated, high-quality programs while leading and developing a small team.

The Impact You'll Make

• Develop and execute media and sponsorship strategies aligned to brand and business objectives
• Guide mix of media investments, across a broad set of channels, overseeing budget allocations and campaign timing decisions across initiatives
• Identify emerging media and sponsorship opportunities and recommend innovative approaches while balancing stakeholder priorities
• Evaluate, negotiate, and manage sponsorship and naming rights investments across sports, nonprofit, and community partnerships
• Build and manage sponsorship portfolios aligned to firm and business-unit priorities
• Translate media and sponsorship investments into measurable business and marketing outcomes
• Serve as a trusted advisor to Marketing & Communications and business stakeholders
• Partner with marketing colleagues to translate business objectives into actionable media and sponsorship strategies
• Build and maintain strong relationships with vendors, partners, and internal teams
• Monitor performance against goals and leverage data and insights to optimize outcomes
• Manage budgets with discipline, accountability, and transparency
• Ensure high-quality, consistent execution across multiple initiatives and workstreams
• Lead the media and sponsorship function, including managing and developing a team while remaining actively engaged in key initiatives

What You’ll Bring To Baird

• Bachelor’s degree in Advertising, Marketing, Business, or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience
• 15 years of relevant professional experience with 7–10+ years of experience in media planning, buying, and sponsorship strategy.
• Financial services experience is preferred
• Experience supporting enterprise-level initiatives and multiple business units with aligned strategies and an ability to connect marketing investments to business outcomes
• Excellent negotiation skills and understanding of how to add incremental value and communicate that to our clients
• Experience in leading people and building a team
• Strong understanding of both traditional and digital media channels as well as sponsorship marketing
• Experience and knowledge of Salesforce, RFP processes, demos and selection of media and sponsorship planning/buying software tools
• Familiarity in using AI tools, especially for tasks like ideation and research
• Proven ability to manage vendor relationships, work across teams and influence stakeholders at all levels
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail

Compensation And Total Rewards Package

• $102,000 - $156,900 annual salary range
• Bonus potential up to 25% of base salary
• Compensation and bonus are commensurate with experience, performance and/or firm profitability and location
• Check out our Total Rewards at Baird, which is a summary of our benefits and compensation