Media & Sponsorship Manager

ROBERT W. BAIRD & CO. INCORPORATED; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 102,000 - 157,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus up to 25% of base salary

Total Rewards program

Job summary

ROBERT W. BAIRD & CO. INCORPORATED seeks a Media & Sponsorship Manager to lead strategy, planning, and execution of media and sponsorship investments across the firm.

You’ll connect business priorities with media strategies, manage a small team, and partner across Marketing & Communications, business units, and external vendors. You will guide media mix, oversee budgets, evaluate opportunities, and translate investments into measurable outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience in advertising, marketing, or business.
• 15 years of relevant professional experience with 7–10+ years in media planning, buying, and sponsorship strategy.
• Financial services experience is preferred.
• Experience connecting marketing investments to business outcomes across multiple units.
• Strong negotiation and stakeholder influence skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute media and sponsorship strategies aligned to brand and business objectives.
• Guide mix of media investments across channels, overseeing budgets and campaign timing.
• Identify opportunities and recommend innovative approaches while balancing stakeholder priorities.
• Evaluate, negotiate, and manage sponsorships and naming rights investments.
• Build and manage sponsorship portfolios aligned to priorities.
• Translate investments into measurable business and marketing outcomes.
• Serve as trusted advisor to Marketing & Communications and stakeholders.
• Partner with marketing to translate objectives into actionable strategies.
• Maintain strong vendor relationships and cross-team collaboration.
• Monitor performance and leverage data to optimize outcomes.
• Manage budgets with discipline, accountability, and transparency.
• Ensure high-quality, consistent execution across initiatives and lead the function.

Skills

Media planning

Media buying

Sponsorship strategy

Budget management

Negotiation

Team leadership

Analytics

Vendor management

AI tools usage

Salesforce familiarity

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Advertising, Marketing, Business

Tools

Salesforce

RFP processes

Media planning software

Sponsorship software tools

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