Paid Media Associate

HLK; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 42,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

HLK is seeking a Media Associate at its STL Office to support campaign integrity, performance visibility, and data-driven decision-making. You’ll help ensure accurate setup, monitoring, and optimization across paid search, social, and programmatic channels.

This entry-level role offers growth into a Media Buyer or Planner path, emphasizing analytics, reporting, and cross-functional collaboration within a high-performance media team.

Qualifications

• Strong attention to detail and a high standard for accuracy.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to spot trends, inconsistencies, and opportunities.
• Comfort working with data in Excel, dashboards, or reporting tools.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Clear communicator who can translate data into simple takeaways.

Responsibilities

• Execute daily QA across paid search, paid social, and programmatic campaigns to ensure accuracy in setup, pacing, and delivery.
• Monitor performance and proactively flag anomalies, risks, and optimization opportunities to pod leadership.
• Support in-platform maintenance including creative checks, pacing adjustments, and basic optimizations.
• Build and maintain performance reports, dashboards, and weekly summaries that translate data into insight.
• Deliver recurring performance updates that highlight what’s working, what’s not, and what needs attention.
• Support data validation and cleansing to ensure accuracy across reporting outputs.
• Partner with Data Intelligence to troubleshoot dashboards and improve data flow.
• Assist with campaign setup, tagging validation, and QA in collaboration with Buyers and Operations.
• Maintain organized documentation across budgets, pacing, creative assets, and campaign status.
• Support billing and reconciliation processes in partnership with Finance and Operations.
• Act as a force multiplier for Pod Leads, handling foundational execution so strategy can move faster.
• Build working knowledge across platforms (Google, Meta, DV360, LinkedIn) and core performance metrics.
• Actively seek feedback and development opportunities to grow into planning or buying roles.

Skills

Attention to detail

Analytical mindset

Excel

Dashboards

Communication

Organizational skills

Curiosity about media

Tools

GA4

Tableau

Google Ads

Meta

DV360

LinkedIn

Job description

Job Details: Job Location: STL Office - Saint Louis, MO 63104, Overview

At HLK, media is not a downstream function, it’s a strategic force that amplifies creative and drives measurable business impact.

The Media Associate plays a critical role in making that happen. This position is the engine behind campaign accuracy, performance visibility, and operational excellence. You’ll support integrated media pods by ensuring campaigns are running as intended, performance signals are clear, and teams can move quickly from data to decision.

This is an entry point into a high-performance media team, ideal for someone who is detail-oriented, analytically curious, and motivated to grow into a Media Buyer or Planner role.

What You’ll Do

Ensure Campaign Integrity & Performance Visibility

• Execute daily QA across paid search, paid social, and programmatic campaigns to ensure accuracy in setup, pacing, and delivery
• Monitor performance and proactively flag anomalies, risks, and optimization opportunities to pod leadership
• Support in-platform maintenance including creative checks, pacing adjustments, and basic optimizations

Turn Data Into Clear, Actionable Signals

• Build and maintain performance reports, dashboards, and weekly summaries that translate data into insight
• Deliver recurring performance updates that highlight what’s working, what’s not, and what needs attention
• Support data validation and cleansing to ensure accuracy across reporting outputs
• Partner with Data Intelligence to troubleshoot dashboards and improve data flow

Support Execution Across the Media Lifecycle

• Assist with campaign setup, tagging validation, and QA in collaboration with Buyers and Operations
• Maintain organized documentation across budgets, pacing, creative assets, and campaign status
• Support billing and reconciliation processes in partnership with Finance and Operations

Enable Pod Efficiency & Growth

• Act as a force multiplier for Pod Leads, handling foundational execution so strategy can move faster
• Build working knowledge across platforms (Google, Meta, DV360, LinkedIn) and core performance metrics
• Actively seek feedback and development opportunities to grow into planning or buying roles

Qualifications: What You Bring

• Strong attention to detail and a high standard for accuracy
• Analytical mindset with the ability to spot trends, inconsistencies, and opportunities
• Comfort working with data in Excel, dashboards, or reporting tools
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities
• Clear communicator who can translate data into simple takeawaysCuriosity about media, marketing, and how campaigns drive business outcomes

What Sets You Apart

• Internship or coursework in media, marketing, analytics, or advertising
• Exposure to platforms like Google Ads, Meta, or programmatic buying tools
• Familiarity with reporting tools (GA4, Tableau, etc.)
• A proactive mindset—you don’t just report issues, you look for solutions

At HLK, you’ll find:

• Ownership without micromanagement
• Collaboration without ego
• Ambition without burnout culture
• Curiosity as a core value
• Leadership that develops leaders

We believe strong strategy and strong culture go hand in hand. Pods are built to give you room to lead, not just execute. If you’re ready to move from managing campaigns to driving performance and building teams, we’d love to talk.