Senior Media Planner

Kcadclub; Kansas City (MO); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Bernstein-Rein is seeking a strategic, data-informed Senior Media Planner to develop integrated media strategies that drive client growth across national, regional, and local markets. The role blends business objectives with audience insights, market dynamics, and budget considerations to produce clear, actionable media plans.

The ideal candidate will lead multi-market planning, collaborate across teams, manage budgets, and present recommendations to clients.

Qualifications

• 5–7+ years of integrated media planning experience
• Experience planning media for multi-market or multi-location campaigns
• Experience managing budgets across traditional and digital channels
• Strong understanding of media planning fundamentals: reach, frequency, channel roles
• Ability to use data inputs to develop recommendations
• Experience with measurement, reporting, and optimization frameworks
• Strong financial management and client-facing communication skills
• Collaborative working style across multiple teams

Responsibilities

• Develop integrated media plans across national, regional, local, and digital channels aligned to objectives and opportunities.
• Lead market-level media strategy adapting to market maturity and competition.
• Translate insights into clear recommendations for channel mix, audience strategy, and budget allocation.
• Build full-funnel media approaches connecting broad-reach and targeted digital media.
• Develop audience strategies defining priority segments and messaging considerations.
• Partner with account, strategy, analytics, creative, and buying teams to align plans with broader strategy.
• Lead planning for new-market launches and ongoing market-level support.
• Manage media budgets across markets and channels, identifying efficiency opportunities.
• Ensure plans translate into executable buys and in-market delivery remains on-strategy.
• Establish KPIs, reporting, optimization priorities, and test-and-learn plans.
• Review campaign performance and propose future investment and market decisions.
• Prepare and present media strategies and performance reviews to teams and clients.
• Evaluate emerging media opportunities based on client objectives and performance.
• Maintain understanding of evolving media landscape and local-market dynamics.
• Mentor junior team members on planning rigor and client-ready presentation development

Skills

Integrated media planning

Budget management

Client-facing communication

Presentation skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Analytical reasoning

Project management

Strategic thinking

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Media research platforms

Job description

OVERVIEW

Bernstein-Rein is seeking a strategic, data-informed Senior Media Planner to develop integrated media strategies that help clients drive business growth across national, regional, and local markets.

This person will bring together business objectives, consumer and audience insights, market dynamics, media performance, and budget considerations to build clear, actionable media plans. They should be equally comfortable thinking strategically, managing the details required to execute complex plans, and translating performance into recommendations that improve results over time.

The ideal candidate has experience planning across a broad mix of channels and understands how media strategy should flex based on differing market conditions, growth opportunities, competitive activity, and campaign objectives. They are highly collaborative, financially disciplined, and confident presenting recommendations to internal and client stakeholders.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop integrated, data-informed media plans across national, regional, local, and digital channels that align investment to business objectives and market opportunity.
• Lead market-level media strategy, adapting plans based on market maturity, growth opportunity, competitive conditions, audience behavior, campaign objectives, and available investment.
• Translate consumer, shopper, sales, traffic, audience, and media-performance insights into clear recommendations for channel mix, audience strategy, budget allocation, messaging, flighting, and optimization.
• Build full-funnel media approaches that connect broad-reach channels with targeted digital media and measurable actions that support awareness, customer acquisition, store traffic, engagement, and repeat behavior.
• Develop audience strategies that define priority segments, targeting approaches, channel roles, and relevant creative or messaging considerations.
• Partner with account, strategy, analytics, creative, and buying teams to ensure media plans are aligned to the broader business and communications strategy.
• Lead planning for new-market launches, market-development activity, promotional windows, and ongoing market-level support, as appropriate.
• Manage media budgets across markets, channels, and campaign types; identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reallocate investment, and protect overall plan performance.
• Partner with media buying teams to ensure approved plans translate into executable, well-negotiated buys and that in-market delivery remains aligned to strategy, timing, and budget.
• Establish KPIs, reporting requirements, optimization priorities, and test-and-learn plans in partnership with analytics, account, and client teams.
• Review campaign performance and develop clear, business-oriented recommendations that inform future investment, audience, channel, creative, and market-level decisions.
• Prepare and present media strategies, plans, performance reviews, and recommendations to internal teams and clients.
• Evaluate emerging media opportunities, partners, and capabilities based on their ability to advance client objectives and improve performance.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the evolving media landscape, including changing consumer behavior, platform capabilities, measurement approaches, and local-market media dynamics.
• Mentor junior team members and provide guidance on planning rigor, strategic thinking, budget management, and client-ready presentation development.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 5–7+ years of integrated media planning experience, ideally within an agency environment.
• Experience planning media for retail, multi-location, franchise, or other businesses with meaningful local-market needs is strongly preferred.
• Experience managing multi-market media plans and budgets across a mix of traditional and digital channels, including television, audio/radio, out-of-home, paid social, search, programmatic, streaming video, and digital partnerships.
• Strong understanding of media planning fundamentals, including audience strategy, reach and frequency, market allocation, channel roles, budget pacing, flighting, and optimization.
• Ability to use a range of data inputs, including consumer research, audience insights, market data, sales or traffic trends, and media performance, to develop informed recommendations.
• Experience working with measurement, reporting, and optimization frameworks.
• Strong financial management skills and comfort managing detailed budgets, investment scenarios, pacing, and reconciliation.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and client-facing communication skills.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, markets, and deadlines without losing strategic rigor or attention to detail.
• Collaborative working style with the ability to partner effectively across account management, strategy, analytics, creative, media buying, finance, and external partners.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint; experience with media research, planning, reporting, and analytics platforms preferred.

ABOUT BR

At Bernstein-Rein, we believe retail intelligence comes from consumer insights, a true brand purpose, and a half a century of unrivaled experience. Our Retailigent ae approach leverages consumer and B2B expertise to uncover insights and craft brand purposes that transform dreamers into disruptors. BR's core mission has remained the same since 1964: To impact the future of retail.

If you9re up for the challenge and want to join a team committed to accelerating our client7s growth, then we encourage you to apply!

Bernstein-Rein is an Equal Opportunity Employer