Senior Media Strategist

Backbone Media; Carbondale (CO); Hybrid; USD 75,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

401(k) match

Wellness benefit

Professional development

Paid volunteer hours

Parental leave

Flexible schedule

Company-wide offsites

Hybrid workplace

Job summary

Backbone Media seeks a Senior Media Strategist to own client relationships and craft cross-channel strategies that connect brand, performance, and community with business goals. You will forecast, measure results with incrementality tests, and optimize spend toward profitable acquisition and retention.

The ideal candidate shows proven performance media expertise, can translate data into actionable insights, and shares a passion for outdoor/lifestyle brands.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• 4-7 years of relevant experience in growth media, performance marketing, or paid media.
• 3+ years in a client-facing account management role, agency side preferred.
• Experience building and presenting cross-channel media strategies.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day client relationships, owning communication, expectations, and follow-through.
• Build, present, and execute cross-channel media strategies that connect brand, performance, and community to business goals.
• Plan full-funnel media across paid social, paid search, programmatic, CTV, retail media, and traditional channels.
• Own budget allocation, forecasting, pacing, and reconciliation.
• Partner with analytics on incrementality tests, including geo-lift, holdout, and conversion-lift studies, and turn results into media decisions.
• Partner with creative teams on testing frameworks and deliver clear reads on what won and why.
• Work with social and PR teams to amplify community and earned moments through paid media.
• Collaborate with channel, analytics, digital operations, trafficking, and finance teams, including on server-side tracking and conversions APIs.
• Monitor performance and make in-flight optimizations.
• Mentor and train junior staff

Skills

Client communication

Cross-channel strategy

Forecasting

Data visualization

Growth marketing

ROAS metrics

AI tooling usage

Google Ads

GA4

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

GA4

Google Ads

Meta

The Trade Desk

DV360

Job description

Hybrid in Denver or Carbondale, CO | 2 days per week in office required

At Backbone, we live by the mantra that passion drives results. We partner with leading active lifestyle brands to drive growth through integrated media and communications. We only work with brands we believe in, and we pair teammates with brands that match their interests and expertise. You'll join a team of smart, driven marketers who share a passion for the outdoors and for doing great work for great brands.

The Job

The Senior Media Strategist is a client-facing role on our Media team. You'll own client relationships, build cross-channel strategies that connect brand, performance, and community, and clearly explain how each channel drives the client's business goals. You'll forecast, measure results with incrementally testing, and move spend toward what drives profitable acquisition, retention, and loyalty.

The ideal candidate is a proactive, decisive critical thinker with a track record in performance media and a knowledge of brand and traditional media. You tell clients what the data says, even when it isn't what they hoped to hear. You care about access to the outdoors and the brands working to protect it, and you bring empathy to clients and teammates alike. This role mentors and trains team members but does not have direct management responsibilities.

The Work

• Lead day-to-day client relationships, owning communication, expectations, and follow-through
• Build, present, and execute cross-channel media strategies that connect brand, performance, and community to business goals
• Plan full-funnel media across paid social, paid search, programmatic, CTV, retail media, and traditional channels
• Own budget allocation, forecasting, pacing, and reconciliation
• Partner with analytics on incrementality tests, including geo-lift, holdout, and conversion-lift studies, and turn results into media decisions
• Partner with creative teams on testing frameworks and deliver clear reads on what won and why
• Work with social and PR teams to amplify community and earned moments through paid media
• Collaborate with channel, analytics, digital operations, trafficking, and finance teams, including on server-side tracking and conversions APIs
• Monitor performance and make in-flight optimizations
• Mentor and train junior staff

The Essentials

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• 4-7 years of relevant experience in growth media, performance marketing, or paid media
• 3+ years in a client-facing account management role, agency side preferred
• Experience building and presenting cross-channel media strategies

Your Capabilities

• Confident client communicator who builds trust, presents strategy clearly, and holds a position under pushback
• Turns complex analysis into clear action, with strong data visualization and storytelling skills in Excel and PowerPoint
• Knowledge of growth marketing for ecommerce and DTC brands as well as knowledge of brand media
• Fluent in growth metrics, including CAC, MER, ROAS, iROAS, contribution margin, and LTV:CAC
• Experience with advanced measurement, including attribution and incrementality testing, and reconciling platform-reported results with lift reads
• Planning and buying experience in traditional media, including linear TV, OOH, audio, and print
• Builds budgets and forecasts from business goals up and reallocates spend based on performance
• Proficient in digital media platforms and AI-driven campaign types
• Experience with an ecommerce measurement platform (Triple Whale, Northbeam, Rockerbox, Haus, Measured, or similar) preferred
• Proactive use of AI tools, with sound judgment about what to delegate
• Google Ads, GA4, or Meta certifications preferred

The Extra Mile

• Experience supporting new business pitches or RFP responses
• Programmatic and CTV experience with The Trade Desk or Google DV360
• Experience with Amazon Ads or other retail media networks such as Walmart Connect, Instacart, or Target Roundel
• Experience with creator and influencer paid amplification
• Knowledgeable in SEM and SEO, including how AI search is changing discovery
• Basic understanding of PR, community management, affiliate, and lifecycle marketing, and how all media works together
• A love of the outdoors
• A sense of humor

Be you, on our team. We seek to build an inclusive team and culture that values diverse lived experiences, backgrounds and skill sets.

Salary: $75,000-$90,000 annually plus benefits, depending on experience

Comprehensive Benefits:

• Medical coverage
• Dental coverage
• Vision coverage
• 401 (k) match
• Wellness benefit
• Professional development/education assistance
• Paid volunteer hours
• Parental leave
• Flexible schedule
• Company-wide offsites
• Hybrid workplace, 2 days per week in office

About Backbone Media: We are the country’s leading active lifestyle media agency. For 29 years, Backbone has partnered with brands big and small to develop and execute effective, integrated media strategies. With offices in Carbondale and Denver, Colorado, Backbone has been consistently included on Outside Magazine’s “Best Places to Work” list.

Backbone provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.