VP, Client Services, Media

Fingerpaint Marketing; Cedar Knolls (NJ); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Fingerpaint Marketing in the United States is seeking a VP of Client Services to lead a portfolio of pharmaceutical brands within our media practice. This role demands a strategic mind, strong financial acumen, and the leadership presence to run a business, not just a workstream.

You will own the health of accounts end to end: client relationships, scope, fee forecasting, resourcing, and operating rhythm. Drive growth, mentor the team, and ensure media strategies integrate with omnichannel and

Qualifications

• 10+ years in pharmaceutical/health advertising with 5+ years in client-facing roles.
• Deep knowledge of HCP and DTC media buying and planning across channels.
• Ability to manage, liaise, think strategically and solve problems.
• Excellent presentation, mentorship, and relationship-building skills.
• Experience in digital targeting, data privacy, cross-channel engagement, omnichannel activation.
• Strong understanding of brand fundamentals and their marketing integration.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication for senior stakeholders.
• Excellent organizational skills with multi-project management.

Responsibilities

• Lead senior client partnerships across brand teams and manage daily cadence.
• Oversee annual brand planning and development of client deliverables.
• Coordinate media strategy with analytics and client teams.
• Translate client insights into clear internal direction and actions.
• Identify growth opportunities and drive organic account expansion.
• Mentor the media team to elevate strategy and healthcare insights.
• Own budgeting, scope, and forecasting with PM support.

Skills

Strategic Leadership

Pharma Advertising

Client Management

Presentation Skills

Multi-channel Marketing

Brand Strategy

Communication

Team Mentorship

Job description

We’rea different type of media partner.

Most of us came from large media organizations, many within holding companies.

We were looking for a better way of working, where we couldleverageboth ourexpertiseand our imaginations. Where media strategists and activation specialists harness the power of content, intentional placements, and outcomes-based buying to drive exceptional performance. Better than whatwe'veever experienced.

Our best-in-class, never-paint-by-number approach to omnichannel and media planning and activation delivers efficiency andamplifiessuccesses for our diverse set of clients.

Objectives of this role:

We areseekinga highly motivated and talentedVPofClient Servicesto lead a portfolio of pharmaceutical brands within our media practice.This role requires a strategic mind, strong financial acumen, andthe leadershippresence to run a business, not just a workstream.Your responsibilities will span account management and media strategy, with a focus on owning and growing strong client relationships. You will own the health of your accounts end to end: the client relationship,scoping andthe fee forecast, the resourcing plan, and the operating rhythm that ensures work kicks off whenit'ssupposedto andlandsas promised.

Yourobjectivesinclude driving innovation and growth with assigned brands and campaigns, fostering collaboration among clients and agency partners, and mentoring the media team to elevate their strategy, storytelling, and healthcare insights. As the cross-functional business lead, you will also be responsible for ensuring that media strategies are properly integrated within larger marketing initiatives, such as omnichannel and creative executions, and that client priorities are translated into clear internal direction and pulled through to the work.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Client Leadership

• Serve as the senior client partner across HCP and DTC brand teams, owning the relationship at the brand lead level andthedailyoperating cadence, keeping a pulse on shifts in the client's business(new indication launches, partner agency changes, creative pushbacks, budget reallocations)and connecting them immediately tostrategy,scope,and workstream implications.
• Lead client meetings,oversee development and delivery of client deliverables, and serve as the agency lead for annual tactical / brand planning cycles
• Act as the connective tissue between the agency’s media strategy, engagement strategy, and analytics functions, and the client’s brand and commercial analytics teams.
• Translate deep knowledge of the client’s business, category, and competitive set into clear directionfor internal teamsand recommendations the client trusts and acts on.

Media Oversight

• Provide strategic oversight of omnichannel planning, media strategy and activationacross search, social, programmatic, and partner-direct channels, pressure-testing recommendations before they reach the client.
• Ensure the media strategy is integrated with brand planning, creative, and broader marketing initiatives, andthat the media team is driving innovationandsharing points-of-view on emerging channels and trends.
• Oversee the media planning process end to end, from brief through client presentation, holding the team accountable to a compelling, data-driven recommendation and stepping in on partner negotiations and escalations when the businessrequiresit.

Growth and Industry Presence

• Identifyand cultivate opportunities for organic account growth, using data and performance insight to build the business case.
• Lead the agency's response on new business opportunities within the category, shaping the strategic narrative and directing the team's development of channel and measurement approach.
• Champion the agency's point of view on pharmaceutical media, developing and stewardingcategoryinsight and thought leadership for both client and industry audiences.

Business and Financial Ownership

• Lead annual budget planning, building flat and plus-up scenarios with line-item rationale and framing financial trade-offs for brand leadership.
• Own the financial health of thebusinessin partnership with project management: weeklyfeeburnagainst SOW, fee andout-of-pocketforecasting, and early escalation of risk with a recommended path forward.
• Drive the full SOW lifecyclein partnership with project management(scopedevelopment, mid-year assessment, change orders, finance QA, and client execution),including estimates for out-of-scope and in-flight work.

Team and Delivery

• Ensure the business is staffed correctly: forecast capacity, seniority, and channel skill mix against the pipeline, and partner with discipline leads on allocation and ramp.
• Own the operating rhythm, ensuringprojects kick off on their committed dates with approved briefs and assigned resources, and client priorities are sequenced, communicated internally, and pulled through to the work.
• Mentor and develop the team, raising the bar on strategy, storytelling, healthcare insight, and professional standards in all clientdeliverables.
• Drive professional standards across all client communication, surfacing issues early with a recommended path forward and owning follow-through on open items before they reach the client.

Job Requirements

• 10+ years of relevant experienceat a pharmaceutical / health & wellness advertising agency(as media agency-of-record)with5+years in client-facing roles
• Deep understanding of and experience inHCP and DTCmedia buying and planning across digital, traditional, and point-of-care (channels include but are not limitedto:programmatic, paid social, paid search, online video, native, health endemic, print)
• Ability to be a manager, liaison, thinker, and problem-solver
• Effective presentation, mentorship, and relationship building skills
• Proven experience in digital targeting, data privacy, cross-channel engagement strategy, omnichannel activation, and claims-based attribution
• Understand brand fundamentals (positioning, messaging, creative concepts) and how they all work together
• Excellent communication skills for presenting ideas to clients, senior executives, and internal teams with varying levels of media acumen
• Strong writing and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects effectively and within tight deadlines