Manager, Media Planning & Buying

The Media Planning Team at ESPN develops innovative media plans that drive awareness, consumption, subscriptions, and brand affinity across all properties and platforms to affect the ESPN business. 

Position Summary:

The Manager of Media Planning & Buying will focus on planning the holistic media strategy of the ESPN Marketing portfolio across owned and paid media, plus TWDC networks. The Manager will be responsible for understanding the various marketing challenges that our business faces and thinking creatively and strategically about how owned & off-channel Media can be used to drive results. This position will report into the Director of Media Planning & Buying. This position is based in New York, New York.

Responsibilities:

• Lead media plan development and execution of media campaigns across multiple sports
• Work closely with cross-functional teams and frequently play a consultative role – by offering media insights to inform strategy, best practices, targeting recommendations, optimization suggestions and recaps where necessary
• Manage day to day work and timely communication with internal and external teams while also providing direction, feedback and input to team on documents such as flowcharts, planning decks and recaps for designated properties
• Steward effective communication and understand needs of marketing teams, creative and external media agencies to ensure team is set up to effectively lead day-to-day execution of campaigns across ESPN channels and paid media channels
• Champion new and innovative approaches, fostering a culture of continuous learning
• Work closely with performance media team to execute a cohesive, full funnel media strategy
• Incorporate audience data and strategy into overall Media Planning process
• Determine and activate how to deliver necessary data to teams for various reporting purposes
• Make results-driven decisions to optimize campaigns and demonstrate the impact of strategies to business goals
• Provide feedback and guide junior team members to inspire their growth and development
• Stay on top of sports industry trends, ad products, consumer and viewing behaviors to inform Media plans; provide point of view on relevant marketing campaigns and how ESPN can incorporate new technologies and partners into our campaigns

Qualifications:

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in media strategy & planning or media buying
• Understanding of all media channels and experience coordinating across multiple media disciplines
• Comfortable with complex, cross-functional projects across teams and leagues
• Strong collaborative and interpersonal skills with the ability to work dynamically across departments as well as manage internal and external partners
• Extremely organized and motivated, with the ability to effectively prioritize and multi-task in a very fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
• Proficient in analyzing campaign data to glean insights and measure success
• Knowledge of industry planning and research tools
• Strong entertainment industry knowledge, preferably in sports
• Self-motivated and comfortable working independently with minimal supervision and direction
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Proficiency in Excel and spreadsheets
• Works with urgency, superior time management, problem solving skills and a critical thinker

Required Education:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Marketing, Business or a related field