Associate Media Director Job Minneapolis area,Minnesota USA,Management

At Six Speed, we believe great media is about more than reaching the right audience. It's about understanding people, connecting the dots, and making smarter decisions that move our clients' businesses forward.

As our Associate Media Director, you're a strategic leader who knows how to bring the big picture together. You understand how audiences, channels, creative, data, and business objectives work together to create meaningful results. You're equally comfortable developing a media strategy, digging into campaign performance, challenging a recommendation, or sitting across the table from a client.

You'll lead media strategy across a portfolio of clients, helping our teams deliver smart, integrated work that drives business outcomes. You're a trusted partner to clients, a resource for your team, and someone who is always looking for ways to make the work better.

You're also a people leader. You'll coach and develop our media team, raise the bar for strategic thinking and execution, and work closely with our VP of Media to continue building Six Speed's media capabilities. You know when to step in, when to challenge, and when to give your team the room to run.

This is a hybrid role based at our Minneapolis office, and candidates must be local to the Twin Cities area, in office at least three days per week. THE TASK AT HAND

Lead the strategy. Develop and oversee integrated media strategies across a portfolio of clients, connecting audience insights, business objectives, creative thinking, channel selection, and measurement to drive meaningful results.
Be a true client partner. Build trusted relationships, bring proactive recommendations to the table, challenge conventional thinking, and help clients see opportunities they might not have considered.
Own the quality of the work. Oversee media planning, buying, activation, optimization, and measurement to ensure our strategies are sound, our execution is strong, and our investments are working as hard as possible.
Turn data into decisions. Connect performance data, audience insights, and market trends to understand what's working, what's not, and what we should do next. Push beyond reporting results to finding ways to improve them.
Build a stronger team. Lead, coach, and develop media team members, helping them grow their strategic thinking, technical expertise, confidence, and leadership skills.
Make the department better. Partner with the VP of Media to strengthen our processes, tools, partnerships, and capabilities. Identify opportunities to work smarter, improve consistency, and continue evolving what Media brings to Six Speed.
Help grow the business. Identify opportunities to expand existing client relationships and play an active role in new business strategy, pitch development, and presentations.
Stay ahead of what's next. Explore emerging platforms, technologies, data, and measurement solutions, and help determine which opportunities are worth testing and investing in.
Connect the agency. Work closely with Strategy, Creative, Account, Analytics, and other teams to make sure media is part of the conversation early and contributes to stronger, more integrated ideas.

WHO YOU ARE

You bring 7-10+ years of experience in media strategy, planning, buying, optimization, and measurement across digital and traditional channels.
You've spent at least 3 years leading and developing media professionals and know how to coach, challenge, and empower a team to do their best work.
You know the media landscape inside and out, from Paid Search, Paid Social, and Programmatic to traditional media, emerging platforms, and measurement solutions. You also have hands-on, in-platform experience and aren't afraid to dig in, troubleshoot, or help your team solve a problem.
You're a strategic thinker who understands how to connect media decisions to broader business objectives. You don't just recommend channels. You understand the role each one plays and why it deserves investment.
You're analytical and financially minded. You know your way around a media budget, understand forecasting and pacing, and can turn complicated performance data into a clear story about what's happening, why it matters, and what we should do next.
You're confident in front of clients. You can build credibility with senior stakeholders, communicate a strong point of view, navigate difficult conversations, and push for better outcomes.
You know how to lead without needing to control every detail. You set clear expectations, ask smart…