Zambezi’s modern media division, Scale by Zambezi, recently named ADWEEK’s 2025 Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year, is seeking an experienced and strategic Media Director to join our growing team.
This role acts as the strategic architect, driving innovation and setting the standard for media excellence. The ideal candidate has a distinguished track record of leading complex, integrated media accounts and is eager to contribute to shaping the future of a modern, award‑winning media division. You will thrive in an entrepreneurial environment where strategic vision and collaborative execution are paramount. This position reports to the Group Media Director and plays a key role in bridging strategic vision with actionable execution and mentoring the team for high‑quality delivery.
Candidates must reside in the greater Los Angeles area.
Base Pay Range
$160,000 – $175,000 per year
Responsibilities
- Lead Media Strategy: Guide the development and approvals for complex, multi‑channel integrated media strategies, ensuring they clearly map to the client’s highest-level business goals.
- Be an Industry Expert: Act as an agency leader across media trends, new platforms and advanced measurement, consulting to clients and internal teams.
- Senior Plan Review: Provide inputs and consultation on all media plans, budgets and performance reports prepared by the team, ensuring strategic rigor and best‑in‑class thinking, presenting for final internal approvals to senior agency staff.
- Negotiation Strategy: Guide the strategy for high‑value negotiations and complex partner vetting, ensuring the agency maximizes client media investment value.
- Client Advisory: Act as a senior strategic consultant for clients, alongside senior management, tackling high‑level business problems and delivering authoritative, insightful media solutions & POSetites.
- Presentations: Lead and deliver presentations – including plan recommendations and quarterly reviews – to senior client and internal executive teams.
- Operational Oversight: Enforce operational & financial processes to ensure excellence in campaign execution & maintenance, proactively identify opportunities to elevate and improve efficiency in workflows.
- Cross‑Functional Cohesion: Drive seamless communication and strategic alignment across internal teams to deliver unified client work, while actively upholding the operational quality standards for the media planning department.
- Mentor Leaders: Directly mentor and guide the professional development of junior staff, focusing on leveling up their strategic thinking and client building skills.
- Support New Business: Play a key strategic role in developing media strategy and materials for significant new business pitches, as needed.
Requirements
- 10+ years of progressive experience in media planning and buying within an agency or client environment, demonstrating mastery across integrated media channels.
- Proven ability to translate complex client business goals into clear, actionable media strategies and drive sophisticated media innovation.
- Advanced expertise in media measurement frameworks and leading high‑value negotiation strategies.
- Prior senior supervisory experience with a distinguished track record of successfully managing, mentoring staff.
- Exceptional relationship‑building skills, with experience serving as a trusted strategic consultant for senior‑level clients.
- Outstanding presentation skills, with demonstrated ability to present and defend complex strategies persuasively to executive audiences.
- Mastery of industry planning tools (e.g., DCM, Comscore, Nielsen, MRI/Simmons, Prisma) and advanced familiarity with site analytics (e.g., Google/Adobe Analytics).
- Ability to work autonomously, effectively managing client workstreams while strictly enforcing operational standards and budget fidelity across our clients.
Benefits
In addition to salary, we offer comprehensive benefits covering 100% medical, dental, vision, open PTO and more. The range above is for the expectations as laid out in the job description, however, we are often open to a wide variety of profiles to find the right candidate for Zambezi.
- Medical insurance
- Vision insurance
- 401(k)
- Paid maternity leave
- Paid paternity leave
- Disability insurance
Senior Level
Director
Employment Type
Full‑time
Job Function
Advertising and Management
Industries
Advertising Services and Technology, Information and Media
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