Senior Associate, Media Planning (Embedded Role, Entertainment Client)

Company description

Starcom is the world's first standalone media agency, a storied innovator that continues to lead the way for many of the world's best brands.

Starcom has long been the professional birthplace and proving ground for marketing leaders – CEOs, CMOs, sales leaders, and technology pioneers – and we continue to drive the industry with peerless talent and relentless innovation.

From the start, we've known that achieving growth for our clients requires understanding and connecting with real people where they live and work, in ways they value.

In an AI era, we remain ""Guided By Humanity,"" a phrase that describes our foundational belief that human expertise must remain in the driver's seat, supported by the best processes and technology.

With our proprietary capabilities and Publicis Media's industry-leading resources and clout, we create ideas that move people and drive transformative business outcomes for brands.

Overview

Who is Starcom:

With a history that dates back over 80 years, Starcom is a global communications planning and media leader. We are an agency still grounded in our founding principle that people are at center of all we do. Each day, we apply this belief to harness the transformative power of data and technology to inspire and move people and business forward. With more than 7,000 employees in over 100 offices around the world, Starcom partners with the world's leading marketers and brands, including Bank of America, Best Buy, Kellogg Company, McDonald's, Novartis, Samsung, Visa and more.

About This Role:

This is a unique opportunity to work as an embedded team member with our client, Warner Bros. Discovery, out of their Flatiron District office in New York City, gaining the kind of hands-on, brand-side experience that is rare in a traditional agency role.

If you've ever wanted to see your media strategies come to life from the client's seat, this role puts you in that position while still being part of Starcom's broader network and career development opportunities.

What You'll Do:

You'll work cross-functionally with Publicis/Starcom and WBD internal teams, partnering directly with vendors and stakeholders to develop and execute multi-channel media plans. You'll help develop innovative strategies to meet and exceed business objectives and provide actionable insights and recommendations.

This role is part of the WBD Subscriber Acquisition Team, focused on Upper Funnel media for HBO Original content like Euphoria, House of the Dragon, and many more titles. The Upper Funnel Media team develops bespoke campaigns for each title, rooted in data to create meaningful demand and cultural impact that leads to efficient subscriber acquisition. You'll work closely with a Sr. Manager/Director and Coordinator on all projects while reporting to the Sr. Director.

As a Senior Associate, you'll collaborate closely with Associates and Supervisors, and together the team will be responsible for managing plan development, cross-team communication, and in-market optimizations.

Responsibilities

Assist in long lead strategy development including audience approach, flighting strategy, partner considerations set, and any campaign specific needs

Develop RFPs and manage the feedback process with partners and the external agency that leads to a final tactical recommendation

Track campaign budgets as plan develops and through actualizations

Work closely with internal investment teams on tactical planning and creative needs across all bid based platforms

Partner with agency, creative, and investment teams on the asset delivery and trafficking process to ensure all placements are executed as planned

Utilize data to make informed optimization recommendations while campaigns are in-flight

Operate as a primary point of contact for Originals Marketing team, being able to clearly communicate campaign strategy, creative needs, and in-flight optimizations

Stay informed of new partners or product offerings, competitive landscape, and industry news that could have impact to strategy

Help drive day-to-day strategies to meet and exceed client business objectives

Provide research for and write media Point-Of-Views (POVs)

Present media plans and provide plan maintenance including objectives/strategies and updates

Prepare flowcharts and budgets for media plans

Assist with optimizing, implementing, and analyzing marketing activities

Report on key metrics for campaign effectiveness and develop key findings for optimization

Facilitate the sharing of data and insights among relevant internal parties to inform future strategies

Foster strong relationships with internal teams and client groups

Assist with other projects or responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree preferred, preferably with a concentration in marketing, advertising, communications, business, sociology, or consumer insights

1-2+ years of experience at a media agency or brand/publisher in a media strategy focused role

1-2+ years of experience in media planning experience across media channels

Digital media planning experience preferred

A natural collaborator who enjoys working across teams

Ability to adapt rapidly in an agile environment with shifting priorities

Strong organizational, communication, time management, and problem-solving skills

Proactive, accountable, detail-oriented with the ability to multi-task and manage priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment

Willingness and eagerness to learn, adopt new technologies and solutions, and take on new opportunities

Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite with strong understanding of Excel and PowerPoint (experience in Looker and/or Monday.com is also valuable to this role)

Reasonable availability to respond to requests and attend the real-time needs of campaigns outside normal business hours

Willingness and flexibility to “pitch in” with various ad-hoc projects to help support the larger team.

Clear communicator who can translate strategy into action.

Experience working within media systems/platforms (Kantar, MOAT, Prisma, ComScore etc.)

A passion for entertainment!

Additional information

Starcom is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our employment decisions are made without regard to actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability, medical condition as defined by applicable state law, genetic information, marital status, military service and veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws and ordinances.

The Power of One starts with our people! To do powerful things, we offer powerful resources. Our best-in-class wellness and benefits offerings include:

Paid Family Care for parents and caregivers for 12 weeks or more

Monetary assistance and support for Adoption, Surrogacy and Fertility

Monetary assistance and support for pet adoption

Employee Assistance Programs and Health/Wellness/Comfort reimbursements to help you invest in your future and work/life balance

Tuition Assistance

Paid time off that includes Flexible Time off Vacation, Annual Sick Days, Volunteer Days, Holiday and Identity days, and more

Matching Gifts programs

Flexible working arrangements

'Work Your World’ Program encouraging employees to work from anywhere Publicis Groupe has an office for up to 6 weeks a year (based upon eligibility)

Business Resource Groups that support multiple affinities and alliances

The benefits offerings listed are available to U.S. based employees, are reviewed on an annual basis, and are governed by the terms of the applicable plan documents.

Compensation Range: $66,300.00 - $79,794.00 annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. Temporary roles may also qualify for participation in our 401(k) plan after eligibility criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 05/31/2026.

If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact USMSTACompliance@publicis.com. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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