Associate Director, Media

The Role
We are seeking an Associate Director of Media to lead the development, execution, and optimization of our paid media strategy. Reporting to our VP of Brand Management, this role will be responsible for managing our media agency relationship, overseeing campaign-level media planning, driving performance reporting and optimization, and cultivating strategic media partnerships that amplify our brand and business objectives. This is a hybrid position requiring four days per week in our Newton, MA headquarters with one remote workday per week. The ideal candidate combines strong analytical rigor with strategic thinking and has experience managing integrated media programs across digital, social, video and audio. They are equally comfortable being hands on keyboard and diving into performance metrics as they are developing strategy recommendations and exploring new, innovative media opportunities.

What You'll Own
Media Strategy & Planning

Lead the development of campaign-specific media strategies aligned to brand and business objectives

Partner closely with Creative, Insights, Influencer & Partnerships teams to translate business priorities into effective media plans

Evaluate media channel investments and recommend budget allocations to drive awareness and trial of Spindrift beverages

Ensure media plans balance short-term performance objectives with long-term brand growth

Media Reporting & Optimization

Own performance measurement and analytics across all paid media channels (e.g. social, digital, CTV, audio), including development of actionable insights and recommendations for optimizations

Maintain reporting frameworks, dashboards, and scorecards to track campaign performance against business objectives, KPIs, and media investment goals

Partner with media agencies, platform representatives, and internal stakeholders to ensure accurate campaign tracking, tagging, and data integrity

Partner with analytics and insights teams to strengthen measurement frameworks and attribution approaches, including frameworks such as Marketing Mix Models, Brand Lift studies and Incrementality testing

Agency Management

Serve as the primary day-to-day lead for the media agency relationship

Establish clear goals, deliverables, timelines, and performance expectations for agency partners

Review media plans, optimizations, reporting, and recommendations to ensure strategic rigor and accountability

Foster a collaborative partnership that drives innovation, efficiency, and continuous improvement

Media Partnerships & Innovation

Identify, evaluate, and negotiate strategic media partnerships that support brand objectives

Build relationships with publishers, platforms, and media partners

Assess sponsorship, experiential, content, and custom media opportunities, in conjunction with the Influencer & Partnerships team

Stay current on emerging platforms, consumer behaviors, and media trends to identify new growth opportunities

Requirements
Who You Are

8+ years of experience in media planning or media strategy (either client or agency side)

Expertise across media channels including paid social, online video, programmatic, search, audio and connected TV

Fluency in paid media analytics, with the ability to conduct hands‑on, in‑platform analysis and translate findings into concise, executive‑level performance reporting

Ability to synthesize complex datasets into clear, concise insights and recommendations and to create executive‑ready summaries and presentations that communicate performance, learnings, and future recommendations

Experience managing external media agencies and holding partners accountable to reporting and optimization, as well as business outcomes

Track record of identifying and executing successful media partnerships and sponsorship opportunities

Excellent communication, presentation, and relationship‑management skills

Experience within consumer‑packaged goods, food & beverage, retail, or consumer brands preferred

What We Offer

The opportunity to shape the trajectory of a fast‑growing, beloved brand at the forefront of health and wellness movement

A collaborative, entrepreneurial, and mission‑driven culture

Competitive compensation, equity, and benefits

Position is a hybrid role (4 days in office, 1 day remote) based out of our Newton, Mass headquarters

Benefits
The salary range for this position is $140,000 to $160,000 and is dependent upon the candidate's experience prior to joining Spindrift. In addition, we offer the following compensation and benefits:

Short‑term incentive programs specific to level and department

Long‑term incentives

Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with an employer contribution rate of 80% towards monthly premiums, regardless of plan type selected

Company‑paid life insurance, and a 401k retirement savings plan with a company match

Monthly cell phone allowance

Annual allowances for personal use of Spindrift product, health and wellness, professional development, and social justice education

Voluntary additional life insurance, short‑term disability and long‑term disability insurance

In addition to any paid leave benefits required by regulation, the company provides paid parental leave, vacation, sick, personal, bereavement, community service, and holiday time

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