Group Director, Media Planning & Activation

Real Chemistry is looking for a Group Director, Paid Media (Client Experience) join our growing team! The Group Director, Paid Media (Client Experience) is a portfolio-level leader and trusted partner to both clients and internal teams. You’ll guide the strategic vision, operational excellence, and talent development across a group of accounts, ensuring the work we deliver is innovative, data-driven, and flawlessly executed. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, execution, and leadership — empowering teams to deliver outstanding results while championing integration across Client Service, Strategy, Ad Operations, and Business Intelligence. You’re not just managing media — you’re shaping how we think, work, and grow. This is a hybrid role, based in any of our US offices, including Boston, Chicago, Carmel, or Lambertville.

Responsibilities

Lead portfolio-level media strategy and oversee execution across multiple brands; Serve as the senior client partner — driving collaboration, anticipating needs, and shaping recommendations that ladder up to measurable business outcomes; Champion innovation in media, exploring emerging opportunities and piloting first-to-market activations; Oversee annual planning, SOW creation, budget management, and forecasting for assigned portfolio; Ensure financial health of accounts through proactive scope, budget, and reconciliation management; Bridge strategy, creative, analytics, and activation — ensuring alignment from campaign planning through measurement and optimization; Drive integration across internal teams and partner agencies to deliver seamless, cross-channel work; Translate data and insights into meaningful, client-ready stories that inspire confidence and action; Partner with Strategy and BI to evolve measurement frameworks, establish KPIs, and drive learning agendas; Lead, coach, and grow a team of Media Directors and Supervisors — fostering curiosity, accountability, and continuous development; Build scalable processes, tools, and workflows to improve clarity, quality, and efficiency across the team; Create a culture of collaboration, innovation, and operational excellence that embodies our values; Serve as a role model for strong communication, diplomacy, and partnership across departments; Contribute to agency initiatives that improve how we work, plan, and partner; Represent Spring & Bond externally — nurturing publisher and vendor relationships and identifying new opportunities; Collaborate on POVs, playbooks, and case studies to advance industry thought leadership and internal education.

Requirements

12+ years of experience in media strategy, planning, and activation across digital channels; Deep understanding of DTC and HCP audiences, omnichannel strategy, and the evolving media landscape; Demonstrated ability to lead and inspire teams, manage complex portfolios, and deliver outstanding client results; Advanced financial acumen with experience managing large-scale budgets and scopes of work; Exceptional client relationship and communication skills — equally adept at boardroom presentations and day-to-day problem-solving; Strong cross-functional collaboration skills with a proven record of working effectively across Strategy, BI, and Ad Ops; Comfort with ambiguity, change, and growth — you see process as an enabler, not a constraint.

Nice to have

Pharma or healthcare experience

Benefits

Free snacks in offices; Generous holiday and paid time off; Options for private medical, dental, and vision plans; Support in saving for the future; Mental wellness coaching and support; Access to more than 13,000 online classes with LinkedIn Learning