Brainlabs is the independent, founder-led agency building the future of media. We have over 1000 Brainlabbers based across the global, all united through the 12 principles laid out in our Culture Code. We're full-service, with people and AI agents working side by side, all aligned to one thing: maximizing our clients' revenue through a genuinely scientific approach to media. If you want to help play your part in achieving this for the world's biggest brands in an environment that will support and challenge you in equal measure, this is where you do it.
So you’re interested in becoming an Associate Director of Planning? Let's dive into what that means:
Role type: Full-time
Team: Strategy & Planning
Reporting to: Director, Strategy
Location: New York City, New York
Compensation: We hire candidates across our US office locations and at varying levels of experience. Our posted salary ranges reflect differences in both location and experience, with final compensation determined once a candidate’s background and location are confirmed.
Work Authorization: Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. We are unable to provide visa sponsorship or continuation for this position.
As an Associate Director, Planning you will be a data-driven, performance-led media planner responsible for designing and activating cross-channel media plans that drive measurable business outcomes. This role sits at the intersection of data, media, and strategy, balancing short-term goals with long-term brand and demand growth.
In this role you will:
- Translate client business objectives into outcome-driven, full-funnel media strategies that connect awareness, consideration, and conversion
- Lead the development of comprehensive cross-channel media plans, including audience strategy, campaign-level budgeting, flighting, and investment allocation
- Use performance data to inform planning decisions, diagnose issues, and drive optimization, incorporating historical performance, testing results, and learning agendas into future strategies
- Design robust audience strategies leveraging first-party data, platform-native audiences, and second-/third-party data sources
- Operate with a test-and-learn mindset, setting clear hypotheses and building structured testing roadmaps in partnership with data and client teams
- Bring a performance lens to innovation, incorporating emerging media opportunities, new formats, and AI-enabled tools to improve efficiency and effectiveness in planning
- Partner cross-functionally to ensure tight integration between data, creative, media, and strategy throughout the planning and activation process
- Work closely with the data team on measurement and reporting, ensuring a holistic view of performance with clear, actionable insights
- Serve as the day-to-day client lead and trusted advisor on media, performance, and optimization
- Present media strategies, results, and recommendations to senior client stakeholders with clarity and confidence
- Contribute thought leadership on industry trends, media innovation, and evolving best practices
We’re looking for someone who has:
- 4+ years of experience in media planning, with deep digital and performance media expertise
- Experience working on performance-driven accounts (e.g., leads, sign-ups, donations, subscriptions), ideally within the Non-Profit sector or on large-scale clients ($30M+ in annual media spend)
- A proven track record of developing and executing full-funnel, cross-channel media strategies that balance efficiency with growth
- Deep understanding of the digital media landscape, including programmatic, social, and search
- Strong experience with media planning and optimization tools (incl. Commspoint, Nielsen Media Impact, Comscore, Ad Intel, etc.)
- Demonstrated expertise in audience strategy and segmentation, including syndicated research tools (MRI, GWI) and first-party data (predictive modeling, lookalike audiences, etc.)
- Experience translating complex datasets into clear insights, implications, and recommendations
- Advanced understanding of media measurement and analytics, including digital and traditional KPIs, marketing mix modeling, and multi-touch attribution
- Strong storytelling, presentation, and client communication skills, with the ability to distill complex plans into clear, compelling narratives
- Proficiency with advanced analytics and data visualization tools
And this is what success looks like in the role:
- You’ll deliver incremental growth for your clients
- You’ll actively develop the careers of those around you
- You will be a positive contributor to our culture
- You will develop processes and systems that enable you to be promoted.
What happens next?
We know searching for a job is tough and that you want to find the best career and employer for you. We also want to ensure that this position is the best fit for both you and us. Therefore, you will participate in a comprehensive interview process that includes skills interviews with our team. The goal of this process is to allow you to get to know us as we learn more about you.
#LI-MB1
What happens next?
We know searching for a job is tough and that you want to find the best career and employer for you. We also want to ensure that this position is the best fit for both you and us. Therefore, you will participate in a comprehensive interview process that includes skills interviews with our team. The goal of this process is to allow you to get to know us as we learn more about you.
A note on our offices: We pride ourselves in being a company with an office-centric culture and, for the majority of roles we expect people to be in commuting distance of the office and come in for around 3 days per week.
Brainlabs actively seeks and encourages applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and identities. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace: we are committed to equal opportunity for all applicants and employees regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, or belief, and marriage and civil partnerships. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation during the application process, please let us know!
Please note that we will never ask you to transfer cash or make any other payment to us in order to apply for a role or to work for Brainlabs. Any such asks are fraudulent and should be reported to the appropriate authorities in your area.
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