[Hiring] Freelance Associate Director, Media Planning @Dept

Role Description

The Freelance Associate Director is a pivotal leadership role responsible for steering the strategic direction of our most ambitious accounts. You will be responsible for designing how brands show up across the entire consumer ecosystem—not just where they advertise. This role defines the connection architecture between audiences, culture, content, commerce, and channels to unlock sustainable growth.

You will operate at the intersection of insight, idea, and orchestration, translating human understanding into full-funnel experiences that drive both brand and business outcomes. As a key client partner, you will shape strategic direction, influence investment decisions, and lead cross-disciplinary teams to deliver integrated solutions that go beyond media to create meaningful connections.

While DEPT® is a remote-first company, this role requires candidates to be able to work Central time zone.

What You’ll Do

• Define end-to-end connections strategies grounded in audience, cultural, and behavioral insights—linking communications, content, and commerce into a unified system.
• Architect full-funnel ecosystems that integrate paid, owned, earned, and shared touchpoints to deliver cohesive and connected consumer experiences.
• Partner with clients as a strategic growth advisor, identifying opportunity space, shaping business challenges, and unlocking new opportunities beyond media investment.
• Orchestrate the interplay between brand building and performance, ensuring immediate impact while compounding long-term brand equity.
• Lead cross-functional teams (Strategy, Creative, Media, Data, Technology) to develop experience-led solutions, not just channel plans.
• Translate data and insights into clear narratives and actionable frameworks that influence senior stakeholders and drive decision-making.
• Establish holistic measurement approaches that connect exposure, engagement, and outcomes—moving beyond siloed channel attribution to true effectiveness storytelling.
• Drive innovation in how we connect with audiences, continuously evolving frameworks, tools, and approaches to stay ahead of changing behaviors and platforms.
• Play a leading role in new business and thought leadership, articulating a differentiated vision for integrated strategy and connections planning.
• Mentor and elevate a team of strategists, fostering systems thinking, curiosity, and strategic rigor in their work.

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of experience in omni-channel media strategy and planning, with a proven track record of leading large-scale accounts.
• Experience in "Connections Planning" or Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), with a deep understanding of how content and media intersect.
• Expert-level proficiency with media research and audience profiling tools (GWI, MRI, ComScore, Pathmatics, etc.).
• Demonstrated success in managing 360-degree sponsorship or tentpole campaign planning.
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to influence senior clients and navigate complex multi-agency (IAT) environments.
• A data-driven mindset paired with creative intuition—you know how to back up big ideas with hard numbers.
• Proven experience in managing and growing direct reports, building a culture of excellence and curiosity.
• An expertise in both B2C & B2B as well as enterprise client experience.
• While DEPT® is a remote-first company, this role requires candidates to be able to work Central time zone.

Benefits

• DEPT® is an equal opportunity employer (EOE).
• Commitment to an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment and selection process.
• B Corp-certified company passionate about purpose-driven work.
• Flexible salary based on experience, expertise, physical location, and organizational impact.

Company Description

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Coach, eBay, and OpenAI.