VP, Media and CX Strategy

Position Summary

HLK, a full-service agency with offices in St. Louis and Chicago, is looking for an experienced leader to join our expanding team as Vice President, Media and CX Strategy. The right candidate should bring a unique channel and target audience perspective and marketing optimization accountability to every client at HLK. The candidate will lead an existing media team across media buying, operations, and media strategy. Additionally, this role will oversee a team of CX strategists who set the activation strategy for every campaign across paid, owned and earned, before it reaches the paid media team.

This position serves a critical role in setting a strategic POV for activation strategy and paid media for our clients, empowering growth among a diverse team, and providing innovative thinking in media. We have a team full of emerging talent, and this role requires someone who can foster that talent and continue to develop the team to maximize the quality of output.

A successful candidate will provide leadership on campaign strategies, audience segmentation and data-driven media plans and will apply industry-leading technologies to deliver optimal program performance. This agency leader will also be responsible for driving growth at the agency by expanding additional media opportunities with current clients, and identifying opportunities to obtain new business through media expertise. The candidate will cultivate senior relationships within the agency, with clients and with media partners.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for leading the media team and their management of client business throughout the entire strategic, planning and buying process
• Serve as lead media contact on at least one or two clients for the agency, as well as manage a team of media strategists who are leading the work across all additional HLK clients
• Fuel and empower the team to develop compelling media recommendations that drive new, tactical thinking and creativity within the agency
• Improve and continually optimize ways of working within the department and broadly in the agency across media and cx roles on client teams
• Lead CX strategists through analytics and reporting job responsibilities to ensure we are driving real-time improvements to client media plans
• Develop a tight partnership with key agency business leads for oversight in all media operations to ensure appropriate resource allocation
• Analyze the media needs for our entire client portfolio and recommend tools and systems necessary to achieve maximum effectiveness for all campaigns
• Ensure the team is properly trained on all internal procedures, best practices and media tools
• Meet with media representatives to keep abreast of new technologies and industry trends as well as potential client opportunities
• Ensure appropriate staff utilization to efficiently meet the needs of our clients

Management, leadership and communication skills

• Demonstrate a deep knowledge and understanding of how to motivate our clients' audiences through specific media channels
• Remain on the cutting edge of new media offerings and innovations to ensure the agency is bringing elevated thinking to clients
• Create thoughtful client presentations that demonstrate deep expertise of all aspects of media planning and buying
• Develop persuasive written proposals and presentations that are delivered in a clear, concise and compelling manner
• Interact with senior client executives to provide thought leadership on media strategies, tactics and performance as well as selling new, emerging media opportunities
• Implement talent evaluation strategies and programs designed to improve our ability to identify the right candidate for each position
• Motivate the internal team to drive media programs that exceed our clients' business objectives
• Conduct thoughtful and detailed performance reviews designed to elevate performance of the entire team

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related communications, marketing or media field
• 15+ years of demonstrated success in media planning and buying
• Minimum of seven years of experience managing and developing media talent at all levels
• Proficient in paid media channels, including programmatic display, native, video, streaming video and audio, location-based platforms, social platforms, Google Suite (paid search, YouTube, Gmail), trade publications/sites, linear TV, DRTV, out-of-home, and print
• An up-to-date knowledge of all key consumer insight tools, including DMPs, digital resources, data insight and execution tools
• Strong opinions are more than welcome on this team, and the ideal candidate would create an environment where healthy discussion and debate on all forms of media is welcome
• Excellent communication, reasoning and problem-solving skills

About HLK:

HLK is an independent creative and technology agency with offices in St. Louis & Chicago.

We believe in the power of people to drive brands. Together, we shape a brand's identity and inspire its next move.

We believe that brands have the power to influence people. We create brands in constant motion, on a mission to connect, surprise, and change behavior.

Our mission is to provide an environment where passionate problem solvers can thrive. Every day we encourage our people to do 3 things: Be Curious. Seek out the right problems to solve. Embrace criticism. Dig deeper and dream bigger. Be Thoughtful. Approach everything with a sense of humanity. Act with empathy and support one another. And Be Brave. Take calculated risks, push the work, and move forward fearlessly.

There are many benefits to working at HLK, including the following:

A flexible work environment

A casual and creative atmosphere

Unlimited time off

Paid sabbatical

Parental leave

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) plan with a company match

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.