Digital Media Planner

About the Role

As a Digital Media Planner, you’ll work under the direction of the media lead to build, execute and optimize digital media plans for your assigned accounts. You’ll manage day-to-day performance across self-service and managed-service platforms and turn the data into insights that help clients meet their media objectives. It’s an integrated role: You’ll work alongside creative, social and analytics teams in a best-in-class media department, and Marcus Thomas is the largest buyer of media in Ohio. You’ll also have a defined career path to support your growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Build media plans for your assigned accounts under the direction of the media lead.
• Proactively suggest tests and optimizations across all your assigned accounts.
• Manage performance across specified channels, on both self-service and managed-service platforms.
• Own the day-to-day execution, buying stewardship and optimization of your accounts.
• Report key insights and takeaways, not just numbers.
• Partner with the analytics team to deliver reports on time.
• Provide quality control on campaigns and setups completed by other team members.
• Sign and send insertion orders and reconcile invoices.

What Success Looks Like

Within 3 Months

• Learn your assigned accounts, their media objectives and the team’s planning, buying and reporting processes, and take on day-to-day execution and reporting with support from your media lead.

Within 6 Months

• Independently manage execution, optimization and reporting for your assigned accounts, with accurate insertion orders and invoice reconciliation, and regularly bring forward tests and optimizations backed by performance data.

Within 12 Months

• Be a trusted partner to media and account leads: Anticipate needs before they’re raised, deliver insights that shape client plans, and provide quality control the team relies on.

Required Qualifications

• Three to five years of experience in marketing, communications or a related field
• A thorough understanding of media math and planning principles, including cost-per-thousand (CPM), cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-engagement (CPE), click-through rate (CTR), cost-per-acquisition (CPA), cost-per-completed-view (CPCV), reach, frequency, frequency capping, completion rate, engagement rate and return on advertiser spend (ROAS)
• Comfort digging into performance data and turning it into sound optimizations
• Clear, effective written and verbal communication
• No specific degree is required. Equivalent professional experience is fully accepted. What matters most is demonstrated depth, judgment and growth, not the specific path that produced it.

Preferred Qualifications

These qualifications may help someone ramp up more quickly, but they aren’t required for consideration.

• Experience at an advertising or media agency, especially in the digital space
• Hands-on experience with programmatic platforms such as DV360, Nexxen or StackAdapt, as well as Meta Ads Manager, Google Campaign Manager 360, Google Ads and Strata/SBMS
• Familiarity with research resources such as MRI-Simmons
• A working understanding of negotiation basics
• A proactive approach with media and account leads, anticipating what they’ll need before they ask
• Objectivity in weighing options, and curiosity about the craft and marketing communications in general

Benefits Highlights

• Time Off: A flexible time-off policy, with most employees taking approximately four to six weeks annually.
• Family Support: Twelve weeks of fully paid parental leave.
• Health and Wellness: Medical, dental and vision coverage, plus telemedicine, behavioral health resources.
• Lifestyle Support: Wellness and creative stipends, phone plan support and partner discounts.
• Financial Benefits: A 401(k) with company contributions, student loan repayment support and college savings options.

Team Values

At Marcus Thomas, our values shape how we work with each other and with our clients.

Community – We contribute to the growth of our agency, our industry and our communities.

Accountability – We show up, keep our word, and take ownership of our work and results.

Collaboration – We lead with empathy, listen actively and value every voice.

Curiosity – We stay curious, ask questions and bring new ideas to the table.

Diversity – We respect and celebrate different perspectives because they make the work stronger.

Make Work Play – We bring energy, creativity and joy into everything we do.

Our Hiring Process

Our hiring process helps us learn about your experience while giving you a clear understanding of the role, team and agency. It typically includes an initial recruiter conversation, a hiring manager interview, a team or leadership interview, and final selection.

We may use AI-assisted tools to help organize and review application materials. These tools may compare résumé information with job qualifications and highlight relevant experience for our recruiting team. Candidates may opt out of AI-assisted résumé screening when applying.

With candidate consent, we may use AI-assisted tools to record and transcribe interviews. Candidates may opt out of recording or transcription at any stage without affecting their consideration.

AI tools don’t make hiring decisions. Our recruiting and hiring teams review candidate information and decide who moves forward.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

At Marcus Thomas, different perspectives strengthen our teams and our work. We’re committed to fair access to opportunity and an environment where employees can contribute, develop and succeed.

We encourage applications from people with a wide range of identities, experiences and backgrounds, including those historically underrepresented in advertising and marketing.

Marcus Thomas provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees. Employment decisions are made without regard to any status protected by applicable law.

Community of Practice: Media

Reports To: Media Director

Location: Cleveland

Employment Type: Full-Time, Salaried

Who Is Marcus Thomas?

Marcus Thomas is one of the country’s leading independent advertising and marketing agencies, and we’re independent again on purpose. We bought ourselves back from private equity so our clients and our people come before shareholders. We’re 200+ people who work with fewer layers and less bureaucracy, focused on one goal: turning chaos into clarity, built around each client’s problem.

We do the work ourselves, with real judgment and real people. We roll up our sleeves, ask a better question, figure it out, and stay in it for the long term. Offices in Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Santiago, Chile, working across creative, media, public relations, social, digital strategy and technology.

Location and Work Arrangement

Local candidates are preferred for this role.

• Cleveland: Employees in the Cleveland area work from the Cleveland office each Wednesday and one additional day per week based on team needs.

Employment Eligibility

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Marcus Thomas is unable to provide employment visa sponsorship for this position now or in the future.