Associate Media Planner Jobs
Associate Media Planner jobs are open across advertising agencies, media companies, retail brands, and corporate marketing teams, from entry-level to mid-level, with specializations in digital media, paid social, and programmatic buying. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Media Planner/Buyer
Phoenix, AZ | Full-Time
About Riester
Riester is an independent, award-winning advertising agency with more than 35 years of storytelling experience and offices in Phoenix, Park City, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Our team of creative thinkers, strategists, and analysts helps brands connect with audiences in meaningful ways. From promoting sustainability and public awareness to driving lead generation and business growth, we create marketing that delivers measurable impact.
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced Planner & Buyer with a background in traditional media, particularly broadcast television and radio, to join our Phoenix team. Candidates with traditional media experience are preferred, but we also welcome candidates with a strong digital media background who are eager and willing to expand their expertise into traditional media. This role combines strategic media planning, hands-on campaign management, media buying, and performance analytics to develop and execute integrated campaigns that deliver meaningful results for our clients.
The ideal candidate is equally comfortable negotiating media buys, managing campaigns, and analyzing performance data to identify opportunities for optimization. You'll serve as a key day-to-day media contact for assigned accounts, translating client objectives into actionable strategies while collaborating with internal teams, media partners, and clients. We're looking for someone who takes ownership of their work, thinks strategically, is detail-oriented, and uses data to guide decisions across the entire media landscape.
What You'll Do
Media Buying, Strategy, & Planning
- Develop and execute integrated media strategies across digital and traditional channels
- Negotiate and place media buys, ensuring competitive rates, added value, and effective placements.
- Begin to develop the end-to-end media planning process, including audience research, market analysis, budget development, channel selection, media buying, and campaign evaluation
- Translate client business objectives into strategic media recommendations, measurable KPIs, and actionable campaign plans
- Leverage research and planning tools to inform audience targeting, media selection, and investment decisions
- Manage media vendor relationships, evaluate proposals, and identify new opportunities that align with client objectives
- Monitor campaign pacing, performance, and budgets, proactively adjusting media investments to improve results
- Oversee vendor billing, invoice reconciliation, and budget tracking in partnership with accounting
What You Bring
- 3–5 years of experience in media planning, buying, and digital campaign management, preferably within an advertising agency
- Demonstrated experience developing and executing integrated media strategies across traditional and digital channels
- Experience managing media buying, vendor relationships, campaign budgets, negotiations, and placement coordination across media channels
- Interest in expanding knowledge across traditional and digital media.
- Strong communication, presentation, and client relationship management skills
- Proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets
- Ability to independently manage multiple accounts, budgets, projects, and deadlines while maintaining a high level of accuracy
- Bachelor's degree in Advertising, Marketing, Business, Communications, or a related field
- Experience with Advantage media buying software is a plus
Why You'll Love Working Here
- Competitive salary and benefits package (medical, dental, vision, 401(k), PTO)
- Hybrid flexibility and a collaborative, fast-paced environment
- Dog-friendly offices
- A supportive culture that values curiosity, teamwork, and growth
- Opportunities to work on meaningful campaigns that make a difference
- Exposure to a diverse mix of clients, industries, and media channels
Our Mission
For more than three decades, Riester has inspired people to take action on issues that matter. We believe that purpose and performance belong together, and we are looking for people who share that commitment to create marketing that makes an impact.
To apply, please email your cover letter and resume to HR@riester.com.
Associate Media Planner Jobs by Experience Level
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Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Staffing & Recruiting
- Marketing & Advertising
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in associate media planner jobs.
- Bachelor's degree in advertising, marketing, communications, or a related field
- Proficiency in media planning and buying software such as MediaOcean or Prisma
- Understanding of digital media metrics including CPM, CPC, CTR, and ROAS
- Experience with paid social, programmatic, or search advertising platforms
- Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills for budget tracking and reporting
- Familiarity with syndicated research tools such as Nielsen, Comscore, or MRI-Simmons
Tips for Your Associate Media Planner Job Search
Tailor your resume to media math
Hiring managers for associate media planner roles scan for comfort with CPM, CPC, GRP, and reach-and-frequency calculations. Surface those terms in your resume's skills section and weave concrete examples into your bullet points so they aren't buried.
Highlight platform certifications you hold
Certifications in paid search, programmatic display, or social advertising platforms signal hands-on fluency. List them in a dedicated section near the top of your resume so a recruiter skimming for tool experience sees them without hunting.
Apply early to roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists associate media planner openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.
Filter by channel specialty before applying
Job postings for associate media planners often skew toward one channel: paid social, audio, out-of-home, or programmatic. Match your strongest channel experience to the posting's emphasis rather than applying broadly and hoping your general background translates.
Prepare a media plan sample for interviews
Many associate media planner interviews include a case exercise where you allocate a hypothetical budget across channels. Practice building a one-page flowchart with rationale so you can walk an interviewer through your targeting and weighting decisions clearly.
Negotiate start date around campaign cycles
Agencies and in-house teams often plan budgets quarterly. If you receive an offer, ask which planning cycle is upcoming and frame your preferred start date around it, showing awareness of the planning calendar and reducing your ramp-up time.
Associate Media Planner Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies are hiring the most associate media planners?
Onescreen, FINN Partners, and Wpromote are hiring the most associate media planners right now, with openings concentrated in Massachusetts, Texas, and Florida, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Agency holding companies and large in-house marketing teams tend to post the highest volume of openings at this level.
How many associate media planner jobs are remote?
About 100% of associate media planner openings are fully remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting the shift toward distributed agency and in-house teams. Digital channel roles, particularly programmatic and paid social planning, tend to offer the highest share of remote flexibility compared to traditional or out-of-home planning positions.
How do you become an associate media planner?
Start with a bachelor's degree in advertising, marketing, or communications, then build hands-on experience through internships at an agency or in-house marketing team. Earn certifications in paid search or social advertising platforms to demonstrate channel fluency. Entry-level media coordinator or media assistant roles are the most common stepping stones into an associate media planner position.
How do you get hired as an associate media planner with little or no experience?
Focus on internship experience at an agency, even if it was brief, and lead with any campaign work you contributed to, including class projects with real media budgets. Employers hiring at the associate level value demonstrated comfort with media math and planning tools over years of tenure, so certifications and a sample media flowchart can offset a thin work history.
What does the associate media planner interview process look like?
Most associate media planner interview processes include an initial recruiter screen, a hiring manager conversation focused on media fundamentals and channel knowledge, and a skills exercise where you build or critique a media plan. Some agencies add a final panel with account or strategy team members. The exercise is the most common filter, so preparing a sample allocation with clear rationale is essential.
Where can I find and apply to associate media planner jobs?
You can find and apply to associate media planner jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States. Search the listings to find roles that match your channel experience and seniority level, then apply directly to each position that fits.
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