Associate Director, Client Partnership - Media

WHY DEPT®? We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA. We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter. At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build. THE ROLE: We expect an Associate Director, Client Partnership to develop a deep understanding of the clients in their portfolio—their business, challenges, goals, competitive landscape, and opportunities for growth. You'll represent DEPT® as a trusted client partner, helping connect business priorities to media strategy and execution while driving alignment across teams and workstreams. This role will work closely across Paid Search, Paid Social, Programmatic, Strategy, Data Science, Data Tech, Creative, and other cross-functional teams. The ideal candidate combines strong client partnership skills with deep media expertise and the ability to connect the dots across channels, ensuring our work is cohesive, high-quality, and moving our clients' businesses forward. This is a remote, US-based role. Candidates located in the Pacific, Mountain, or Central time zones are preferred. WHAT YOU'LL DO CLIENT MANAGEMENT Partner with senior clients and internal teams to develop annual media strategies aligned with broader business objectives. Lead and participate in recurring meetings with client-side leadership focused on business performance, macro goals, industry trends, strategic opportunities, and opportunities to drive growth. Build strong relationships with key client stakeholders, developing a deep understanding of their business and serving as a trusted day-to-day partner. Drive client satisfaction, retention, and organic growth by proactively identifying needs, risks, and opportunities. Navigate and resolve issues that arise across accounts, exercising sound judgment on when to solve independently and when to escalate. Represent Client Partnership across client, vendor, and internal conversations and provide continuity across workstreams. TEAM PARTICIPATION & STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP Partner with media teams to drive integrated strategies and work that moves clients' businesses forward. Serve as connective tissue across Paid Search, Paid Social, Programmatic, Strategy, Analytics, Data Science, Data Tech, Creative, and other relevant workstreams. Ensure teams are operating as one integrated media organization rather than independent channel teams, identifying dependencies, opportunities, and risks across channels. Lead and contribute to strategic responses to briefs and develop strong POVs across media, data, technology, and emerging industry opportunities. Connect performance across channels, drawing conclusions and translating analysis into actionable insights and recommendations. Review cross-channel reporting and client-facing deliverables to ensure the work tells a cohesive story, answers the right business questions, and meets a consistently high quality bar. Challenge teams constructively when recommendations, reporting, or deliverables do not meet client or DEPT® standards. Proactively identify opportunities to improve collaboration, workflows, reporting, and operational consistency across teams. Contribute ideas and experience to the broader strategic process. Support employee retention, mentor junior team members, and contribute to direct reports' development, where applicable. OWNERSHIP & EXECUTION Excellent judgment under ambiguity. Makes progress without waiting for perfect requirements, exercises sound judgment independently, and knows when to escalate or seek additional input. Bias toward ownership. Proactively identifies problems and opportunities, defines success, and drives work to completion with limited oversight. Strong prioritization. Makes thoughtful tradeoffs across competing workstreams, client needs, and business priorities, particularly in fast-moving environments. High degree of autonomy. Independently owns recurring and ad hoc cross-channel workstreams while proactively identifying where senior leadership involvement will add the most value. Operational rigor. Maintains visibility across budgets, pacing, testing, reporting, deliverables, and other critical account workstreams, proactively identifying risks before they become client issues. COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION Excellent written and verbal communication. Produces clear documentation, concise performance updates, compelling narratives, and polished executive-ready client materials. Strong client presence. Confidently represents DEPT® in client conversations, communicates effectively with senior stakeholders, and can step into meetings with appropriate context and judgment. Strong stakeholder management. Builds trust and drives alignment across media, strategy, analytics, data, creative, and client teams, even when priorities compete. Cross-functional leadership. Connects people and workstreams that may not naturally operate together and drives shared accountability toward client outcomes. Comfort with rapid iteration. Incorporates new information, performance data, and feedback quickly and adapts recommendations as client and business priorities evolve. LEARNING & PROBLEM SOLVING Learning velocity. Demonstrated ability to quickly develop expertise across new platforms, verticals, products, and unfamiliar business challenges. Quality control instincts. Maintains a high bar for reporting, QA, client deliverables, and strategic recommendations, proactively identifying inconsistencies, pacing concerns, or gaps before they reach clients. Solutions-oriented mindset. Brings recommendations—not just problems—and is comfortable navigating complex issues without an obvious owner or solution. CROSS-CHANNEL EXPERTISE Strong media activation expertise. Deep understanding of Paid Search, Paid Social, and Programmatic and how these channels work together across the customer journey. Cross-LOB operator mindset. Understands how media workstreams connect across lines of business and proactively identifies opportunities to improve collaboration, consistency, knowledge sharing, and efficiency across the broader account. Cross-functional media understanding. Understands how activation connects to Strategy, Analytics, Data Science, Data Tech, Creative, and Measurement and can effectively translate between these disciplines. Performance orientation. Comfortable interrogating media performance, challenging recommendations, understanding budget and pacing implications, and asking the right questions of channel specialists without needing to be the hands-on activation owner for every platform. WHAT YOU BRING 5–7+ years of experience in client partnership, account management, media, or related roles within an agency environment, with demonstrated experience operating at a Senior Manager or equivalent level. Demonstrated experience managing relationships and workstreams across large, complex media accounts. Strong experience across Paid Search, Paid Social, and Programmatic, with the ability to connect performance and strategy across channels. Experience working across both brand and conversion/direct-response media strategies. Experience with media planning, campaign execution, budget management, forecasting, pacing, reporting, and performance analysis. Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and coordinate across media, strategy, analytics/data, creative, and other disciplines. Strong client relationship skills, including experience communicating with senior stakeholders and contributing to strategic planning. Experience translating complex media performance into clear, actionable client narratives and recommendations. Strong organizational and prioritization skills with the ability to lead multiple complex workstreams simultaneously. Excellent problem-solving skills and demonstrated judgment in ambiguous, fast-moving environments. Experience mentoring or developing junior team members; direct people management experience is a plus. WHAT DO WE OFFER? We are a collaborative, open-door, best-idea-wins environment that fosters personal and company growth and has fun doing it. Here is a snapshot of our benefits package: Healthcare, Dental, and Vision coverage 401k plan, plus matching PTO Paid Company Holidays Parental Leave WE SUPPORT YOU BEING YOU: DEPT® is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We believe our work is its best when our people feel safe and free to be themselves. We’re committed to an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment and selection process and workplace, regardless of anyone’s identity, background, beliefs, lifestyle or disabilities. So tell us about any accommodations you need. It’s totally confidential and only used to make sure you feel fully supported at every step. DEPT® participates in E-Verify, meaning your Form I-9 information will be sent to the federal government to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S. We are a B Corp-certified company passionate about purpose-driven work . Our hope is that you can feel good about the contributions DEPT® is making to the world and we always have an open door for your ideas in making the world a better place. 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. Learn more about DEPT® DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine. We also encourage you to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us. Want to know more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out our efforts here . #LI-Remote The anticipated salary range for this position is listed below. Salary is based on a range of factors that include relevant experience, expertise, physical location , and organizational impact. This is based on a 40-hour workweek and leveling. Keep in mind, we’re flexible. US Remote Range $105,000 — $135,000 USD