Director of Media Strategy and Execution

The Director of Media Strategy & Execution is a senior level leader who sets the strategic path to grow brand sales, awareness, and traffic by leading the creation, facilitation, and execution of best-in-class omnichannel media plans across the Bloomin Brands portfolio. Harnessing the broadest meaning of "media" this role will lead a full suite of marketing communications solutions including traditional and digital media, tentpole integrations, cultural activations, content, tech innovation, influencer marketing, digital partnerships, and Real Time Marketing.

This role is a key strategic partner to brand leadership who will leverage all tools at their disposal including research, analysis of media consumption habits, industry trends, and competitive insights to ensure that our paid media campaigns reach the right audience at the right time with the right message to deliver on our business objectives.

We are looking for a naturally curious, digital-first, data-led marketer with a deep understanding of category media consumption, behaviors, platform evolution and multi-touch measurements. Someone who can harness a blend of creativity, science, psychology, tech-savvy, and innovation. This role will allow you to flex your media prowess in service of solving big brand and business challenges. This role reports directly to the VP of Digital Marketing & Media, with a team of (3) direct reports and will own the day-to-day relationship with our Media AOR.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Provide strategic direction to media agency by distilling brand objectives into media strategies

Oversee a team of integrated media professionals and foster a culture of positivity, enthusiasm, inclusion, and relentless

excellence

Challenges the limits of conventional ways of defining what media's role is in the marketing ecosystem and crafts narratives, channel approaches and strategies that are progressive and innovative

Collaborate with media agency to develop quarterly media plans, determine appropriate media mix and role of channel, and present recommendations to the brand marketing leads

Partner with Media Agency, Digital Analytics. Modeling, and Consumer Insights teams

Synthesize industry trends, performance data, and other resources to inform strategies, audience development, test & learn opportunities, optimizations, and measurement frameworks

Work across brand and agency teams, fostering communication and cross channel strategy, fluidity, and transparency

Develop and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders and initiative leaders across the organization

Act as a liaison between media auditor, media agency, and Bloomin Brands, and incorporate audit findings into future recommendations and buy stewardship

Manage monthly media budget by ensuring media plans are aligned to brand budgets

Brings powerful thought leadership to consult on complex issues and applies new media and technology in to ensure final product is best-in-class

Develop a tight partnership with all departments, buying groups and creative agency to ensure a strong, positive, collaborative environment driving brand and business success

Oversee the mapping of cultural and market trends, leverage these in service of reaching business and brand goals, and advocate for solutions across all touchpoints

Take high-level communications tasks and identify how the brands should innovate and behave in different media and cultural spaces

Drive big brand ideation across teams and partner agencies

Develop and brief partnership strategy, content strategy, influencer strategy and sponsorship strategy in service of brand building (brand partnerships, media partnerships, event sponsorships, content)

Show off your storytelling prowess with presentations that bring your media plan to life

Develop and maintain strong working relationships with media vendors for smooth planning, execution, and implementation

REQUIREMENTS

Deep knowledge and experience with multi-channel channel marketing, with an emphasis on Paid Social, Video (Linear/FEP/CTV), Programmatic, and Paid Search

Detail oriented, strong business acumen, financial analysis skills, and strategic skills

Ideally, managing media budgets +$5MM

Deep knowledge and experience with multi-channel marketing and channel roles in brand marketing

Understands the modern traditional and digital media and marketing channel ecosystem and knows how to optimize POE plans to build brands and improve outcomes

Strong experience with brand building & demand generation media approaches and measurement solutions

Ability to deliver strong points of view and counsel to senior stakeholders listen

Proven leadership ability - managed a team of planners, strategics and analytics

Proven ability to interact with people at all levels of an organization, fostering strong cross-functional teamwork and results

Strategic thinking ability with balanced analytical and creative approach to tactical planning

Experience successfully bringing together people from different disciplines, internal and external to achieve desired outcomes

Research experience: working with data and information to draw conclusions

Commitment to delivering creative and innovative solutions and building advocacy for ideas

Excellent communication and presentation skills (both written and verbal)

Qualifications

10+ years experience in media strategy, planning and buying (agency or client side) required

Experience with restaurant/hospitality or retail verticals preferred

Passionate about data, analytics and digital combined with a good solid knowledge of traditional media (television, OOH, radio, etc.) as well

Excellent verbal and written skills. Highly articulate and persuasive in communications (i.e., clear, concise, and understandable)

Comfortable leading and galvanizing a team toward common goal

Experience with advanced analytics and media performance with ability to analyze and understand results and make strong insights

Ability to think strategically and critically, anticipating the output and goals of all projects

Insatiably curious and capable of devising and recommending media experiments and tests

Not intimidated by ambiguity or problems without established best practice solutions

Experience leading a full spectrum media solution - partnerships, content, tentpoles, influencer campaigns.

You're a dynamic, creative thinker who can flex both their right-and-left hand sides of their brain, depending on the day and how much coffee you've had

EDUCATION

Bachelor's degree, preferably in Marketing, Communications, Social Sciences, or Business administration