Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:

The Senior Manager, Brand Media Strategy & Operations for the US will be responsible for breakthrough media campaigns supported by strategies & best practices from planning through to execution. This role is a managerial role, with responsibility managing people, cross-functional teams and external partners. Additionally, this role supports the Director, Brand Media Strategy & Operations in media strategy development, application of the media vision through campaign execution and media agency management. Day-to-day, this person will have a key role in intake, briefing, planning, execution, creative handover & adaptation, budgeting, and reporting in partnership with teams in Brand Communications, Performance Marketing, Newsroom/PR, Sports Marketing, Culture Marketing, Digital Innovation, Strategic Planning & Brand Health, and the US Media AOR.

This role will partner with Brand Communications teams closely to plan and execute with excellence, while elevating and finding ways to most effectively work with the agency.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work closely with Brand Communications teams to ensure plans enact sound strategies. Translate those into objectives and agency campaign briefs that inspire the AOR’s best thinking to deliver campaign targets and ultimately drive topline growth.
• Advise on media budget setting with Brand Communications teams and media agency, managing financial responsibility and tracking of POs.
• Review and manage feedback process of media plans to ensure adoption of best practices, thresholds, and overarching strategic direction.
• Drive custom media & content partnerships in addition to contributing to success of the creative handover process for campaign assets, briefing in creative adaptation needs to meet specifications of media plans in partnership with Brand Communications teams.

• Mentor junior media team member(s) and cross-functional stakeholders, identifying upskilling and growth opportunities to develop organizational talent and delver day-to-day executional excellence.
• Own timelines & project management milestones throughout the entire process of bringing media campaigns to market. Oversee workback schedules that ensure critical deliverables are met, internal stakeholders are accountable to deadlines and streamline workflow with the agency. Develop or evolve operational processes to improve ways of working.
• Develop and present presentations and plan overviews to NAM cross-functional partners and at times, senior leadership.
• Help manage the overall media relationship with the horizontal and category brand communications teams, acting as media expert and valued partner. Provide and share best practices and innovative opportunities, at times together with key cross-functional partner teams.
• Maintain key relationships with Global media team and international Market media teams to align approaches, find cross-market opportunities and share best practices.
• Act as a consultant for other teams that purchase media (ex: Trade Marketing).
• Identify opportunities in the media landscape to create impact among key consumer groups and give the brand competitive advantage. Build and maintain strong relationships with media partners and stay up to date on media trends to share broadly.
• Support Director, Brand Media Strategy and Operations and NAM senior leaders in agency resourcing, contract scope, and future proof planning for business needs/challenges.
• Collaborate with Strategic Planning & Brand Health to develop key media insights from annual MMM outputs, evangelizing learnings and informing brand strategy processes.
  
• Key Relationships:
• US Brand Activation and Digital Activation + Media leadership
• US Brand Communications, Horizontal and Business Unit Categories
• US Performance Marketing
• US Newsroom
• US Strategic Planning & Brand Health
• US Digital Activation
• US Sports Marketing (SpoMa)
• US Culture Marketing
• Global Media
• International Market Media
• Media AOR
• Media Partner Representatives
• Partner Agencies in content creation & creative adaptation

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills and high level of strategic thinking.
• Superior writing, research, presentation and organizational/project management skills, including the ability to work on several projects simultaneously with attention to detail.
• Experience in media strategy, media planning, media buying – with digital as key focus.
• Ability to manage and collaborate with internal and external cross-functional groups.
• Experience in managing, mentoring and growing the development of people.
• Understanding of available media tools and platforms.
• Skilled in using data to ground strategy, analysis and recommendations.
• Strong understanding of consumer messaging and brand reputation.
• Strong project and time management aptitude.
• General knowledge of the digital and media landscape and passionate about the sports apparel and footwear market, with broad understanding of consumers, competitors, style, entertainment and retail trends.

 Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• Degree in Marketing, Media, Communications, PR or a related field.
• 6-10+ years’ experience working in a media function role in a media agency or in house
• 1-3 years of direct people management experience
• Media agency experience preferred but not required.
• Fluent written and spoken English language skills.

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at adidas means championing individual uniqueness and cultivating a culture of belonging in which everyone can create at their best.  We embrace diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives and seek to create a workforce that reflects our consumers and communities. 
• adidas offers robust and progressive medical, including HSA (Health Savings Account) with employer funding or FSA (Flexible Spending Account) options, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, adoption, with surrogate and fertility support, short and long-term disability, and basic life and AD&D insurance, which can be supplemented with employee-paid coverage. Employees are able to enroll in adidas’ 401k plan and Stock Purchase Plan with employer match. Full-time employees are eligible for education assistance and generous Leave policies including 12 weeks of paid parental leave.  
• Employees are eligible to earn ​an annual bonus based on both company and personal performance.​ Employees accrue prorated flexible time off in the amount ​.4388​ hours per day that increases with years of service,  ​twelve​ paid holidays throughout the calendar year and Service Time Off during milestone years. 
• We officially returned to office in a hybrid work environment, working 3 days in office and 2 days remote.  The working location of this position is Portland, OR.   
• Though our teammates hail from all corners of the world, our working language is English.