| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Media and Advertising |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Media Director |
| Direct reports | Media Planner, Media Buyer |
| Experience | 6 to 9 years in media planning or buying, with 2 or more years leading a media team |
Media Manager job description template
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Job title: Media Manager
Department: Media and Advertising
Reports to: Media Director
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Media Manager leads the media team in an advertising or media agency. They set the media strategy for each client, decide the mix of TV, print, digital, outdoor and radio, sign off media plans and budgets, and make sure campaigns run and deliver as booked. The role manages media planners and buyers and answers to the client on reach, spends and results. A good one gets each rupee of media budget working hard and keeps delivery, billing and post-campaign reports clean.
Key responsibilities
- Set the media strategy for each client, based on the brand's audience, market and budget across TV, print, digital, outdoor and radio.
- Review and approve media plans built by planners, checking reach, frequency, channel mix and cost against the client's goals.
- Negotiate rates and deals with channels, publications, platforms and vendors, and approve the buys made by the media buying team.
- Manage the total media budget across clients, and make sure spends stay within the approved plan.
- Track campaign delivery against the booked plan, and fix under-delivery with make-goods or plan changes.
- Present media plans and post-campaign reports to clients, and explain results in terms the client cares about.
- Coordinate with the creative and servicing teams so assets reach each platform in the right format and on time.
- Check media invoices against bookings, and clear them for billing after delivery is confirmed.
- Lead planners and buyers, review their work, and train them on tools and negotiation.
- Track new platforms, ad formats and rates, and advise clients on where to shift spend.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in mass communication, marketing or commerce
- An MBA in marketing or media is an advantage
- Working knowledge of media planning and audience measurement tools
- 6 to 9 years in media planning or buying, with 2 or more years leading a media team
KRAs and KPIs for a Media Manager
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Media efficiency | Cost per reach point or per thousand kept at or below the plan on most campaigns |
| Delivery accuracy | Campaigns deliver at least 98 percent of booked impressions or spots, with make-goods for any shortfall |
| Budget control | Client media spends kept within the approved budget, with no unbilled overspend |
| Client retention | Media clients retained across the year with plans renewed on time |
| Billing accuracy | Media invoices matched to bookings and cleared within the finance timeline, with zero disputed bills |
| Team output | Plans and buys delivered by the team on schedule for every campaign cycle |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: BARC or comScore data, Media planning software, MS Excel, Google Ads and Meta Ads Manager, DSP dashboards.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Media Director, Head of Media
Interview questions for a Media Manager
- How would you split a limited media budget across TV, digital and outdoor for a regional launch in Gujarat?
- A campaign is under-delivering on impressions halfway through the flight. What do you do?
- How do you negotiate better rates with a channel when your client's budget is small?
- Walk me through a post-campaign report. Which numbers matter most to a client?
- How do you decide when to shift a client's spend from television to digital?
- How do you keep buys and invoices matched across several clients each month?
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What does a media manager do in an agency?
A media manager sets the media strategy for clients, decides the mix of TV, print, digital, outdoor and radio, approves plans and buys, and manages the media budget. They negotiate rates, track that campaigns deliver as booked, present results to clients and lead the planners and buyers on the team.
What is the difference between a media planner and a media manager?
A media planner builds the plan for a campaign: the channels, budget split, reach and frequency. A media manager sets the overall strategy, approves the plans and buys, owns the budget across clients and leads the team. The manager carries client and revenue responsibility that a planner does not.
What qualifications does a media manager need?
Most media managers in India have a degree in mass communication, marketing or commerce, and many add an MBA. What matters most is six or more years of hands-on planning or buying, knowledge of audience measurement tools like BARC, and a track record of running campaigns that deliver.