Associate Media Planner

Media Buyer (Contract)

Location: Irvine, CA (Hybrid or Remote Available)
Contract Length: 1 year initial contract
Pay: Starting at $50/hr

The Fountain Group is hiring for a prominent client in the pharmaceutical industry. We’re looking for an organized, detail-driven media professional to translate media plans and new business initiatives into compliant, execution-ready campaigns.

About the Role
You’ll work closely with Media Planners, Media Managers, Operations, Finance, Procurement, Legal, Data Privacy, vendors, and account teams. You’ll coordinate contracting, campaign activation, documentation, financial tracking, and issue resolution. You’ll clarify requirements and dependencies, keep accurate records, flag risks to timing, budget, compliance, and resourcing, and support ongoing optimization across media initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the development and implementation of media strategies, plans, and activation recommendations alongside Media Planners and Media Managers.
• Own and maintain campaign documentation, including media calendars, contracting status trackers, finance and invoice trackers, creative trackers, buy authorizations, work orders, insertion orders, and purchase-order records.
• Coordinate end-to-end media contracting and change requests, including intake, vendor onboarding, work-order development, data-privacy requirements, QA, signature routing, system submission, approvals, and final filing.
• Coordinate campaign activation and advertising-material trafficking: confirm specifications and handoffs, monitor launch readiness, verify placements are live, collect proof-of-performance screenshots, and maintain accurate campaign records.
• Serve as a day-to-day contact for media vendors and internal partners across Procurement, Legal, Data Privacy, Finance, Operations, and account teams, clarifying next steps, owners, and dependencies and resolving issues promptly.
• Track and report campaign spend, budget status, purchase orders, invoices, monthly amounts, savings, and variances; reconcile records and escalate financial risks or discrepancies.
• Ensure work complies with pharmaceutical, privacy, procurement, contracting, and media-delivery requirements.
• Support reporting, optimization, and planning discussions by gathering launch updates, placement documentation, vendor inputs, and campaign-status information.
• Provide day-to-day executional support to Media Planners and Media Managers, help establish efficient intake-driven workflows, and contribute to onboarding or guidance for junior team members and interns as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, communications, or a related field
• 2–4 years of experience in marketing, healthcare, media planning, media buying, campaign operations, or a related field
• Exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, sound judgment, and the ability to manage multiple deadlines and dependencies
• Understanding of media channels
• Ability to coordinate between internal and external stakeholders
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365, especially Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and shared tracking tools
• Excellent written and verbal communication, vendor-management, and cross-functional relationship-building abilities
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, regulated environment, proactively escalating risks and resolving issues