Media Activation Manager (Brand & Programmatic)

Who we are

Employment Hero is on a mission to make employment easier and more valuable for everyone. Our Employment Operating System brings hiring, HR, payroll and benefits into an all-in-one solution.

Since our inception in 2014, we’ve scaled to a $2 billion valuation and gained a presence in 6 countries globally - Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, the UK and Canada. We now service over 300,000 businesses and more than 2 million employees.

The EH Way

At Employment Hero, we’re proud of our unique DNA, which we call The EH Way.

1. We are Mission First - everything we do (from what we work on, to how we allocate capital and where we focus) is driven by our Mission
2. We are Remote First - we champion a remote environment with a preference for asynchronous communication and a high degree of autonomy
3. We are AI First - we are committed to using AI to accelerate our mission; AI is not just a tool, it’s a fundamental part of how we operate, innovate, and scale
4. We are Apolitical - we do not take a position on political or social topics, unless it relates to our Mission
5. We Live by Our Values - we role model our values 100% of the time
6. We Expect High Performance - we set a high standard and we’re not satisfied with being average

This role

We’re looking for a highly strategic and deeply hands-on Media Activation Manager to lead Employment Hero’s brand media planning, buying, and optimisation across Australia and New Zealand. This role owns our full-funnel brand media strategy, across traditional ATL and digital channels, and ensures our brand investment drives measurable brand health, prompted awareness growth, conversions, and revenue impact.

You must bring a strong understanding of the Australian and New Zealand media landscape, particularly across offline and ATL channels, including TV, BVOD, print, radio, audio/podcasts, OOH, and sponsorships. A solid grasp of the region’s evolving programmatic ecosystem (such as programmatic OOH, CTV, digital audio, and DSP-led buying) will be highly regarded.

You will bring an integrated media mindset: fluent in traditional ATL channels while also comfortable applying programmatic-first approaches to modernise and optimise buying. You’ll connect brand media with biddable performance channels to ensure holistic evaluation of media outcomes and support the advancement of our measurement maturity.

You will also play a key role in shaping the connection between strategy and storytelling - partnering with our ANZ Brand Lead and internal creative agency to influence “what to say” and build the corresponding “where to say it” media approach. This includes contributing to annual planning, quarterly ideation, and tactical brainstorming to ensure our media choices are tightly aligned with our brand messaging, creative direction, and major campaign moments.

This role is built for someone who thrives at the intersection of media strategy, tactical execution, seasonal storytelling, and creative market opportunities, someone who knows how to leverage key cultural, category, and legislative moments in Australia and New Zealand to strengthen our brand presence throughout the year.

This will include

Brand Media Strategy & Planning

• Develop Employment Hero’s annual AU/NZ brand media strategy, covering ATL, offline, digital, programmatic, and cross-channel media.
• Translate brand goals into quarterly media plans with clear KPIs tied to awareness, brand health, consideration, and revenue uplift.
• Build full-funnel frameworks that align brand media impact with performance media outcomes.

Channel Ownership: ATL + Programmatic

• Lead planning, buying and optimisation for:
• TV, BVOD, Radio, Audio/Podcasts
• Print, OOH, Transit, Cinema
• Sponsorships (sports,media)
• Programmatic channels (pDOOH, CTV, digital audio, sponsorship inventory via DSPs)
• Evaluate and adopt innovative programmatic buying methods to bring efficiency and targeting sophistication to traditionally offline channels.
• Maintain strong relationships with media owners, publishers, networks, and DSP partners.
• Day-to-day communication with top publisher accounts to ensure smooth campaign execution and resolve issues promptly.
• Collaborating with publishers to develop and test new creative formats and landing pages.

Tactical Market Opportunity Spotting

• Continuously monitor the AUNZ media landscape to spot upcoming cultural, seasonal, competitive, and trending opportunities.
• Recommend and activate relevant media moments including major sporting, cultural, and seasonal events, (e.g., sports finals, tennis season, F1, Supercars).
• Identify partnership and sponsorship opportunities aligned with big promotions or key internal campaigns (e.g., competitions, product launches).

Integration with Performance Media

• Align brand media decisions with paid social, search, native, and biddable channels.
• Use unified measurement frameworks to connect brand spend to downstream outcomes (e.g. conversion lift, demo volume, revenue impact).
• Partner closely with the Performance Media and Analytics teams to evaluate incrementality and optimise full-funnel sequencing.

Measurement, Reporting & Analytics

• Own brand media measurement: awareness lift, reach effectiveness, media quality, and ROI.
• Implement advanced tracking, MMM (media mix modelling), brand lift studies, and DSP reporting as needed.
• Present insights and recommendations to senior leadership with clear storytelling around media impact and forward actions.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner closely with the ANZ Brand Lead and internal creative agency to synchronise media strategy with messaging frameworks and creative assets, ensuring full alignment from planning through execution.
• Work with Creative, Content, PR, Sales, and Product Marketing teams to ensure brand messaging, campaign storytelling, and media placements are fully synced across channels.
• Collaborate with Sales and Events to connect sponsorships, partnerships, and major moments with commercial and brand objectives.
• Manage agency relationships when applicable.

Who you are

To thrive at Employment Hero, you’ll need to embody The EH Way - operating with focus, agility, and an obsession with impact. For this role, you’ll also bring

• 5+ years in media planning & buying across Australia and/or New Zealand, agency or in-house.
• Strong knowledge of the AUNZ media ecosystem, deep experience across ATL (media owners, networks, publishers, formats, pricing models, buying methodologies, seasonality and audience behaviours) channels and programmatic media.
• Proven track record building brand media frameworks and driving measurable brand growth.
• Experience with AUNZ programmatic channels (pDOOH, CTV, digital audio, programmatic video) is a strong plus.
• Proven ability to evaluate AUNZ-specific sponsorships, cultural events and media moments that drive brand relevance.
• Integrated media thinker with strong understanding of full-funnel marketing.
• Commercial and analytical mindset, comfortable connecting brand activity to business outcomes.
• Skilled at managing complex stakeholders, creative teams, and media partners.
• Adept at spotting cultural moments, evaluating sponsorships, and planning seasonal media.
• Innovative, curious, and proactive, constantly scanning the market for new media opportunities.
• Highly tactical and execution-focused, but also capable of stepping back to land strong strategic frameworks.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and building processes in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

What we can offer

At Employment Hero, we don’t just talk about a better way to work - we live it. Joining Employment Hero means

• You will work remotely, with the flexibility to own your time and impact
• You will access cutting-edge tools to amplify your work, knowledge and outputs
• You’ll surround yourself with ambitious, outcome-driven colleagues who challenge you to do the best work of your life
• You’ll own ESOP (employee share options) in one of the world’s fastest-growing tech companies
• You’ll also have access to a wide range of benefits that includes - a very generous parental leave policy, subsidised egg freezing (so you can make the choice that’s right for you, on your terms), a WFH office expense budget, and outstanding learning & development opportunities

We’re AI-first, so you may meet some of our AI tools early in the process. They help us cut the noise, surface great talent fast and make sure every candidate gets a fair, consistent experience.

At Employment Hero, we are committed to safeguarding the privacy of your application data. To understand how we do so, you can read our Applicant Privacy Policy here employmenthero.com/legals/applicant-policy/

Employment Hero celebrates diverse perspectives and experiences, we invite people of all backgrounds and identities to apply for this position.