Senior Media Buyer

A typical week often involves senior placement negotiations, complex plan execution, performance review, and the steady cadence of cross-functional work — leading vendor negotiations on large or unusual buys, executing complex multi-channel plans, reviewing campaign performance across vendors, prepping client or executive briefings. You're often the senior negotiator with vendors who know the work as well as you do. Booked spend, cost efficiency, and campaign performance anchor the operating view.

Friction tends to come from the make-good cycle on senior buys — when major campaigns under-deliver, the negotiated remedies are substantial, and the senior buyer carries those conversations. Variance across employers is sharp: at major agencies senior buyers work within structured planning teams; at brand in-house teams the senior buyer tilts toward digital and programmatic with less linear-media volume.

Folks who do well here often bring deep vendor-relationship history, analytical attention to delivery, and disciplined negotiation craft. AAAA Media Academy and IAB credentials anchor advancement. The trade-off is the relentless campaign cadence of senior media work and the always-on character of large campaign delivery.