We're partnering with a leading financial services organization to hire an experienced Digital Advertising Specialist to support the planning, execution and optimization of paid digital media campaigns. This is a 6 month contract with the potential to extend. The ideal candidate can work 2 days/week in Mississauga. 

This role sits within a collaborative marketing team and will work closely with an external media agency, internal creative teams, product partners and analytics. It's an excellent opportunity for someone who understands the paid media ecosystem end to end and knows how to keep complex campaigns moving - from media planning and creative trafficking through launch, optimization and reporting.

The ideal candidate may come from either the agency or client side, although previous media agency experience would be a strong asset.

What You'll Do

Paid Media Campaign Management

You'll help manage digital advertising campaigns across channels including:

• Paid search
• Display
• Programmatic
• Online video
• Other emerging digital advertising channels

Please note: paid social is managed by a separate team and is not a primary focus of this role.

You'll support campaigns throughout their lifecycle, including:

• Translating marketing briefs and campaign objectives into actionable media requirements.
• Working with the media agency on media plans, recommendations and execution.
• Coordinating campaign timelines, budgets, creative assets and approvals.
• Maintaining trafficking documentation and ensuring the correct assets are delivered for launch.
• Monitoring campaign launches and resolving execution issues.
• Ensuring campaigns launch accurately and on schedule.
• Reviewing ongoing performance and identifying opportunities for optimization.
• Evaluating publisher, channel and creative tests.
• Providing recommendations based on campaign performance and business objectives.

Manage the Media Agency Relationship

The external media agency handles the hands-on execution of paid campaigns, but you'll play an important role in ensuring the work is executed effectively.

You'll:

• Maintain regular communication with agency partners.
• Keep campaigns, deliverables and timelines on track.
• Review and challenge media recommendations when appropriate.
• Hold partners accountable for campaign performance and execution.
• Ensure optimization opportunities are being identified and actioned.
• Help translate agency recommendations for internal stakeholders.

This role requires someone who understands media deeply enough to ask the right questions and challenge an agency, even when they aren't personally executing every campaign within the platforms.

Performance & Optimization

You'll participate in weekly, bi-weekly and monthly campaign reviews and use performance data to inform recommendations.

Working alongside analytics partners, you'll:

• Review campaign dashboards and reporting.
• Pull and interpret performance data.
• Identify trends and optimization opportunities.
• Assess creative and channel performance.
• Evaluate test results.
• Turn data into clear, actionable recommendations for marketing stakeholders and leadership.

You don't need to be an advanced analytics specialist, but you should be comfortable with data and confident using it to make decisions.

What We're Looking For

You'll ideally bring:

• Experience in digital advertising, paid media, media planning or campaign management.
• Previous media agency experience, either currently or earlier in your career.
• Strong understanding of the end-to-end media planning and campaign execution process.
• Experience working with external media agencies, publishers and/or media vendors.
• Knowledge of creative trafficking processes and campaign launch requirements.
• Strong experience with paid search, display, programmatic and/or digital video.
• Familiarity with platforms such as Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising/Bing.
• Experience interpreting campaign data, dashboards and performance reports.
• Strong understanding of campaign optimization and testing.
• Ability to manage multiple campaigns, stakeholders, deadlines and deliverables simultaneously.
• Confidence challenging recommendations and asking thoughtful questions of agency partners.
• Strong communication, organization and stakeholder-management skills.

Experience within financial services or another highly regulated industry would be an asset, but isn't required. Candidates coming from fast-paced agencies or other complex marketing environments are encouraged to apply.

Campaigns You May Support

The team manages a variety of digital advertising initiatives, including:

• Evergreen brand and product campaigns
• Product and service launches
• Promotional and seasonal campaigns
• Content-led initiatives
• Quarterly marketing campaigns
• Testing and optimization programs

Campaigns can involve significant media investment, so attention to detail, strong judgment and an understanding of how media decisions impact performance are important.

Who Could Be a Great Fit?

Relevant backgrounds and titles could include:

• Digital Advertising Specialist
• Paid Media Specialist
• Digital Media Specialist
• Media Planner
• Media Strategist
• Performance Marketing Specialist
• Search & Programmatic Specialist
• Digital Account Manager
• Media Account Manager

If you've worked at a media agency and are interested in bringing that experience client-side - or currently manage agency partners and want greater ownership of campaign strategy and performance - this could be a great next step.