Director, Media Strategy

Overview

First Horizon is seeking a Director of Media Strategy & Activation to lead the evolution of our media function into a modern, strategic, and integrated media engine. This role will serve as the internal leader for media strategy, responsible for translating business objectives into clear, full-funnel media plans that drive both brand impact and business outcomes.

The Director will partner closely with our media agency of record to co-develop media strategies, ensuring a strong point of view, clear direction, and alignment across all stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Media Strategy & Integrated Planning
- Translate business goals and marketing objectives into clear, actionable media strategies
- Define audience approach, channel mix, investment strategy, and phasing across the funnel
- Lead development of annual, quarterly, and campaign-level media plans, including investment allocation, channel roles, and phasing across the funnel
- Ensure media strategies clearly connect media KPIs to business outcomes, with a strong understanding of how channel performance drives broader business goals
- Provide POV on creative strategy within media, including messaging alignment, creative rotations, format selection, and ensuring the right message is delivered in the right place at the right time
- Partner with media agency to co-develop integrated media plans
- Establish and communicate a strong POV on what we should and should not be doing in media
Agency Leadership & Governance
- Serve as the primary internal lead for the agency relationship
- Partner with agency to co-develop strategy, challenge thinking, and ensure alignment between media approach and business objectives — not operate in a purely executional or handoff-based model
- Provide clear direction, feedback, and accountability to agency partners
- Establish and manage ways of working, including planning cadence, communication structure, and decision-making frameworks
- Ensure agency output aligns with business priorities, brand standards, and performance expectations
Cross-Functional Leadership & Integration
- Partner closely with:
  - Integrated Marketing & Regional Marketing
  - Brand & Content Strategy
  - Social & Community
  - Digital Experience (Website)
  - Analytics & MarTech teams
- More specifically, partner with brand, creative, content, digital, and analytics teams to ensure media activations reflect:
  - brand positioning
  - messaging and creative strategy
  - localized execution where appropriate
  - on-site experience and path-to-conversion (e.g., landing pages, CTAs, branch/locator integration)
- Lead cross-functional planning and alignment sessions
- Ensure media strategies are fully integrated with content, creative, and customer experience
Audience & Data Strategy
- Define and guide audience strategy within the broader marketing ecosystem, ensuring alignment across media, content, CRM, and digital experience (supporting segmentation frameworks as needed)
- Partner with analytics and martech teams to leverage first-party data, targeting, and activation capabilities
- Ensure consistent and strategic use of audience insights across campaigns
Performance, Measurement & Optimization
- Define KPIs, measurement frameworks, and success criteria for media initiatives
- Ensure alignment between media KPIs and broader business objectives, clearly articulating how performance metrics ladder up to business impact
- Lead a structured test-and-learn agenda (A/B testing, incrementality, geo-testing, etc.)
- Partner with analytics teams on attribution, modeling, and performance insights
- Translate data into clear recommendations and next steps
Media Operations & Execution Oversight
- Establish clarity around media operations, trafficking, asset management, and tagging
- Partner with internal teams to ensure seamless execution across media, creative, and project management
- Support development of media documentation, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting processes
Strategic Leadership & Role Scope
- Serve as a key strategic partner to the Head of Brand Strategy & Activation, helping shape direction across media, channels, and broader activation efforts
- Act as a connector across the marketing ecosystem, bringing together brand, content, channels, data, and experience into a cohesive approach
- Bring a strong point of view on how the marketing ecosystem operates as a whole, not just media in isolation

Qualifications

8–12+ years of experience in media strategy, connections planning, or integrated marketing
Experience working in or closely with agency partners (agency or hybrid background preferred)
Strong understanding of the broader marketing ecosystem, including how media, content, creative, digital experience, CRM, and data work together
Strong understanding of full-funnel media strategy, including both brand and performance marketing
Proven ability to think strategically across channels, audiences, and customer journeys
Experience partnering with analytics, data, and martech teams
Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
Ability to operate in a cross-functional, matrixed environment
Familiarity with the evolving media landscape, including AI, search (SEO/GEO), and data/privacy changes

What Success Looks Like

Clear connection between media performance and business outcomes
Strong internal POV and leadership presence that reduces reliance on external partners for direction
Media transitions from a reactive, executional function to a proactive, strategic capability
Clear and consistent media strategy and direction across campaigns and initiatives
Strong, effective partnership with agencies
Improved alignment across media, content, social, and digital experience
A defined and repeatable test-and-learn culture
More effective use of audience data and targeting
Greater clarity in measurement, performance, and optimization

About Us

First Horizon Corporation is a leading regional financial services company, dedicated to helping our clients, communities and associates unlock their full potential with capital and counsel. Headquartered in Memphis, TN, the banking subsidiary First Horizon Bank operates in 12 states across the southern U.S. The Company and its subsidiaries offer commercial, private banking, consumer, small business, wealth and trust management, retail brokerage, capital markets, fixed income, and mortgage banking services. First Horizon has been recognized as one of the nation’s best employers by Fortune and Forbes magazines and a Top 10 Most Reputable U.S. Bank. More information is available at www.FirstHorizon.com.

Benefit Highlights