Senior Media Planner/Buyer (Fixed-Term Maternity Cover) in Chesterfield

Step into a senior planning and buying role with real ownership, covering maternity leave on a live, established portfolio.

Location: Chesterfield

Job Type: Full Time, Fixed Term Contract (Maternity Cover), 35 hours per week

Contract Length: 12 months (exact dates TBC)

Salary: £30k - £35k dependent on experience

Working Model: Hybrid (3 days in office, 2 remote)

Benefits: Employment Ownership Trust (EOT) tax-free company bonus scheme; flexible working; gym membership; regular team building events and socials.

Career & Personal Development: Learning and development programme, continuous professional development opportunities, well-being programme.

Join the award-winning team at CNS Media Ltd, where creativity, collaboration and results drive everything we do. As we continue to grow across our Chesterfield, Manchester and Birmingham offices, we're looking for a Senior Media Planner/Buyer to step into a live portfolio of client accounts, covering maternity leave with real ownership of channel strategy and buying decisions.

The Role

• You'll work closely with our Sales, Client Success and Creative teams, with real ownership over channel strategy, budget allocation and supplier negotiation for the duration of the contract.
• This is a role for someone who combines strategic thinking with hands-on buying experience, and who can pick up an established portfolio quickly with minimal disruption to clients.
• This maternity cover role offers the opportunity to lead a live, fast-paced media planning and buying portfolio, ensuring smooth and efficient strategy delivery over a 12 month period.

What You'll Be Doing

• Develop multi-channel media strategies (TV, Radio, Press, OOH, digital, broadcast) aligned to client budgets and objectives.
• Plan and book campaigns across these channels, negotiating with media owners and suppliers to secure competitive rates and added value.
• Oversee campaign delivery end to end, ensuring plans are booked, trafficked and optimised on time, and manage the day-to-day of assigned client accounts.
• Provide senior planning support to Account Managers, including presentations, planning information and campaign insight.
• Analyse campaign performance and prepare post-campaign analysis, translating data into clear, actionable client reporting.
• Gather and present media insight and market research to inform client strategy, keeping the agency's media knowledge current on emerging channels and rate trends.
• Build strong relationships with media owners, agencies and internal stakeholders.
• Support the wider planning team with tasks including campaign setup, QA and reporting against deadlines.
• Oversee contract billing administration for the team, and lead or contribute to process improvement initiatives.

What We're Looking For

• Proven experience in media planning and buying, ideally agency side, across TV, Radio, OOH, Press and digital.
• TV planning experience (highly desirable).
• Strong track record of negotiating with media owners across multiple channels.
• Confident using media planning and buying tools and audience data sources.
• Comfortable presenting strategy and performance directly to clients.
• Strong analytical and numeracy skills, able to turn campaign data into a clear narrative.
• A collaborative approach, with the ability to guide and support less experienced planners.
• Able to manage workload and deliver to deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• A genuine interest in where media is heading and how that changes client advice.
• Experience in content creation would be beneficial.

CNS Media is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and encourage you to apply even if you don't tick every box above.