Media Buyer Job Description Templates for In-House Teams and Agencies
6 free templates covering in-house, performance, agency, traditional, junior, and contract media buying, with pay benchmarks, overtime classification, and the spend controls most small companies skip. Download as DOCX.
The first media buyer job description I ever wrote was useless, and I found out why in the interviews. Every candidate asked the same question inside the first five minutes: how much am I actually spending? I had written four paragraphs about collaboration and data-driven decisions and had not put a single dollar figure on the page.
That is the defining feature of this hire. A media buyer is the one marketing role whose seniority is measured almost entirely by the size of the budget they have been trusted with. A posting that hides the number attracts people who have never run one and repels the people who have.
At FirstHR we write hiring templates for companies without a dedicated HR person, and this page covers the six versions of the role that small teams and small agencies actually hire: an in-house generalist, a performance buyer, an agency buyer, a traditional buyer, a junior assistant, and a contractor. The rest of our hiring templates follow the same structure.
TL;DR
A media buyer commits your ad budget to specific inventory at a negotiated price and answers for the return. Federal wage data has no media buyer occupation; the nearest classification reported a median of $78,760 with a 25th to 75th band of $58,350 to $108,310 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
What a Media Buyer Actually Owns
A media buyer owns the money: where it goes, what it costs, whether it delivered, and what it returned. Everything else in the role is a consequence of that. The work runs on a repeating loop of plan, negotiate, execute, and reconcile, and the reconcile step is the one small companies forget to hire for.
What the job looks like day to day depends almost entirely on the channel mix, because buying an auction impression and buying a radio schedule are different trades that happen to share a title. Most small business buyers now do both.
Paid search and paid social
Auction-based, self-serve
There is no rate to negotiate here, so the buying skill is bid strategy, audience structure, creative testing, and pacing. Most small business media buyers spend the majority of their week in this lane, which is why the role now overlaps heavily with paid search management.
Programmatic display, video, and connected TV
Negotiated and auction hybrid
Inventory is bought through a platform or a partner, with private marketplace deals negotiated directly. Placement quality, exclusion lists, and fee transparency matter as much as price, because a cheap impression nobody saw is not cheap.
Broadcast, cable, and radio
Rate card and relationship
Rates are negotiated with a station representative, orders are confirmed by insertion order, and delivery gets verified after the fact. Cancellation deadlines are real, and make-goods for underdelivery only arrive if someone checks the affidavit.
Out-of-home, print, and local
Long lead times, fixed inventory
Boards, transit, local print, and sponsorships are booked weeks or months ahead against fixed availability. The buying advantage comes from knowing which inventory goes unsold and when, which is a relationship built over years.
Put the Budget Number in the Posting
The single highest-leverage line in a media buyer job description is the monthly spend under management. It filters candidates more accurately than years of experience, degree requirements, or any list of platforms, because a buyer who has run a large budget will not apply to a posting that hides the number and a buyer who has not will apply regardless. Writing it down also forces an internal decision you would otherwise make badly in an interview.
Buyer, Planner, and Paid Search Manager Are Not the Same Seat
The planner decides where the money should go, the buyer secures it at a price, and the paid search manager operates the platform accounts day to day. At a large agency those are three people. At a company of thirty they are usually one person, and the posting has to say which parts of the job are real.
Confusing them is expensive in both directions. Hire an execution-focused buyer for a role that actually needs strategy and you get flawless orders against a plan nobody built. Hire a strategist for a role that is mostly reconciliation and pacing and they leave inside a year.
Role
Owns the plan?
Negotiates?
Where it fits at a small company
Media planner
Yes, builds allocation and flighting
No
Rarely a standalone hire below agency scale
Media buyer
Sometimes, depends on the seat
Yes, rates and terms
The core hire once monthly spend is meaningful
Paid search manager
No, operates within the plan
No, auction channels only
The hire when spend is digital-only
Media supervisor or director
Yes, plus team and client portfolio
Yes, escalations
Only at agencies or larger in-house teams
Assistant or junior buyer
No
Small buys under supervision
Support seat under an existing buyer
If your spend is entirely in auction channels, the role you want is closer to our PPC manager templates. If the seat carries a team or a client portfolio, look at the media director templates instead.
For the support seat under a working buyer, the media assistant templates cover it. Our breakdown of the advertising agency org chart shows how the whole ladder fits together, which is worth a look before you decide which rung you are actually hiring for.
What Belongs in the Posting
A media buyer posting does four jobs: it qualifies candidates by budget scale, it defines the seat against the adjacent roles, it protects the company on classification and account ownership, and it closes the hire. Most postings only attempt the last one. Here is the full inventory.
The numbers that qualify candidates
Monthly or annual budget under management
Channel mix, named specifically
The efficiency target the role is judged on
Who approves spend above a threshold
The duties that define the seat
Planning versus executing an approved plan
Negotiation authority with vendors
Reconciliation and invoice ownership
Reporting cadence and audience
The parts that protect you
FLSA classification stated on the posting
Essential functions written plainly
Equal opportunity statement
Company ownership of ad accounts and data
The parts that close the hire
Pay range and how bonus is calculated
Tools and budget the buyer will actually control
Who they report to and who they work with
A named contact and a real timeline
The omission that costs the most is approval authority. Candidates want to know what they can commit without asking, and finance wants to know the same thing from the other direction. Write the threshold into the posting. Our general guide to writing a job description covers the surrounding structure in more depth.
6 Media Buyer Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: company overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields and the blank dollar figures are the only parts you need to change.
Download All 6 Media Buyer Job Description Templates
In-house, digital performance, agency, traditional, junior assistant, and freelance contract. All in one download.
In-House Media Buyer
First paid media hire
The generalist role for a company bringing buying in house, with budget ownership, negotiation, pacing, and reconciliation in one seat.
Digital / Performance Buyer
Efficiency target owner
For direct response and e-commerce spend, written around a stated cost per acquisition or return target rather than a channel list.
Agency Media Buyer
Client-facing, multi-account
For agencies: executing approved plans across accounts, presenting post-buys, and keeping the billing file ready for a client audit.
Traditional Media Buyer
Broadcast, print, out-of-home
For local and offline schedules, with rate negotiation, affidavits, make-goods, and per-market clearance rules called out.
Junior / Assistant Buyer
Entry level, hourly
For the training seat: order entry, traffic, reporting, and reconciliation, with the non-exempt classification stated plainly.
Freelance / Contract Buyer
Retainer or project
A scope of work rather than a job posting, with account ownership, rebate disclosure, and the contractor test spelled out.
Template 1: In-House Media Buyer, First Paid Media Hire
The generalist version for a company bringing buying in house, with budget ownership, negotiation, pacing, and reconciliation in a single seat.
Media Buyer Job Description (In-House, First Paid Media Hire)
MEDIA BUYER JOB DESCRIPTION (IN-HOUSE)
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Owner / Marketing Manager / Head of Growth]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: [Exempt / Non-exempt] (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year
Media budget under management: $_ per month
ABOUT [COMPANY NAME]
[Company Name] is a [industry] business in [City, State] selling [product or
service] to [customer type]. We spend roughly $_ a month on advertising
across [paid search, paid social, programmatic display, local broadcast]. This
is our first dedicated media buying hire, and the person in this seat will own
that budget end to end.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Media Buyer plans, negotiates, places, and optimizes our paid advertising
across all channels. You decide where the money goes, secure the inventory at
the best available rate, keep spend inside the approved budget, and report on
what each dollar returned.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Build the monthly and quarterly media plan against agreed targets
•Negotiate rates, placements, added value, and terms with vendors and platforms
•Issue and track insertion orders, contracts, and cancellation deadlines
•Set up, monitor, and optimize campaigns across [channels]
•Manage pacing so budgets land inside plan, not over and not under
•Reconcile invoices against delivery and chase make-goods on shortfalls
•Report weekly on spend, delivery, cost per [acquisition / lead], and return
•Keep a tested creative and audience roadmap with [design / agency partner]
•Maintain records of every buy, rate card, and contract in our systems
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years buying paid media with real budget accountability
•Demonstrated ability to negotiate rates and hold a vendor to delivery
•Comfort with analytics, attribution limits, and spreadsheet reconciliation
•Clear written reporting for a non-marketing audience
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read before posting)
Classification turns on primary duty and authority, not on the title. A media
buyer who independently sets allocation, negotiates terms, and commits company
money on significant purchases is doing the kind of work the administrative
exemption contemplates, and federal regulation treats purchasing agents with
authority to bind the company as generally meeting those duties requirements.
The salary basis and salary level tests still apply: $684 per week, $35,568 a
year, under current federal rules. A buyer who only executes a plan someone else
approved is likely non-exempt and owed overtime past forty hours in a week. Your
state may set a higher salary floor. This is general information, not legal
advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [bonus structure], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and one example of a
buy you negotiated down.
Template 2: Digital / Performance Media Buyer
Written around a stated efficiency target rather than a channel list, for direct response and e-commerce spend where the buyer is judged on cost per acquisition or return.
Digital / Performance Media Buyer Job Description
DIGITAL / PERFORMANCE MEDIA BUYER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Head of Growth / Marketing Director]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: [Exempt / Non-exempt] (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year
Monthly ad spend under management: $_
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] runs a [direct-to-consumer / lead generation / subscription]
model where paid acquisition is the growth engine. We are hiring a Digital Media
Buyer to own performance spend across paid search, paid social, programmatic
display, and [connected TV / streaming audio], measured against a target
[cost per acquisition / return on ad spend] of _.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Digital Media Buyer builds, launches, and scales paid campaigns against a
defined efficiency target, controls daily pacing and bidding, runs the creative
testing calendar, and reports performance in terms the finance side understands.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own daily spend across [channels] against a [CPA / ROAS] target of ________
•Structure accounts, audiences, and bidding for efficient scale
•Run a continuous creative testing calendar with clear win criteria
•Manage pacing so monthly spend lands within [percentage] of plan
•Buy programmatic inventory through [self-serve platform / demand-side partner]
•Watch placement quality, brand safety, and exclusion lists
•Reconcile platform spend against invoices and the finance ledger
•Report weekly on spend, blended and channel-level efficiency, and incrementals
•Keep clean documentation of account structure, naming, and tracking
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years managing at least $________ a month in digital ad spend
•Hands-on account structure and bidding experience across [channels]
•Fluency in tracking, attribution windows, and their honest limits
•Ability to explain a bad week without hiding behind platform dashboards
For agencies running multiple accounts: executing approved plans, presenting post-buy analyses, and keeping the billing file ready for a client audit. Pair it with the advertising manager templates when the seat above it is also open.
Agency Media Buyer Job Description (Client-Facing)
AGENCY MEDIA BUYER JOB DESCRIPTION (CLIENT-FACING)
Agency: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Media Supervisor / Media Director / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: [Exempt / Non-exempt] (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year
Client load: [number] accounts, combined billings of $_ per year
ABOUT [AGENCY NAME]
[Agency Name] is a [full-service / media / performance] agency in [City, State]
serving [client type]. Our media team places roughly $_ in annual
billings. We are hiring a Media Buyer to run buys across [number] accounts and
to be the person a client trusts with their money.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Agency Media Buyer executes approved media plans for assigned clients:
billing, and presenting post-buy results directly to the client.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Execute approved plans across [digital, broadcast, print, out-of-home]
•Negotiate rates, bonus weight, and added value with vendors and reps
•Issue insertion orders and track every cancellation deadline on the calendar
•Manage flighting, traffic instructions, and creative deadlines with vendors
•Reconcile vendor invoices against affidavits and delivery, and pursue
make-goods where delivery fell short
•Prepare post-buy analyses and present them to clients
•Keep the billing file audit-ready for client review
•Maintain vendor relationships without compromising client interests
•Support new business with rate research and preliminary cost estimates
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years in an agency media role across [channel mix]
•Track record negotiating with vendors and holding them to delivery
•Meticulous attention to reconciliation and billing accuracy
•Client-ready written and verbal communication
•[Bachelor’s degree in advertising, marketing, or communications preferred]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Agency buyer roles vary widely, and the exemption analysis follows the actual
work rather than the seniority label. A buyer who negotiates terms and commits
client money on significant purchases is doing exempt-type administrative work
if the salary tests are also met. A buyer whose day is trafficking, order entry,
and reconciliation under close supervision is non-exempt, and agency overtime is
real during pitch and planning season. Disclose any rebate, incentive, or
principal buying arrangement in your client contract; media transparency is a
contract issue you settle in writing rather than a matter of custom. This is
general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Agency Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [overtime eligibility if non-exempt],
[benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and the channel mix you
have bought most often.
Template 4: Traditional Media Buyer
For local and offline schedules across broadcast, cable, radio, print, and out-of-home, with rate negotiation, affidavits, make-goods, and per-market clearance rules written in.
Traditional Media Buyer Job Description (Broadcast, Print, Out-of-Home)
TRADITIONAL MEDIA BUYER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company or agency: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Media Director / Marketing Manager / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time / Part-time
FLSA status: [Exempt / Non-exempt] (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year
Markets covered: [list DMAs or metro areas]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] advertises in [number] local markets across [broadcast TV, cable,
radio, print, out-of-home, direct mail]. We are hiring a Traditional Media Buyer
who knows how to work a rate card, build a schedule that actually reaches our
customer, and hold stations to what they sold us.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Traditional Media Buyer negotiates and places broadcast, print, and
out-of-home advertising in assigned markets, manages schedules and traffic, and
reconciles delivery against what was ordered.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Research audience data and build schedules by market and daypart
•Negotiate rates, bonus spots, and added value with station and outlet reps
•Issue insertion orders and confirm receipt of traffic instructions
•Track flight dates, cancellation windows, and blackout periods
•Review affidavits and post-buy delivery against ordered ratings or impressions
•Claim make-goods and credits where delivery missed the order
•Reconcile invoices, resolve discrepancies, and approve payment
•Maintain rate history by outlet so the next negotiation starts informed
•Coordinate creative dubs, specs, and deadlines with production
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years buying [broadcast / radio / print / out-of-home]
•Working command of ratings, reach and frequency, and cost per point
•Strong negotiation record with station and outlet representatives
•Precision with schedules, deadlines, and reconciliation
Traditional buying is deadline-driven and seasonal, which makes classification
worth getting right before a heavy quarter rather than after it. A buyer with
genuine negotiating authority over significant spend generally fits the
administrative exemption if the salary tests are met. A buyer who processes
orders against a plan set elsewhere is non-exempt and owed overtime past forty
hours in a week. Political advertising, alcohol, cannabis, gambling, and
regulated financial or health products carry channel-specific rules and station
clearance requirements; confirm them per market before you commit a schedule.
This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [benefits summary], [travel expectations]
To apply, email __ with your resume and the markets you
know best.
Template 5: Junior / Assistant Media Buyer
The training seat: order entry, traffic coordination, reporting, and reconciliation, with the non-exempt classification stated plainly rather than assumed away.
Junior / Assistant Media Buyer Job Description (Entry Level)
[Company Name] is hiring an Assistant Media Buyer to support our buying team.
This is a training seat: you will learn the buy from the paperwork up, and the
path forward is to a full buyer role within [timeframe] once you can carry your
own accounts.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Assistant Media Buyer supports the buying team with order entry, traffic
coordination, reporting, and invoice reconciliation, and gradually takes on
smaller negotiations under supervision.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Enter and track insertion orders and maintain the buy calendar
•Send traffic instructions and confirm creative receipt with vendors
•Pull weekly delivery and pacing reports for the team
•Match invoices to orders, flag discrepancies, and route for approval
•Maintain rate cards, contact lists, and vendor files
•Build first-draft schedules for review
•Take on small negotiations with supervision as skills develop
•Keep campaign documentation clean and current
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Associate or bachelor’s degree / equivalent experience: set your bar]
•Comfort with spreadsheets and detail-heavy reconciliation work
•Clear written communication with vendors and internal teams
•Willingness to learn negotiation from the ground up
•[Number] internships or [number] years in an administrative marketing role
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Assistant and junior buyers are almost always non-exempt. The work is
supervised execution rather than independent judgment on matters of
significance, and a job title with buyer in it does not change the analysis.
Pay hourly, track hours honestly, and pay overtime past forty hours in a
workweek including the crunch weeks around flight starts and quarterly planning.
Unpaid internships that do the same work as this role are a separate risk; use
the Department of Labor primary beneficiary test before calling anyone an
intern. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, overtime at time and a half past 40 hours,
[benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 6: Freelance / Contract Media Buyer
A scope of work rather than a job posting, with account ownership, rebate disclosure, handover terms, and the contractor test spelled out. If the contractor is really running the whole digital function, compare it against the digital media specialist templates.
Classification: Independent contractor (see classification note)
Fee: $_ per month, or $_ per project
ABOUT THIS ENGAGEMENT
[Company Name] spends roughly $_ a month on paid media and does not need
a full-time buyer yet. We are engaging a contract Media Buyer to run the buying
function on a defined scope, with a clear handover if we bring the work in
house later.
SCOPE OF WORK
The contractor plans, negotiates, places, and optimizes paid media within the
approved budget, and delivers agreed reporting on an agreed schedule.
DELIVERABLES
•Media plan for each [month / flight], delivered by [date]
•Campaign build and launch inside our own ad accounts
•Negotiated rates and executed insertion orders with vendors
•Weekly pacing and performance report in an agreed format
•Monthly reconciliation of platform spend to invoices
•Documented account structure, naming conventions, and tracking setup
•Full handover package at the end of the engagement
TERMS THAT PROTECT BOTH SIDES
•All advertising accounts, pixels, and data assets are owned by [Company Name]
and the contractor is granted access, never ownership
•Media is billed to [Company Name] directly, not through the contractor,
unless a separate pass-through arrangement is signed
•Any vendor rebate, incentive, or commission is disclosed in writing
•Access is revoked within [number] business days of engagement end
•Confidentiality covers performance data, customer data, and rate terms
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Contractor status has to be real. If you set the schedule, require attendance
at internal meetings, supply the tools, direct the method, and treat the person
as part of the team indefinitely, that is an employee under the economic
reality factors that federal and state agencies apply, whatever the contract
says. Several states use a stricter test that presumes employee status unless
the work sits outside your usual course of business, which paid media rarely
does for a company that advertises continuously. Misclassification exposes you
to back overtime, taxes, and penalties. Use a written agreement, pay against
invoices, and revisit the arrangement if the engagement starts to look like a
job. This is general information, not legal advice.
HOW TO APPLY
Fee: $_ per [month / project], invoiced [schedule]
To submit a proposal, email __ with relevant experience,
your fee, and the budget range you typically manage.
Exempt or Non-Exempt: Classify the Buyer on Duties
A media buyer with genuine authority to allocate budget and commit the company to significant purchases generally fits the administrative exemption. A buyer who executes orders inside limits someone else set does not. The title is irrelevant to the analysis; the primary duty decides it.
The federal test has three parts, set out in the Department of Labor guidance on the administrative employee exemption: the employee is paid on a salary or fee basis at or above the standard level, the primary duty is office work directly related to management or general business operations, and that duty includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance. The current federal salary level under the Fair Labor Standards Act is $684 a week, which works out to $35,568 a year, after the 2024 increase was vacated in federal court and formally rescinded.
Junior Buyers Are Almost Never Exempt
The most common misclassification in a media team is the assistant buyer paid a small salary and treated as exempt because the word buyer appears in the title. Order entry, trafficking creative, pulling reports, and matching invoices to orders is supervised execution, not independent judgment on matters of significance. That role is non-exempt: pay hourly, track hours, and pay overtime past forty in a week, including the crunch weeks around flight starts and quarter-end planning. Reclassifying quietly after a complaint costs far more than paying correctly from the first day.
The regulation on administrative exemption examples is useful here because it addresses purchasing directly: purchasing agents with authority to bind the company on significant purchases generally meet the duties requirements, even when they consult management on large commitments. A senior media buyer negotiating annual terms with vendors is doing recognizably the same work.
Work the tests before the offer goes out rather than after a complaint. Our guides to exempt versus non-exempt classification and to overtime rules walk through each element and the records you should keep behind the decision.
What to Pay a Media Buyer
There is no media buyer occupation in federal wage data, so benchmarking means triangulating from the nearest classifications rather than reading a single number. The closest fit for most in-house and agency buying roles is the market research analyst and marketing specialist classification, which contains the search marketing strategist specialty.
Nearest Federal Classifications, National Medians
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a media buyer occupation. From the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), the nearest classifications are market research analysts and marketing specialists at a median annual wage of $78,760, advertising and promotions managers at $133,660, marketing managers at $166,790, and advertising sales agents, the people on the other side of the negotiation, at $64,820 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates).
Nearest classification
25th percentile
Median
75th percentile
When it fits a media buyer role
Market research analysts and marketing specialists
$58,350
$78,760
$108,310
Most in-house and agency buyer seats; contains the search marketing strategist specialty
Advertising and promotions managers
$91,370
$133,660
$201,050
Once the seat owns a department, a channel portfolio, or client relationships
Marketing managers
$123,020
$166,790
$216,410
Only when media sits inside a broader marketing leadership role
Advertising sales agents
$47,020
$64,820
$99,990
The sell side; useful context for what your counterparty earns
All figures are national annual wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025). A first in-house media buyer at a small company most often lands between the 25th and 75th percentiles of the specialist classification, which is $58,350 to $108,310, with the upper half reserved for someone who has genuinely carried a budget at your scale or larger. Publish a good-faith range wherever pay transparency laws apply, and keep the wording neutral, since the EEOC prohibits job advertisements that indicate a preference based on a protected characteristic.
Two adjustments matter more than geography. Budget scale moves the number most: a buyer running six figures a month commands well above the median regardless of title. Bonus structure is the second, and it should be tied to efficiency rather than to raw spend, because paying a percentage of budget rewards the one behavior you least want.
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Write account ownership and approval thresholds into the job description itself, not into a policy nobody reads. A media buyer is handed more spending authority on day one than almost any other early hire, and the controls that prevent a bad outcome are cheap to set up before the first campaign and expensive to retrofit afterward.
The company owns the ad accounts, always
The single most expensive mistake a small business makes with paid media is letting a buyer, a freelancer, or an agency create the ad accounts under their own business manager. When the relationship ends you lose the account history, the conversion data, the audiences you spent years building, and sometimes the ability to advertise at all while you rebuild from zero. Create every account under a company-owned business manager before the first campaign, grant the buyer access as a user rather than an owner, keep billing on a company payment method, and write account and data ownership into the offer letter or the contract. Then treat access removal as a step in offboarding with a deadline attached, not as a favor you ask for afterward.
Rebates, incentives, and who the buyer works for
Media buying sits on a structural conflict: the person spending your money has an ongoing relationship with the people selling the inventory. That is normal and it is how good rates get negotiated, but it needs daylight. Ask directly whether any vendor rebate, incentive, volume bonus, or commission flows to the buyer or the agency, and require written disclosure of anything that does. Where an agency buys inventory as principal and resells it to you, the price you pay is not the price they paid, and you are entitled to know which model you are in. Put the answer in the contract rather than in a conversation, and revisit it at renewal.
Approval thresholds beat trust
Set a dollar figure above which a buy needs a second signature, and set it low enough to matter. A buyer with a company card and no ceiling can spend a quarter of your annual budget in a bad weekend, and the platforms will not refund an auction. Practical controls for a small team: a monthly budget cap per channel, an approval threshold for any single insertion order, a daily pacing report that someone outside the marketing function actually reads, and a hard rule that invoices get reconciled against delivery before payment. None of this signals distrust. It signals that the budget belongs to the business.
Insertion orders, cancellation windows, and make-goods
Traditional and direct programmatic buys are contracts with dates in them. A cancellation window that passes quietly turns a campaign you no longer want into a bill you still owe, and underdelivery only gets credited if someone compares the affidavit to the order and asks. Require a shared buy calendar with every cancellation deadline on it, a reconciliation step before any invoice is approved, and a written make-good log. Ask candidates how they have handled a shortfall, because the answer separates people who place orders from people who hold vendors to them.
The Offboarding Half of the Problem
Access removal is the step small teams skip, and paid media is where skipping it hurts most. A departed buyer who still holds owner rights on a business manager, a payment method on file, or credentials to a vendor portal is a live risk long after the last day. Build the removal list at onboarding rather than reconstructing it during an exit, keep it attached to the employee record, and treat every account, portal, and payment credential as an item with a name and a deadline. This is general information, not legal advice.
Hiring a Media Buyer Without an HR Department
Media buyer hiring fails in three predictable places at small companies: the budget is left out of the posting, the role is quietly three jobs stacked together, and the access paperwork runs on memory. Each has a fix that costs nothing but a decision.
You are hiring for a budget you cannot yet describe
Most first media buyer postings at small companies are vague about the one number candidates care about most: how much money they will control. A buyer who has run six figures a month reads a posting with no budget stated and assumes it is small, so they do not apply. A buyer who has only run a few thousand a month applies to everything. State the monthly spend, the channel mix, and the efficiency target in the first paragraph of the posting. It filters harder than any list of required skills, and it forces you to decide internally what the budget actually is before a candidate asks you in an interview and hears you guess.
The role you posted is three different jobs
Small teams routinely write a media buyer posting that also expects creative production, landing page development, analytics engineering, and email marketing. Each of those is a real job, and stacking them produces either a generalist who does all four at a mediocre level or a strong buyer who leaves within a year. Decide which one is the actual bottleneck. If the constraint is that nobody is negotiating rates or watching pacing, hire a buyer and outsource the creative. If the constraint is that nobody is making ads, you need a different posting. Write the responsibilities you will actually hold the person accountable for, and delete the rest.
Access, ownership, and paperwork are handled by memory
A media buyer arrives needing access to advertising accounts, analytics, billing, creative files, and vendor portals, and leaves needing all of it removed on the last day. In between there are contracts, confidentiality terms, account ownership language, expense policy acknowledgments, and platform certifications with renewal dates. On a small team that lives in someone’s head until it does not. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence for every hire, with e-signature for the offer and the confidentiality terms, document management for contracts and certifications with renewal dates attached, task workflows for granting and revoking access, and an employee profile that shows what each person still holds. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Once the offer is signed, the work turns into a repeatable onboarding checklist with access grants, policy acknowledgments, and ownership language on it. Get that sequence right once and every subsequent marketing hire runs on the same track.
Key Takeaways
A media buyer commits the advertising budget to specific inventory at a negotiated price and answers for delivery and return, so the budget under management is the number that defines the seat.
Buyer, planner, and paid search manager are different jobs that small companies combine; say in the posting which parts the hire actually owns.
Federal wage data has no media buyer occupation, so benchmark to the nearest classification, where the 25th to 75th band of $58,350 to $108,310 (BLS OEWS, May 2025) brackets most small-business hires.
A buyer with real authority to allocate budget and commit significant purchases generally fits the administrative exemption; junior and assistant buyers are non-exempt and owed overtime.
Create every advertising account under a company-owned business manager, keep billing on a company payment method, and grant the buyer access as a user rather than an owner.
Set an approval threshold for single buys, require written disclosure of any vendor rebate or incentive, and reconcile invoices against delivery before payment.
A media buyer needs broad access on day one and thorough removal on the last one. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence for every hire, with e-signature for the offer and confidentiality terms, document management for contracts and certifications with renewal dates attached, and task workflows for granting and revoking account access. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a media buyer do?
A media buyer commits an advertising budget to specific inventory at a negotiated price and is accountable for what that spend returns. The work splits into four repeating steps: planning where the money should go, negotiating rates and terms with platforms or vendors, executing the buy through insertion orders and campaign builds, and reconciling delivery against what was ordered and paid for. In auction channels like paid search and paid social there is no rate to negotiate, so the skill shifts to bidding, audience structure, creative testing, and pacing. In broadcast, print, and out-of-home the negotiation is with a person, the order is a contract with cancellation deadlines, and delivery has to be verified after the fact. Most small business buyers now work across both, which is why the posting has to name the channel mix rather than assume it.
What is the difference between a media buyer and a media planner?
The planner decides where the money should go and the buyer secures it at a price. A media planner researches the audience, builds the channel strategy, sets budget allocation and flighting, and produces the plan the client or the executive team approves. The media buyer takes that approved plan, negotiates with vendors or platforms, issues the orders, manages pacing, and reconciles delivery. At large agencies these are two separate seats with separate career ladders. At a small company they are the same person, and pretending otherwise in a job posting sets up a candidate to discover in week two that half the job was not described. If your buyer will also build the plan, say so and pay for it, because plan ownership is the difference between an execution role and a strategy role.
How much does a media buyer make?
Federal wage data has no media buyer occupation, so you have to benchmark against neighboring classifications. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), market research analysts and marketing specialists reported a national median annual wage of $78,760, with a 25th percentile of $58,350 and a 75th percentile of $108,310. That classification contains the search marketing strategist specialty, whose reported job titles include digital media planner, and it is the closest fit for most in-house and agency buying roles. Above it sit advertising and promotions managers at a median of $133,660 and marketing managers at $166,790, which apply once the seat carries department or client-portfolio responsibility. Advertising sales agents, the people on the other side of the negotiation, reported a median of $64,820. Anchor a small business offer to the 25th to 75th band of the specialist classification and adjust for the budget under management.
Is a media buyer exempt or non-exempt under the FLSA?
It depends on the primary duty and the level of authority, not on the title. A media buyer who independently sets allocation across channels, negotiates terms, and commits company money on significant purchases is performing office work directly related to business operations with the exercise of discretion and independent judgment, which is the core of the administrative exemption. Federal regulation reinforces the point by treating purchasing agents with authority to bind the company on significant purchases as generally meeting those duties requirements. The salary tests still apply: $684 per week, which is $35,568 a year, under current federal rules, and several states set a higher floor. A junior or assistant buyer who enters orders, traffics creative, and reconciles invoices under close supervision is non-exempt and owed overtime past forty hours in a week. Classify on the actual day, document the reasoning, and revisit it when the role grows.
Should a small business hire a media buyer or use an agency?
The deciding factor is spend, not preference. Below roughly five thousand dollars a month, a full-time buyer cannot pay for themselves and a contractor or a small agency on a retainer is usually cheaper than the salary. Between five and thirty thousand a month, a contract buyer or a part-time hire tends to fit, because the work is real but not yet forty hours. Above roughly thirty thousand a month, an in-house buyer usually wins on economics and on speed, because the feedback loop between the product, the offer, and the buy gets much shorter. Whichever way you go, the controls stay the same: the company owns the ad accounts, billing runs on a company payment method, any vendor rebate or incentive is disclosed in writing, and access is revoked on the last day of the engagement.
What should be in a media buyer job description?
Eight things: the monthly or annual budget under management, the exact channel mix, the efficiency target the role is judged on, whether the buyer plans or only executes, the negotiation and approval authority with a dollar threshold, the reporting cadence and audience, the FLSA classification, and the pay range. The budget figure does more filtering than any list of required skills, because a buyer who has run six figures a month will not apply to a posting that hides it. Add the equal opportunity statement, a line stating that all advertising accounts and data are company property, and a named contact with a real timeline. The six templates on this page follow that structure, so the only parts you rewrite each time are the numbers and the channel list.
How do I onboard a media buyer without an HR department?
Run it as a fixed sequence rather than from memory, because a media buyer needs unusually broad access on day one and unusually thorough removal on the last day. The sequence: signed offer and confidentiality terms, written account and data ownership language, access granted as a user on company-owned advertising accounts, billing set to a company payment method, analytics and reporting access, vendor portal credentials, an expense and approval policy acknowledgment, and a documented list of everything they now hold. Set the approval threshold and the pacing report cadence in the first week rather than after the first overspend. FirstHR handles that sequence with an onboarding wizard, e-signature for the offer and policy acknowledgments, document management with renewal dates, and task workflows for granting and revoking access. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
