Director, Media Intelligence & Measurement

Director, Media Intelligence & Measurement

About Thatcher Co.

Thatcher Co. is a strategic communications firm built for clients who refuse to settle for bloated retainers and buried accountability. We bring senior-level talent to every engagement, from Fortune 100 organizations and government entities to high-growth startups and leading nonprofits. Our model is deliberately lean: no layered management, no byzantine billing, no junior staff running your account behind the scenes. The result is long-term partnerships grounded in trust, speed, and measurable outcomes. We are headquartered in New York City with an office in Salt Lake City.

The Opportunity

Thatcher Co. is hiring a Director of Media Intelligence & Measurement to own and advance the agency’s analytics capability, from capturing and measuring the right signals to the executive-ready insights that move client strategy forward.

This is not a back-office reporting role. You will sit at the intersection of data and counsel, translating media intelligence into the “so what” that account teams and C-suite clients act on. You’ll be hands-on every day inside platforms like Muck Rack, Talkwalker, Critical Mention and Meltwater; and you’ll be equally comfortable standing in front of a client boardroom walking stakeholders through what the data means for their business.

Beyond core measurement, you will play a leadership role in building new analytics products and services, particularly in the fast-evolving areas of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), helping clients understand and improve how their brands appear in AI-generated search results across platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. You will work closely with our Labs team, the agency’s innovation arm, to drive an AI-first approach to analytics, evaluate emerging tools and prototype new measurement methodologies before they become industry standard.

You will also mentor and develop a team of analysts, setting quality standards, building scalable workflows and raising the analytical fluency of the agency as a whole. You will report to the Managing Director and partner closely with senior account leads across the portfolio.

This role is ideal for someone who loves the craft of measurement, wants a seat at the strategy table and thrives in a high-autonomy environment where their work directly shapes client outcomes and the agency’s product roadmap.

Key Responsibilities

Media Intelligence & Social Listening

• Architect and manage the agency’s media monitoring infrastructure across earned, social and broadcast channels using tools such as Meltwater, Muck Rack, Talkwalker, Critical Mention and TVEyes.
• Design, build and continuously refine the search queries and alert frameworks to ensure signal accuracy while minimizing noise.
• Conduct ongoing competitive intelligence, narrative analysis and trend identification, surfacing emerging issues and opportunities to account teams before they become headlines.

Measurement, Reporting & Dashboards

• Own the production of monthly and quarterly measurement reports that go beyond vanity metrics, communicating reach, share of voice, sentiment, message pull-through, audience engagement and attribution to business outcomes.
• Build and maintain client-facing dashboards and reporting templates in tools such as Looker Studio, Tableau, Power BI or Excel/Google Sheets.
• Establish and enforce data governance standards: consistent naming conventions, source documentation, QA protocols and version control across every deliverable.
• Benchmark client performance against industry norms and competitive sets.

Insight Development & Strategic Counsel

• Translate complex data sets into clear, actionable narratives that directly inform campaign strategy, message development, media targeting and resource allocation.
• Serve as the agency’s measurement voice in strategy sessions, new-business pitches and client planning, bringing data-backed perspectives that elevate creative and communications recommendations.
• Lead the development and evolution of the agency's measurement frameworks, KPI-setting methodology and reporting philosophy, drawing on established standards such as the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework.
• Identify opportunities to expand measurement services within existing accounts and contribute data-driven thinking to business-development efforts.

Innovation, Product Development & Labs

• GEO & AEO Product Development: Lead the creation of new client-facing service offerings in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), helping clients measure, benchmark, and improve how their brands are cited, referenced and represented in AI-generated responses across platforms such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews.
• Labs Partnership: Serve as a key collaborator within the Labs team, the agency's innovation group, contributing measurement expertise to the development and testing of AI-first analytics tools, workflows and methodologies. Help translate Labs prototypes into scalable, client-ready products.
• Tech Stack Evaluation: Own the ongoing evaluation of the agency's analytics technology stack. Continuously assess existing platforms for ROI and capability gaps; research, pilot and recommend new tools, including AI-powered listening, measurement and visualization platforms, to keep Thatcher Co. at the leading edge.
• AI-First Analytics: Champion the integration of AI and automation into the agency’s core analytics workflows, from AI-assisted sentiment analysis and trend detection to automated reporting and natural-language insight generation working with the Labs team to move the firm from AI-aware to AI-native.
• Thought Leadership: Contribute to the agency’s external thought leadership on measurement innovation, including blog posts, conference presentations and client education on emerging topics like GEO/AEO, AI visibility and next-generation PR metrics.

Presentations & Team Leadership

• Prepare and deliver polished, executive-level presentations of measurement results and campaign insights to clients, from day-to-day contacts to senior stakeholders and executives.
• Mentor analysts: set quality benchmarks, conduct report reviews and build repeatable processes that scale as the team grows.
• Foster a culture of curiosity and continuous improvement within the analytics function.

Required Qualifications

Experience

• 7-10 years of progressive experience in media monitoring, social listening, PR measurement, communications analytics, or a closely related discipline. Agency experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated track record of producing recurring, client-facing measurement reports and translating findings into strategic recommendations.
• Experience building and managing Boolean search architectures across multiple monitoring platforms.
• Prior experience mentoring, training or managing junior analysts or coordinators.

Technical Proficiency

• Hands-on, daily-use proficiency with at least three of the following: Meltwater, Muck Rack, Talkwalker, Critical Mention, Cision, Brandwatch or Sprinklr.
• Working knowledge of data visualization and dashboarding tools, Looker Studio, Tableau or Power BI.
• Advanced Excel / Google Sheets skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, array formulas, data cleaning, conditional formatting).
• Proficiency in presentation tools (PowerPoint, Google Slides) with strong visual design sensibility.
• Solid command of core PR and communications metrics: reach, impressions, share of voice, sentiment, message pull-through, earned media value and audience engagement.
• Familiarity with SEMRush, Google Analytics or equivalent digital/SEO analytics platforms.

Skills & Competencies

• Data Storytelling — You don’t just report numbers; you explain what they mean, why they matter and what to do next.
• Strategic Thinking — You connect measurement outputs to business objectives and communications strategy, not just campaign tactics.
• Visual Communication — You create charts, dashboards, and slide decks that are clean, intuitive and presentation-ready without design support.
• Presentation Presence — You are confident, articulate and composed when presenting to clients and senior leaders.
• Product Mindset — You see opportunities to turn internal capabilities into repeatable, client-facing service offerings.
• Rigor & Accuracy — You are meticulous about data integrity, formatting consistency and source attribution.
• Self-Direction — You manage multiple client reporting cadences simultaneously, prioritize without constant oversight and meet deadlines reliably.
• Intellectual Curiosity — You stay current on measurement methodologies, new tools and industry best practices, and bring that learning back to the team.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, Data Analytics, Business Intelligence or a related field. (Equivalent professional experience will be considered.)
• Experience with AI-powered analytics or generative AI applied to media intelligence workflows.
• Understanding of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and/or Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) principles, including how AI platforms select, cite and synthesize source content.
• Familiarity with the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework or Barcelona Principles.
• Experience evaluating, piloting and integrating new analytics tools or platforms into an agency or in-house tech stack.
• Experience supporting new-business pitches with measurement strategy or proof-of-concept analytics.
• Experience working across multiple industry verticals simultaneously.

Thatcher Co. is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. Minority/female/disability PWDNET/veteran are encouraged to apply.