Advertising Manager

An Advertising Manager oversees the planning, development, and execution of advertising campaigns and promotional strategies for organisations, agencies, or media companies operating in Australia. They manage budgets, creative teams, media placements, and client relationships to deliver campaigns that meet sales and brand objectives across digital, print, broadcast, and outdoor channels. They ensure campaigns comply with Australian Advertising Standards and regulatory requirements set by bodies such as ASIC and ACMA.

Develop advertising strategies and campaign briefs aligned with client or organisational business objectives and target audience segments. Manage advertising budgets, approve expenditure, and monitor campaign spend against allocated funds using financial tracking systems. Brief creative teams (copywriters, designers, producers) on campaign requirements, timelines, and brand guidelines. Negotiate media placement rates and contracts with television, radio, digital, print, and outdoor media outlets. Coordinate media buying and placement across channels using programmatic or direct booking systems to maximise reach and cost-efficiency. Review creative assets (advertisements, landing pages, video content) for brand consistency, messaging clarity, and compliance with Australian Advertising Standards. Liaise with clients or internal stakeholders to present campaign concepts, progress reports, and performance metrics. Monitor campaign performance using analytics tools and reporting platforms to track engagement, conversion rates, and return on advertising spend.

The standard entry pathway requires a bachelor degree or higher (ABS Skill Level 1). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

You're constantly fighting deadline pressure, client churn, and the reality that half your campaigns won't move the needle. Burnout from always-on client management is real.

Most roles cluster in CBD advertising agencies, media buying firms, or in-house teams at large retailers and financial services. Regional ads work exists but is thin on the ground. Remote roles are growing but still minority. Check job boards focused on agencies: Seek, Jora, and industry sites like AdNews. Work is concentrated in major metro media and marketing precincts.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 1311, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Customer Needs Assessmentcore
• Digital Literacycore
• Goal Setting and Planningcore
• Negotiationcore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Reporting and Analyticscore
• Research and Analysiscore
• Stakeholder Communicationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Feedback Collection and Actioning
• Microsoft Office Suite Proficiency
• Power BI Reporting and Dashboards
• Process Improvement Identification
• Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
• Report Writing
• Risk Identification
• Upselling and Cross-Selling

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Advertising Manager workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026