Spoiler alert: It’s the people.

Our team has the drive and commitment to be the best. Together, we’ve created a culture where great work thrives and every team member is valued. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit that can flourish in a privately held company, and a track record of thinking big, you’ll fit right in.

Our Values

With offices in Minneapolis and Chicago and employees across the U.S., the NOVUS team covers a lot of ground — but we’re connected through our shared ideals and the way we approach our work every day.

  • We are pioneers
  • We grow through our relentless curiosity
  • We have grit
  • We uncover business truths
  • We passionately deliver excellence
  • We are genuine
  • We can disagree, but we then commit
  • We do the right thing

Our Culture

First of all, while we work hard and move fast, we are nice, kind, generous people. Serving our clients and partners starts with a spirit of respect, integrity and encouragement within our own walls. Setting the stage for success — and celebrating our team along the way — is an important part of how we win.

  • Our Diversity Committee helps us honor the unique perspectives our team members bring to the table.
  • Employee Recognition and Appreciation programs provide a steady stream of applause for accomplishments throughout the year.
  • Learning & Development training, the Anniversary Award Program and the Fun Committee keep our team well-informed and well-rewarded.
  • Community involvement through our NOVUS in the Neighborhood program that encourages employees to get out and “do good” within their own local communities.

Our Benefits

Health and wellness are key parts of a strong, happy team — and employee benefits are an important part of any compensation package. NOVUS offers comprehensive and competitive benefits to support our team members and their families.

  • Benefit plans include medical, dental, vision, 401k, life insurance and short- and long-term disability coverage.
  • We offer daycare reimbursement program, employee assistance program and legal services plan.
  • Personal time off, volunteer time off and paid holidays are a part of every full-time employment package.

Calling all innovators.

The great work we do can’t happen without our amazing team — and the talent they use to ensure our clients’ growth and success. We’re excited to share how we work and who we are.

Join Us

Our Executives

Dave Murphy

Executive Chairman

Dave made the leap to NOVUS following a lustrous career at the Tribune company, as well as tours at the LA Times and Denver Newspaper Agency. In his 10 years at the helm, he has grown NOVUS business exponentially, shepherded a management buyback to take the company private, and spearheaded its diversification and capability evolution”

Dave Murphy

Executive Chairman

Melony Rios

Chief Executive Officer

Melony has been with NOVUS for over 15 years.  In her current role, her responsibilities include strategic development of the Client Services organization, developing successful client relationships at the levels that matter, and delivering forward thinking marketing strategies that meet the needs of advertisers. Melony stewards investment strategies across traditional and emerging marketing channels to engage customers, build brand equity and maximize client returns.”

Melony Rios

Chief Executive Officer

Rob Davis

President and Chief Marketing Officer

A 25 year veteran of leading accounts such as Airbnb, Kellogg and Allstate as President at Starcom, Rob joins NOVUS in the newly created CCO role. He is ultimately responsible for delivering superior results and service for all US clients, across all media”

Rob Davis

President and Chief Marketing Officer

Dawn Lamm

Chief Financial Officer

As Chief Financial Officer Dawn plays a key role in the strategic direction of NOVUS, leading Finance and Human Resources. In addition to Operational leadership, she has extensive history working in the marketing and advertising industry.”

Dawn Lamm

Chief Financial Officer

Margy Campion

Chief People Officer

With over 25 years at NOVUS, Margy knows the ins and outs of NOVUS’ business. She built her career by spending time in various roles throughout the organization, with a focus on efficiency, workflow improvement, and automation. Margy has spent the last 7 years working diligently with our newest clients to transition to NOVUS with minimal risk and overwhelming success, and is currently focusing on developing NOVUS talent as the Chief People Officer.”

Margy Campion

Chief People Officer

Montrew Newman

Senior Vice President, Head of Strategy

Montrew is responsible for leading the NOVUS multimedia planning and buying practice.  She has a proven track record of driving business results through strong strategic planning and localized activation on clients such as PetSmart, Pier 1, State Farm, lotteries and McDonald’s of Chicagoland.”

Montrew Newman

Senior Vice President, Head of Strategy

Mari Docter

Senior Vice President, Data Strategy & Innovation

Mari has served various research, data, analytics, technology and audience strategy roles over the past 15+ years, leading analytics teams across Publicis and WPP and United Airlines. She has experience across some of the largest advertisers in the world, including Coca-Cola, Discover Financial, Walgreens, Bank of America and Whirlpool. Mari will be leading data strategy and innovation for NOVUS, helping to drive efficient and effective use of data, insights and technology in service of meeting our client’s marketing and business objectives.

Mari Docter

Senior Vice President, Data Strategy & Innovation

Candi Atteberry

Vice President, Integrated Client Strategy

A 20 year industry veteran, Candi has worked on accounts spanning local, regional and national brands.  She also has worked extensively partnering with top media agencies in the US.  At NOVUS, Candi is responsible for delivering the highest quality experiences and delivering results for the clients she leads.”

Candi Atteberry

Vice President, Integrated Client Strategy

Bridgit Wallace

Vice President, Business Development

A driving force behind investment strategies across NOVUS’ entire portfolio consisting of retail, national and direct response clients. She is NOVUS’ voice to the marketplace on opportunities, challenges, trends and insights. Bridgit and the Media Investment team are focused on ensuring that the cost paid for media aligns with the value it delivers to our advertisers.”

Bridgit Wallace

Vice President, Business Development

Nik Hengel

Vice President, Localytics

Nik is a NOVUS boomerang, rejoining the NOVUS team in August of 2018 to advance our geospatial (local) analytics practice, Localytics.  The focus of the Localytics team is “to enable better decision making,” which is done by transforming disparate data into insight-generating analytic solutions used for ROI-based print and multimedia planning & optimization.  He and his team are the brainpower behind the suite of our proprietary planning tools such as local marketing intelligence tool, Depthfinder, and response-driven channel-mix optimizer, MMMaxer.

Nik brings 14+ years of agency and client-side experience in marketing analytics at Digitas, Target and Ascena Retail Group.  His analytical breadth is across traditional and digital media planning, website optimization & personalization, omnichannel marketing measurement, and Test & Learning disciplines.

Nik Hengel

Vice President, Localytics

Paul Dejarnatt

Vice President, Head of Digital

Paul is an 18+ year veteran of the digital media industry and leads NOVUS’ digital practice. Prior to joining NOVUS, Paul spent his career at Starcom working across multiple Publicis Media agencies including Digitas and Performics where in addition to client work, he led the biddable media capability responsible for developing, scaling, and distributing innovative new products for clients.

Paul Dejarnatt

Vice President, Head of Digital

Rachel Tierney

Vice President, Technology

Rachel Tierney is an experienced technology leader with 20+ years of experience in Project Management, Process Development and Automation and Technology Leadership.  Since joining NOVUS in 2019 Rachel has focused on helping NOVUS’ technology team work more effectively and more efficiently while at the same time meeting business needs with a high level of quality and innovation.

Rachel Tierney

Vice President, Technology

Our People

What activities do you enjoy outside of NOVUS?

Wendy Giannattasio

Integrated Client Strategy, Minneapolis

When I’m not at NOVUS, you can find me on a golf course!

Wendy Giannattasio

Integrated Client Strategy, Minneapolis

Kristie Gonczy

Integrated Client Strategy, Minneapolis

During the football season, you can either find me at the Vikings game or at the television cheering them on!
SKOL!”

Kristie Gonczy

Integrated Client Strategy, Minneapolis

Nik Hengel

Localytics, Minneapolis

Snowboarding is our winter escape. There is nothing better than floating through fresh powder.”

Nik Hengel

Localytics, Minneapolis

Kelley Gilbert

Integrated Client Strategy, Minneapolis

Photography is my passion. When I am not at NOVUS, you can catch me behind a lens with a cocktail close by!”

Kelley Gilbert

Integrated Client Strategy, Minneapolis

Let’s run the numbers: A few not-so-serious stats about the NOVUS team.

100%

Masterclass

Percentage of employees that took advantage of their free subscription for learning & development

53

Charities

Number of charities NOVUS has supported since our founding

$528,000

Casino Dollars

Total “NOVUS money” won at our Casino Night by employees

30%

Longevity

Number of employees who have worked at NOVUS for over five years