Spoiler alert: It’s the people.
Over 200 strong, 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 Media 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.
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 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 UsOur 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.”

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”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

Tarnika McDaniel
Vice President, Partner Investment

Tarnika McDaniel leads the Partner Investment team at NOVUS with 20+ years of advertising buying experience. Tarnika is committed to building lasting client and vendor relationships throughout the advertising community. As VP, she invests her time guiding her team to excellence in negotiating and executing multi-media campaigns. She also volunteers her time on the NOVUS Action for Equity Collective (AEC) Committee, which fosters inclusion and diversity at NOVUS and throughout local communities.

Chris Aubin
Vice President, Integrated Client Strategy

With a history of local and field-based strategic planning leadership, Chris joins NOVUS from Starcom Worldwide where for 18+ years he led regional marketing for a variety of clients including Allstate, Wingstop, Advance Auto Parts, and Planet Fitness. Chris has a passion for pushing the limits on innovation for clients as well as developing and fostering growth of junior talent.

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.

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.
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

Madeline Gould
Integrated Client Strategy, Minneapolis

Two days a week you can find me playing on a coed soccer team!
Madeline Gould
Integrated Client Strategy, 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

Montrew Newman
Integrated Client Strategy, Chicago

I enjoy growing crops and raising chickens for their eggs in the suburbs of Chicago!
Montrew Newman
Integrated Client Strategy, Chicago
Let’s run the numbers: A few not-so-serious stats about the NOVUS team.

28,392
Free Bagels
Number of bagels served since we started Free Friday Bagels

53
Charities
Number of charities NOVUS has supported since our founding

1,000
Wing Stats
Average number of chicken wings eaten during our annual Employee Appreciation Week

30%
Longevity
Number of employees who have worked at NOVUS for over five years