Jordan Smith
Head of Media at NAB
After 20 years as a client partner, people leader and media expert on agency side, Jordan decided to make the move to client side, joining the marketing team at NAB in late 2025 as Head of Media.
During her time in media agencies, Jordan crafted clients' audience-led media strategies for iconic brands like ANZ Bank, the Suncorp Group and Specsavers. She has a passion for building strong and collaborative relationships with her team and key partners, and has always loved developing and guiding emerging talent.
Only a few months into her career change with NAB, she's enjoying seeing a new side of the marketing world, putting those finely honed stakeholder management skills to the test and getting to make genuine impact within one of Australia's biggest companies.
Outside of work, Jordan's passions are for Eurovision, craft beer, F1 and she's a long-suffering St Kilda supporter.
Career & Background
What inspired you to do what you are doing now?
I think a lot of agency people wonder about life on the ‘other side’ at some point in their careers. I was eager to keep learning new skills and gain experience, so it was the right time for me to make that change and move to a client role. I was fortunate the perfect role happened to come along exactly when I was looking for it.
Could you tell us a bit about your professional background and where you are headed in your career right now?
I worked in media agencies 20 years, across several of the major holding groups and a wide variety of clients and industries. I started out in junior agency roles focused on campaign planning and implementation, before taking on more client and team leading roles in the past decade.
After considering a move client side for awhile, I decided to take the plunge last year and have recently joined the great team at NAB. A lot of my agency client experience was across financial services, so getting to combine that knowledge with my years of media expertise was a perfect next step.
Your favourite food for thought
Books
- Careless People (unless you work at Meta)
- There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job (the book I read right before I decided to quit my job)
- Cue The Sun (for anyone with an interest in the history of reality television)
Podcasts / Thought Leaders
- Not sure she counts as a thought leader, but Good Hang with Amy Poehler is a great source of positivity in the world.
What drives and inspires you
What are your core values?
- Authenticity
- Humour
- Trust
Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
My best friend is strong, smart, independent, empathetic and the funniest person you’ll ever meet.
You as a Mentor
Why have you decided to become a mentor?
I would have loved access to a program like this earlier in my career, as I spent a lot of time second-guessing myself and my skills. This feels like a great opportunity to share whatever wisdom I’ve picked up along the way, and hopefully be a helpful sounding board to the next generation of talent coming through.
What are the top 3-5 skills or qualities you bring to mentoring?
- Great listener
- Sees potential in others
- Open-minded
Ready to apply?
The best time is right now. Take a chance – you never know where an Assisterhood mentor can take you.