• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, September 8, 2017

Sprint plans to put an emphasis on digital and to hire more than 100 employees in the coming weeks as it creates a new in-house digital marketing agency.

The agency will support creative development for display, programmatic digital media, paid-search ads, media buying and analytics, as well as other digital areas such web development and operations.

The company's job board highlights several paid-search job openings in Reston, Virginia, asking for qualified applicants who know how to set up, launch, track and report on campaigns as well as conduct A/B testing and run competitive intelligence analysis.

Of the six open paid-search marketing positions, three require knowledge in setting up and maintaining Google shopping product listing ads, according to another Sprint job listing.

The company is also looking for a data scientist, but it's not clear how search and data will link up. Sprint certainly has an opportunity to use its subscriber data not only to develop advertisements, but to focus on location and retargeting.

Sprint has worked closely with Google in the past few years. The two companies partnered in 2011 by launching the ability for Sprint customers to integrate their number with Google Voice.

Then in 2016, Google said it opened its Project FI mobile virtual network operator program to all, giving both Sprint and T-Mobile wireless users the ability to switch between the two carries dynamically, depending on their coverage.

Earlier this week, Sprint said it would expand on its digital efforts by launching a new in-house agency.

“As we continue to transform Sprint, we’re doing things differently and taking bold steps to drive better results and efficiencies, including greatly expanding our digital capabilities," stated Sprint Chief Digital Officer Rob Roy.

Sprint also will continue to work with Horizon Media, which landed a job as the company's media agency of record in May.