Director, Channel Planning

About the Role

This role provides a rare chance to develop a new function as Adobe moves advertising operations in-house, replacing outside agencies with an AI-based engine. It requires working at the crossroads of strategy, data, and hands-on work, with real sway over global advertising for a Fortune 500 company.

Lead and develop the team that converts marketing strategy into media plans for Adobe's global audience segments (Business Professionals, Creative Professionals, and Creators). Adobe is internalizing paid media execution and establishing a new "Channel Planning" function to connect strategy with practical execution.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage a group of Channel Planners located in key regions (America, EMEA, APAC, Japan). These individuals bridge marketing strategy and the buying desk, guaranteeing global consistency in media planning while adapting to local nuance.
• Own the "Adobe on Adobe" story, ensuring all regions are leveraging Adobe adtech (GenPem, AEP, RTCDP, etc.) where it makes sense.
• Take responsibility for the framework guiding this new team’s interaction with regional marketing leaders. Establish clear ways to handle critical issues, decision rights, and expectations. Schedule formal reviews every 3–6 months to ensure the approach is effective.
• Collaborate with Adobe's media-buying team in India to drive smarter audience targeting and data-sharing across regions and campaigns.
• Manage partnerships with ad platforms to unlock better rates, credits, and support.
• In partnership with Ops, set standards for how campaigns are tagged, organized, and quality-checked before they become available.

First 90-Day Deliverables

• Hire and build out the core team.
• Arrange routine meetings with regional marketing leaders, the new planning team, and the India-based buying team.
• Audit how campaigns currently get planned, tagged, and quality-checked.
• Stand up the playbook and process for how the planning team hands work to the buying team when there is a blocking issue.

Scope & Direct Reports

• Director-level leader directly managing a global team of 6 Channel Planners.
• Americas-based, with monthly international travel to stay connected with in-market regional Channel Planners and local Media Strategy teams.
• Peers include the heads of regional marketing strategy groups and the leader of the India-based buying team.
• Works closely with (but doesn't directly manage) the buy desk, analytics, strategy, and engineering partners.
• Define how Adobe plans and accomplishes advertising campaigns for years to come, starting with paid social and growing from there.
• Balance consistent global standards with the reality that every region has different pricing, language, and regulatory needs.

Requirements

• 10+ years in digital advertising/media, with 5+ years leading media buying or campaign execution teams.
• Proven track record building new teams or functions from scratch.
• Strong hands-on knowledge of digital ad platforms and the technology used to target audiences and measure campaigns.
• Experience standardizing how a media team operates across multiple regions or markets.
• Excellent skill at influencing collaborators and managing change — this role will need agreement from multiple regional leaders.
• Self-starter, comfortable both setting direction and rolling up their sleeves.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience working with Adobe's marketing and advertising tools specifically.
• Experience managing overseas or offshore execution teams.
• Experience across both business (B2B) and consumer advertising.
• Background connecting the planning side of advertising to the execution/buying side.

About Adobe

Adobe empowers everyone to create through innovative platforms and tools that unleash creativity, productivity, and personalized customer experiences. Adobe’s industry-leading offerings include Adobe Acrobat Studio, Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly, Creative Cloud, Adobe Experience Platform, Adobe Experience Manager, and GenStudio. These enable people and businesses to turn ideas into impact, powered by AI and driven by human ingenuity.

Our 30,000+ employees worldwide are creating the future and raising the bar as we drive the next decade of growth. We’re on a mission to hire the very best and believe in creating a company culture where all employees are empowered to make an impact.

Pay

The U.S. pay range for this position is $157,300 – $315,100 annually. Pay within this range varies by work location and may also depend on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the job location during the hiring process.

In California, the pay range for this position is $217,600 – $315,100.

For sales roles, starting salaries are expressed as total target compensation (TTC = base + commission), and short-term incentives are in the form of sales commission plans. Non-sales roles starting salaries are expressed as base salary, and short-term incentives are in the form of the Annual Incentive Plan (AIP). Certain roles may also be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of a new hire equity award.