Sr. Director of Paid Media

About the role

This is a senior leadership role with hands-on strategy, operational oversight, and senior client-facing responsibilities. You’ll own end-to-end paid media strategy across major accounts, build scalable processes, and drive performance tied to quarterly growth targets.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a 10–12 person Paid Media team (strategy, planning, activation, ad ops; FTE + contractors)
• Own performance against quarterly growth and acquisition KPIs for major clients
• Build SOPs, QA processes, and standardized reporting frameworks to scale the team and agency operations
• Develop multi-channel media strategy across Paid Search, Paid Social (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok), Programmatic, and CTV
• Drive collaboration between Media and Creative teams to optimize testing and performance outcomes
• Translate complex technical media concepts into actionable recommendations for non-technical and regulated-industry stakeholders
• Present strategy, performance reports, and campaign results to senior clients
• Partner with Finance and leadership to ensure profitability via optimal resourcing, SOWs, and pricing
• Build hiring plans and team structure aligned to account growth
• Participate in new business and cross-agency client initiatives

Qualifications

Must-Haves

• 8+ years in performance marketing, with 3+ years leading teams
• Deep expertise across Paid Search, Paid Social, Programmatic, and CTV
• Proven success managing $5M–$15M+ annual media budgets tied to growth KPIs
• Experience building SOPs, reporting frameworks, and scalable media processes
• Strong senior-level client presentation and stakeholder management skills
• Experience guiding teams to meet quarterly growth targets

Nice to Have

• AI workflow integration or experimentation experience
• Experience managing multi-market or international campaigns
• Exposure to creative-performance collaboration frameworks

Hybrid role — NYC, 2 days/week in office

Mid-size agency experience preferred; large holding company backgrounds less relevant