Senior Director of Media

Position Purpose/Summary

We are seeking a Senior Director of Media to lead and oversee the agency’s paid media operations, drive overall media strategy and work closely with internal teams to ensure campaigns are aligned holistically with broader client strategies. This senior leadership position requires deep expertise in paid media strategy, exceptional team management skills, and a proven track record of delivering measurable business outcomes through paid channels.

Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

Duties + Responsibilities

This is a senior director role that will ultimately be responsible for setting the overall vision, strategy, and execution of all paid media campaigns for the agency’s clients. This role will lead the paid media department, ensuring that campaigns across multiple digital platforms are optimized for performance and aligned with client objectives. The Senior Director of Media will collaborate closely with executive leadership, creative teams, and client-facing teams to deliver exceptional results and maintain high client satisfaction. This role requires both a strategic thinker and a hands-on leader with a deep understanding of digital advertising trends and innovations.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership:

As the agency’s leading Media strategist, the Senior Director of Media is responsible for fostering strong relationships with all clients, and their integrated programs and campaigns, through media planning and execution.
Guide both the strategic vision and tactical execution of media programs, manage a diverse portfolio of clients with substantial budgets, and drive results through all media programs.
Leads client strategy across existing books of business, recognizing and capturing new media opportunities with current clients, and partnering with business development to identify and win new media business.
Serve as the leading voice for all media strategy and execution across the agency – presenting media capabilities to a range of both new and existing clients and senior stakeholders.
Define and drive the strategic vision for paid media campaigns across all client accounts, including paid search, display, social media, programmatic and emerging platforms.
Ensure that media strategies are integrated across different channels to ensure cohesive digital campaigns for a consistent brand message.
Lead the paid media department, providing strategic direction for campaigns across digital platforms (Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn, programmatic, traditional, etc.).
Lead and execute innovative, data-driven strategies that optimize ROI, drive brand growth and meet or exceed client expectations.
Collaborate with senior leadership to align paid media strategies with the agency’s overall business goals and client objectives.
Provide thought leadership in the development of new services, techniques and technologies to elevate the agency’s paid media offering.
Conduct market research to identify target audiences, media trends and industry benchmarks.

Client Relations & Consulting:

Work with clients and internal Curious Jane teams to proactively understand client needs and goals surrounding paid media.
Present media strategies, plans and reports to clients and adjust strategies based on their feedback.
Conduct regular client meetings, presenting performance reports (monthly, quarterly, annually), insights and actionable recommendations.
Proactively identify opportunities to expand client engagements, offering new and innovative paid media solutions.
Act as the primary strategic lead for clients regarding paid media strategies, ensuring that their business goals are met through effective campaign management.
Cultivate long-term, trusted relationships with clients, ensuring high client retention and satisfaction through performance-based results.

Team Management & Development:

Manage, mentor and develop a high-performing team of paid media experts, ensuring they are aligned with the agency’s goals and have the tools and support needed to succeed.
Oversee the daily management of team workloads, ensuring efficiency and quality.
Provide performance feedback, conduct team reviews and ensure that team members have the resources and knowledge they need to succeed.
Oversee the recruitment, hiring and training of new paid media team members to scale the department.
Cultivate a culture of innovation, continuous improvement and excellence within the media team.

Reporting and Analytics:

Provide regular updates and strategic recommendations to clients based on campaign data, competitive analysis and market trends.
Track, analyze and report on the performance of media campaigns, using analytics tools and metrics.
Lead and oversee reporting efforts, ensuring regular and transparent updates are shared with clients regarding campaign performance and results.

In addition to items mentioned above, this individual will be asked to take a lead role in the organization in several areas, including:

Identify opportunities for improvement that would impact the department and/or the agency, define the processes and assist in cross-training team members on these new processes.
Develop new innovations for data enhancement capabilities, documentation, automation, templates, data warehousing, new technologies and more.
Support the CEO, CSO & COO by creating and/or reviewing estimates, contracts and scopes of work for new business opportunities.
Contribute to new business development, including identifying potential clients and participating in the pitch process.
Stay up to date with the latest media trends, new advertising technologies and evolving consumer behaviors.
Experiment with new and emerging platforms and tools to ensure clients remain competitive.
Communicate effectively with stakeholders and leadership to ensure alignment and support to the agency, with a heavy emphasis on accounts team support.
Educate others on industry best practices for business analysis and technology as well as stay current on emerging digital technologies and trends to support your analysis and client discussions.
Represent the agency at industry events, conferences and client meetings, sharing insights and promoting the agency’s capabilities in paid media.
Provide senior-level insight and guidance on media planning and performance optimization.

Supervising

This individual will be responsible for three to seven direct reports and be asked to implement best management perspective, including weekly one-on-one meetings.

Required Qualifications

Contribute to the agency’s marketing efforts by developing and/or contributing to thought leadership content, such as blogs, case studies, and whitepapers.
Minimum 10+ years of agency-side digital media experience, with extensive knowledge in delivery platforms (programmatic, social, affiliate, SEM, etc.), ad operations best practices, preferably as part of a multi-discipline integrated agency
At least 5+ years of agency team management experience preferred, with increasing responsibility of management across levels (entry- to director-levels)
Ability to travel as needed
Programmatic: Deep understanding of platforms including programmatic (e.g., DV360, The Trade Desk, Yahoo!, Viant, Nexxen, etc.), paid social (e.g., Meta, TikTok, etc.), paid search (e.g., Google Ads, MSA, Apple Ads), performance (e.g., Skai, Marin, etc.), affiliate (e.g., CJ, Rakuten, Impact, etc.) and ad servers and tag managers (e.g., CM360, Innovid, GTM, etc.)
Strong analytical skills, with the ability to leverage data to drive decisions and optimize campaigns.
Exceptional leadership skills, with experience managing and developing high-performing teams.
Expertise in budgeting, forecasting and financial management of paid media campaigns.
Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage with C-suite executives, clients and internal teams.
Knowledge of analytics tools and reporting platforms (Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, Google Ads, SEMrush, etc.).
Familiarity with marketing automation tools and CRM systems (e.g., HubSpot, Marketo) is a plus. Advanced certifications in Google Ads, Facebook Blueprint, or other paid media platforms.
Experience managing B2B and B2C campaigns, with a focus on large-scale, high-budget initiatives.

Soft Skills

Emotional intelligence and the ability to build trust and motivate teams.
Self-awareness and a client-focused mindset, with the ability to stay calm under pressure and resolve conflicts empathetically.