Associate Director, Paid Social

Darkroom•New York, NY

5d•Remote

About The Position

Darkroom is seeking an Associate Director, Paid Social to join their Paid Media team. This senior performance leader role requires deep platform expertise, strategic vision, team leadership, and executive-level client management. The position is not tactical but demands the ability to architect full-funnel paid social strategies, lead a team, and drive measurable revenue outcomes for high-growth brands. The ideal candidate is an expert in Meta direct response advertising, with a proven track record of scaling ad accounts beyond $1M USD per month, building and mentoring teams, and serving as a strategic advisor to senior clients. The role involves reporting to the Managing Director of the department, owning strategy, performance, and growth for key accounts, and collaborating with Creative, Analytics, Brand, and Client Strategy teams. This is a fast-paced, high-accountability environment for ambitious and curious marketers looking to gain hands-on experience and develop leadership skills in performance strategies.

Requirements

10+ years of paid media advertising experience, with at least 7+ years specializing in Paid Social and Meta in particular.
7+ years managing paid social advertising for high-growth consumer brands with aggregate monthly spends of $1M+ across a portfolio.
Demonstrated experience leading and developing a team of 3+ paid media practitioners in a fast-paced agency or in-house environment.
Proven track record of scaling Meta ad accounts beyond $1M USD/month while maintaining or improving efficiency metrics.
Executive-level client management skills — ability to build trust with CMOs and senior marketing leaders, present strategic recommendations with confidence, and navigate complex stakeholder dynamics.
Expert-level command of Meta Ads Manager and deep familiarity with TikTok Ads, Pinterest, and emerging social commerce platforms.
Mastery of e-commerce performance metrics (CPA, CAC, iROAS, nCAC, MER, aMER, CTR, TSR, Hold Rate) and the ability to translate these into clear client-facing narratives.
Expertise in full-funnel creative strategy — from concept briefing to performance analysis — with a sharp eye for what converts.
Strong background in data-derived decision-making, budget forecasting, and spend projection modeling.
Comfort engaging with e-commerce P&Ls and financial performance metrics at the business level.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; able to distill complex data into compelling insights for both internal teams and senior client stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Own and drive the overarching paid social strategy across a portfolio of high-growth U.S. brands, ensuring alignment between media investment, creative output, and business objectives.
Serve as the executive point of contact for senior client stakeholders — presenting quarterly business reviews, growth roadmaps, and performance forecasts to CMOs and marketing leadership.
Partner with the Managing Director to define team OKRs, capacity planning, and service delivery standards across the Paid Social practice.
Champion Darkroom's paid social point of view, staying ahead of platform changes, algorithmic shifts, and emerging formats to inform both client strategy and internal best practices.
Lead the development of annual and quarterly paid media plans, including budget allocation, channel mix, audience strategy, and creative roadmaps.
Oversee campaign architecture, optimization frameworks, and testing methodologies across 8–15 paid media accounts with aggregate monthly spends ranging from $500K–$5M+.
Drive best-in-class performance across Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, Axon, and CTV, with deep mastery of direct response principles and short-form video creative strategy.
Establish and enforce rigorous KPI frameworks — CPA, CAC, iROAS, nCAC, MER, aMER, CTR, TSR, and Hold Rate — ensuring data-driven decision-making at every level.
Architect and pressure-test attribution models in partnership with Analytics, ensuring clients have a clear and accurate view of cross-channel performance.
Proactively identify growth opportunities through competitive intelligence, audience expansion, and creative iteration — translating insights into actionable channel strategies.
Serve as the senior creative strategist on accounts, guiding clients and internal creative teams on hook construction, format selection, messaging hierarchy, and creative testing frameworks.
Develop scalable creative testing systems that connect production investment directly to performance outcomes.
Advise clients on creative budget allocation across UGC, motion, static, and short-form video to maximize return at each funnel stage.
Manage, coach, and develop a team of Paid Social Managers and Specialists, setting clear performance expectations and fostering a culture of accountability and craft.
Conduct structured performance reviews and build individualized growth plans for direct reports.
Establish internal quality standards for campaign builds, reporting, and client deliverables — and ensure consistent adherence across the team.
Act as an escalation point for complex performance challenges and client issues, providing senior-level guidance and resolution.