Director, Acquisition

USA TODAY Co.

2d • $130,000 - $140,000 • Remote

About The Position

The Director, Acquisition will own how USA TODAY and the USA TODAY Network acquire new subscribers. The role is accountable for new subscriber starts, acquisition revenue, customer acquisition cost (CAC), and return on investment (ROI) across paywall, onsite, email, paid, social, lead generation, and other prospecting channels. The Director will set acquisition strategy, lead a disciplined testing roadmap, and use AI-informed methods to identify performance opportunities and act quickly.

The role sets strategy across channels, audiences, offers, messaging, and subscriber journeys, tying initiatives to subscriber and revenue targets. It partners with Optimization to develop and execute tests for offers, messaging, layouts, journeys, and audience targeting; builds scalable acquisition frameworks and personalization templates; and works cross-functionally with Product, Pricing, FP&A, Audience, Production, and Analytics to forecast performance, prioritize work, and resolve revenue dependencies. The Director also leads acquisition performance readouts and builds, coaches, and grows a team of acquisition marketers.

Success is measured by subscriber starts and acquisition revenue; CAC, ROI, payback, conversion, lead quality, and funnel performance; experiment velocity, win rate, and business impact; and the speed and quality of AI-supported insights, competitive analysis, reporting, and creative recommendations. This role is remote. The annualized base salary range is $130,000–$140,000; variable incentive compensation may also apply and is not included in that range.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of experience in acquisition, growth, or performance marketing, including at least 3 years owning results for a subscription or direct-to-consumer business.
• Direct accountability for acquisition targets such as new starts, revenue, CAC, ROI, and payback.
• Deep experience with paywall, onsite conversion, or checkout optimization, supported by a structured experimentation program involving test design, A/B and multivariate testing, and statistical rigor.
• Strong command of acquisition unit economics and forecasting, including partnering with FP&A on targets and variance.
• Fluency with web and marketing analytics tools such as Google Analytics and comfort working directly in data.
• Regular, practical use of generative AI for analysis, research synthesis, and content development, with examples to discuss.
• Ability to present performance clearly to senior leaders and turn insights into decisions.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• Must be authorized to work in the applicable location.

Nice To Haves

• News, media, or digital subscription experience.
• Hands-on experience with paywall, experimentation, and personalization platforms.
• Ownership of paid media, SEO, or lead generation programs.
• Offer and price testing experience.
• People leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Set acquisition strategy across channels, audiences, offers, messaging, and journeys, tying initiatives to subscriber and revenue targets.
• Own paywall and acquisition marketing strategy and partner with Optimization on a test roadmap covering offers, messaging, layouts, journeys, and audience targeting.
• Build dynamic, scalable acquisition frameworks and templates that personalize by segment, product, market, and channel.
• Use AI to analyze results, detect performance anomalies, synthesize market and competitor research, draft strategic one-pagers, and shape creative direction.
• Partner with Product, Pricing, FP&A, Audience, Production, and Analytics to forecast performance, prioritize work, and resolve revenue dependencies.
• Lead weekly, monthly, and ad hoc acquisition readouts that turn performance insights into clear actions.
• Build, coach, and grow a team of acquisition marketers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director