Director - Growth & Performance Marketing

The Culinary Institute of America•Hyde Park, NY

55d•$100,000 - $125,000

About The Position

The Director of Growth & Performance Marketing is a data-driven leader responsible for driving revenue growth across the college's core business lines: professional studies, corporate learning and development programs, consumer experiences and admissions marketing for graduate programs and undergraduate non-traditional students. This role oversees the strategy, execution, and optimization of paid and owned performance marketing channels-including SEM, paid media, email, and social media, to deliver measurable enrollment, engagement, and revenue outcomes. The Director partners closely with Admissions Marketing, Continuing & Professional Education, thought leadership conferences, and Consumer Programs to align marketing investments with business goals, ensuring effective full-funnel performance from awareness through conversion, leveraging data and technology, and managing agency partnerships. This leader will also be a key player in defining future customer relationship management strategies and capabilities to drive more efficient top of funnel lead generation strategies for the college as well as ongoing life cycle management across the Institute.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or a minimum of 20 years of leadership experience in digital and performance marketing, preferably in higher education, professional education, and/or consumer-driven sectors in lieu of Bachelor's degree.
Minimum of 10 years in digital and performance marketing leadership, preferably in higher education, professional education, and/or consumer-driven sectors.
Demonstrated success in multi-channel performance marketing, including paid media, SEO/SEM, programmatic, affiliate.
Strong background in demand generation and conversion optimization for B2B, B2C, and education markets.
Working knowledge of data-driven attribution, forecasting, and ROI analysis.
Hands-on experience using marketing automation and CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Microsoft Dynamics, etc.).
Ability to operate as both strategist and practitioner.
Demonstrated success scaling campaigns across diverse business models.
Strong analytical, problem-solving and conceptual skills.
Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills; ability to be adaptable, dependable and handle multiple priorities simultaneously.
Excellent written, verbal communication, and presentation skills required.
Must display a high level of energy and self-motivation.
Strong computer experience, which must include abilities to work effectively with MS Office suite products, i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
Must have a history of developing programs to support strategic vision, partnering with stakeholder groups and effective problem solving and negotiation.
Excellent interpersonal and leadership skills required, including the ability to form and mobilize intra-organizational teams to accomplish Educational goals. Must have a history of developing programs to support strategic vision, partnering with stakeholder groups and effective problem solving and negotiation.

Nice To Haves

Experience in managing and optimizing lifecycle programs, CRM workflows, and channel performance in collaboration with internal teams and external agencies.
Experience with budget management and resource allocation.
Demonstrated ability to build, test, and optimize campaigns directly, not solely through teams or agency oversight.
Proven experience managing agencies, vendors, and cross-functional teams in complex organizational structures.
Strong analytical storytelling skills - capable of translating data into business recommendations.
Proven success leading marketing in complex, multi-business environments.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement a comprehensive performance marketing strategy across all business lines.
Align marketing activities with enrollment goals, revenue targets, and institutional priorities.
Collaborate with academic, admissions, enrollment, and event teams to ensure marketing supports business outcomes.
Oversee channel mix strategy, budget allocation, and forecasting for ROI.
Work with in-house and agency teams to lead paid search, social, display, programmatic, and affiliate campaigns to acquire and convert audiences.
Build segmentation, automation, and nurture journeys tailored to prospective students, adult learners, event attendees, and consumers.
Manage paid and organic social campaigns (LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Meta, YouTube, X) to drive leads and engagement.
Work with internal SEO team to optimize organic visibility and SEM campaigns to capture high-intent demand.
Lead A/B and multivariate testing on creative, messaging, and landing pages.
Drive registrations and sponsorship leads through targeted digital, email, and social campaigns.
Generate and nurture leads for early to mid-career professionals; optimize inquiry-to-enrollment funnels.
Support long-term enrollment cycles by highlighting career outcomes and stackability; manage remarketing and CRM-driven nurture campaigns.
Drive attendance and sales for cultural, hospitality, and lifestyle offerings; execute geo-targeted campaigns and loyalty marketing.
Create digital campaigns for find and convert students not coming straight from high school, including career changers, career advancers, etc.
Define and lead the company's lifecycle marketing strategy to drive engagement, retention, and customer lifetime value.
Map and continuously optimize the customer journey across audience segments, channels, and touchpoints
Define KPIs across business lines: registrations, applications, enrollments, revenue, LTV, and retention.
Build dashboards and implement attribution models to measure performance.
Provide actionable insights and optimization recommendations to senior leadership.
Manage external agencies for paid media, creative, and digital execution.
Negotiate contracts, oversee performance, and ensure accountability to KPIs.
Oversee martech and analytics vendors to ensure effective use of CRM and marketing automation systems.
Any and all other duties as assigned.