Director of Performance Media

Backbone Media•Carbondale, CO

3d•$125,000 - $145,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Performance Media leads Backbone's performance paid media practice and client relationships, focusing on ecommerce and DTC brands. This senior role involves owning cross-channel paid media strategy (paid social, paid search, retail media, programmatic, emerging channels) and leading the team that executes it. The position requires connecting media spend to customer economics (contribution margin, payback period, LTV:CAC) beyond platform ROAS, and partnering with retention teams to ensure acquired customers are valuable. The Director will be the primary point of contact for clients, including their finance and executive leadership, to explain the ROI of marketing investments. The ideal candidate has experience on both the agency and brand sides, or has worked closely with brand-side finance. They must be a critical thinker, proactive, decisive, and capable of building lasting teams. A key aspect of the role is staying ahead of industry shifts, such as degrading signals and increasing automation, and guiding the team through these changes. Over time, this role will include direct management of growth media practitioners, with accountability for their workload, development, and career growth.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
10+ years of relevant experience in growth media, performance marketing or paid media, including time leading ecommerce or DTC accounts
3+ years managing and developing people, with direct reports
Demonstrated ownership of media budgets at meaningful scale, with personal accountability for efficiency and profitability targets
Experience counseling and presenting to senior client stakeholders, including finance and executive audiences
Hands-on experience with at least one ecommerce measurement platform: Triple Whale, Prescient AI, Northbeam, Rockerbox, Haus, Measured, or similar
Strong written and verbal communication skills with peers, clients, executives and strategic partners
Ability to take a complex analysis and land it as a clear recommendation someone can decide on
Quantitative and analytical mindset, with the ability to perform complex analyses and translate them into actionable strategies
Comprehensive knowledge of digital media and growth marketing strategies for direct-to-consumer businesses
Comprehensive knowledge of growth marketing measurement and key metrics, including CAC, MER, ROAS, iROAS, contribution margin and LTV:CAC
Working fluency in customer economics, including cohort analysis, payback period and how marketing investment shows up in a P&L
Comprehensive knowledge of attribution, incrementality testing and media mix modeling, including how to reconcile platform-reported results with MMM and lift studies
Strong understanding of zero-based performance budgeting using the metrics above
A track record of building and growing teams, not only managing them
Experience with data visualization and storytelling
Proficient in digital media platforms, metrics, capabilities, ad formats and operations, including AI-driven campaign types
Comfort working with first-party data: server-side tracking, conversions APIs, and Shopify or CDP data flows
Proactive use of AI tools along with excellent judgement regarding AI delegation
Certifications for Google Ads, Google Analytics (GA4) and Meta Blueprint
Demonstrated ability to prioritize competing client demands, multi-task and meet tight deadlines
Comprehensive working knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets
Proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint)

Nice To Haves

Brand-side experience owning an in-house marketing budget, or agency-side leadership of large multinational accounts
Experience reporting marketing performance and profitability to private equity sponsors or a board
Depth in retention and lifecycle marketing, including email, SMS, loyalty and winback programs, in Klaviyo or similar
Programmatic and CTV experience with The Trade Desk or Google DV360
Experience with Amazon Ads and Amazon DSP, or other retail media networks such as Walmart Connect, Instacart or Target Roundel
Experience with affiliate, creator and influencer paid amplification
Knowledgeable in SEM and SEO, including how AI search surfaces are changing organic discovery
Experience managing and/or optimizing a Shopify storefront, including CRO and post-click testing
New-business pitch experience and a hand in growing accounts organically
Basic understanding of public relations and community management
Understanding of Backbone’s core values
A love of the outdoors
A sense of humor

Responsibilities

Own growth media strategy for a portfolio of ecommerce and DTC clients, and stand behind the recommendations with clear rationale
Serve as the senior growth media voice in the client relationship, counseling marketing and executive leadership through annual planning, quarterly business reviews and budget decisions
Frame media investment in the language of the client’s business: contribution margin, payback period, customer lifetime value and profit
Build forecasts, scenario plans and zero-based budgets, then hold the work accountable to them
Own cross-channel budget allocation across paid social, paid search, programmatic, retail media, and emerging channels, moving spend toward what’s working
Partner with the Analytics team to set the measurement standard for growth media at Backbone, including incrementality testing, media mix modeling and how we reconcile both with platform reporting
Partner with Analytics to design and read geo-lift, holdout and platform conversion-lift studies, and translate the results into media decisions clients can act on
Directly and indirectly manage, mentor and develop a team of growth media practitioners, including workload, performance and career paths
Hire for the practice and build the bench as the book of business grows
Connect acquisition to retention, partnering with lifecycle, CRM and client teams so paid investment compounds after the first order
Collaborate with Paid Social Team to direct the creative testing agenda with Backbone creative and client creative teams, including hypothesis, volume and iteration, and deliver honest reads on what won and why
Partner with digital operations on measurement infrastructure, including server-side tracking, conversions APIs and clean data feeds into the attribution stack
Build the playbooks, benchmarks and templates the rest of the Media team runs on for growth media clients
Contribute to new business by scoping, pitching and presenting growth media approaches to prospective clients
Own account health, scope and profitability alongside account leadership, and say so early when the work and the fee no longer match
Manage platform and vendor partner relationships, and evaluate new buying and measurement tools before we put a client’s budget behind them
Represent Backbone’s point of view on growth media in client forums, industry conversations and published work