Director, Park Media

Sea World•Williamsburg, VA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Media is responsible for leading the development and execution of paid media strategy for Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA, driving attendance, revenue, and brand awareness through a data-driven, integrated marketing approach. Reporting to the VP of Marketing & Sales with a dotted-line reporting relationship to corporate leadership, this role owns media planning, investment, and measurement across digital and traditional channels, and leads a team responsible for delivering marketing programs from strategy through execution — including content, promotional partnerships, and creative production that support the paid media plan. This individual serves as the park's media and marketing execution expert, partnering closely with Marketing, Finance, Revenue Management, Consumer Insights, Sales and Executive Leadership to ensure marketing investments align with business priorities and deliver measurable results.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, Business Administration, or related field.
7-10+ years of progressive experience in integrated media and performance marketing.
5+ years managing and developing high-performing marketing teams.
Proven success managing multi-million-dollar budgets and delivering measurable growth.
Experience with marketing analytics, attribution, forecasting, and measurement frameworks.
Deep knowledge of the omnichannel media ecosystem alongside a strong understanding of content, social, and partnership marketing.
Financial acumen managing large budgets and optimizing ROI.
Strategic thinker balancing brand building with short-term performance.
Strong analytical, decision-making, and communication skills, with the ability to translate data into business recommendations.

Nice To Haves

MBA or Master's degree preferred.
Theme park, attraction, hospitality, or entertainment industry experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead the annual paid media strategy, budget, and investment allocation across TV, radio, OOH, print, direct mail, paid search, social, CTV/OTT, streaming, digital audio, programmatic, and emerging platforms.
Balance upper-funnel brand building with lower-funnel demand generation across the full customer journey.
Partner with agency teams on planning, negotiation, and performance optimization.
Build forecasting models and measurement frameworks (attribution, incrementality, MMM) to guide investment decisions.
Lead a team responsible for the full range of marketing execution that supports media performance — content and social channels, promotional partnerships, and creative/design output — ensuring consistency across paid, owned, and earned channels.
Direct campaign planning and channel strategy in support of seasonal initiatives, promotional calendars, and major park priorities.
Champion a test-and-learn culture across audiences, creative, messaging, and channels.
Monitor KPIs including attendance, admissions revenue, ROAS, CAC, LTV, and incremental revenue.
Build executive dashboards that communicate marketing effectiveness and optimization opportunities.
Partner with CRM and Consumer Insights to leverage first-party data for targeting and personalization.
Lead, mentor, and develop a marketing team spanning media, content, and partnerships functions, fostering accountability and professional growth.
Manage relationships with agency, publisher, and technology partners, holding them accountable for performance and innovation.
Present strategic recommendations and results to senior leadership.
Stay current on media innovation, AI-enabled marketing, privacy regulation, and measurement practices.
Perform other duties as assigned.