Director, Performance Media

Hearst•Dallas, TX

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Medium Giant, Hearst’s integrated creative marketing agency, is seeking a highly strategic Director of Performance Media to lead the delivery of paid media efforts for clients. The agency combines storytelling, strategy, and scale, leveraging Hearst's audience intelligence and media ecosystem with Medium Giant's agile approach to brand storytelling. This role will focus on data-driven, insight-led creative that performs, connecting brands to audiences through paid media execution and optimization.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, communications, applied mathematics, or a related field preferred.
7+ years of experience managing and optimizing performance media campaigns across search, social, programmatic, retail media, or video.
3+ years of experience managing a team with a focus on development and collaboration.
Proficiency in platforms such as Google Ads, Meta Business Suite, LinkedIn Ads, Pinterest, TikTok and programmatic self-service platforms.
Hands-on experience with tools like Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Skai, and DOMO for campaign automation, optimization, and reporting.
Demonstrated ability to leverage AI tools and technologies to optimize campaign performance, audience segmentation, and planning processes.
Strong understanding of campaign trafficking, tagging, QA, and data integrity processes (e.g., Google Tag Manager).
Strong quantitative and analytical skills, with the ability to identify insights, recommend optimizations, and articulate the “why” behind the data.
Experience presenting performance results and actionable recommendations to senior-level clients and stakeholders.
Strong process development and project management skills, with the ability to balance multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Proven ability to mentor and lead junior team members, building both technical and leadership skills.
Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment while balancing various creative executions across different verticals, from home and real estate to business and senior living.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills; demonstrated ability to translate and present complicated ideas in a simple, and easy-to-understand yet inspirational /creative style.
Willingness to learn and create solutions that challenge the status quo.
Exceptional critical thinking and problem-solving abilities with the ability to think unconventionally in proposing solutions.
Strong consulting experience. Able to quickly evaluate complex client issues and demonstrate experiences in solving client’s business challenges with analytic solutions.
Manage the team with excellence in a high-growth and fast-paced environment.
Able to recruit, develop, and retain the best talent in the marketplace and motivate teams in a matrixed environment.
Entrepreneurial and visionary thinking.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with walled garden platforms such as Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Instacart, or other retail media networks is a plus.
A strong network of industry connections with media planners and buyers.

Responsibilities

Oversee the activation and optimization of digital media campaigns across paid search, paid social, programmatic, retail media (e.g., Amazon, Walmart Connect), and video platforms.
Drive strategy for campaign setup, pacing, and optimizations to meet KPIs such as ROI, CPA, ROAS, and other client-specific goals.
Utilize tools for automated campaign management, bid optimization, and cross-platform scaling.
Lead the implementation of audience targeting strategies, A/B testing, and dynamic creative optimization to maximize impact.
Partner with the Director of Media Planning to align execution with high-level strategies and ensure campaigns achieve intended outcomes.
Partner with Hearst teams to scale SEM, Paid Social, and Influencer campaigns.
Leverage AI tools and automation platforms to improve campaign optimization, media planning, and real-time decision-making.
Explore innovative applications of AI for bid optimization, audience segmentation, predictive analytics, and creative personalization.
Champion the adoption of new technologies and data-driven methodologies that drive efficiency, improve outcomes, and future-proof the agency’s performance media capabilities.
Develop and oversee processes for trafficking, tagging, and QA to ensure campaigns are executed accurately and efficiently.
Own the operational workflow for campaign launches, collaborating with internal teams to identify and resolve bottlenecks.
Own the operational workflow for 3rd party ad serving through Google Campaign Manager 360 (CM360) and direct team members on best practices for the different applications of ad tags, QA, tracking, floodlight tagging and pixel implementation.
Ensure accurate campaign tracking, measurement, and reporting by leveraging tools such as Google Tag Manager, DOMO and Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
Identify opportunities for process improvements, tools, and technologies to enhance efficiency, scalability, and data integrity.
Partner with strategy and analytics teams to monitor campaign performance, turning data into actionable insights that drive optimization.
Serve as a subject matter expert, presenting findings and performance recommendations to both clients and internal teams.
Use DOMO to deliver clear, real-time reporting and insights across media campaigns, ensuring data transparency for clients.
Lead post-campaign analyses, delivering insights and optimization plans for future campaigns.
Lead and mentor a team of media buyers, performance specialists, and operations staff, fostering a culture of collaboration and accountability.
Develop team expertise across platforms (Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, Amazon Ads, etc.) and tools like DOMO.
Coordinate closely with Hearst partners to manage buying and performance across the Google and Meta platforms.
Act as a resource and coach for junior team members, helping them grow in their technical and strategic capabilities.
Stay current with industry trends, platform updates, and emerging technologies to drive innovation in performance media execution.
Partner with the VP, Integrated Media to evaluate and implement new tools, platforms, or strategies that advance client goals.
Build and maintain relationships with key media, retail media, and ad-tech partners to bring new opportunities to clients.