Sr Manager Media Strategy

Ulta Beauty, Inc. • Bolingbrook, IL

7d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Media and Audience Strategy is a senior leader in Ulta Beauty’s media organization. The role leads category media strategy, audience-first planning, and capability development across Core Media and UB Media, connecting enterprise-funded and brand-funded media investments to improve business outcomes and the guest experience.

Working with Business Strategy, Analytics, Integrated Marketing, Merchandising, UB Media, and external agency teams, the Senior Manager identifies opportunities for alignment, media effectiveness, incremental revenue, and long-term growth. The role shapes strategy across the category portfolio and integrated media planning while advancing audience activation, measurement, channel best practices, and innovation.

The position helps advance an integrated, audience-first approach to media by connecting business objectives, consumer and category insights, first-party data, and media strategy. It influences senior stakeholders, guides complex decisions, and builds processes and capabilities to scale media planning across Core Media and UB Media. The role also leads and develops a team of category media strategists and establishes the frameworks, standards, and operating model for consistent, high-quality strategic work.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of experience developing integrated media strategies across traditional and digital channels, with a current emphasis on social and digital channels.
• Experience leading integrated media strategy across multiple channels, business units, or stakeholder groups.
• At least 3 years of experience leading complex media strategy and activation across audience-driven, performance, brand, and/or retail media initiatives.
• At least 3 years of management experience.
• Deep understanding of the media landscape and media consumption, and ability to connect strategic thought leadership with activation across digital and traditional channels.
• Strong understanding of consumer behavior, culture, media consumption, and category dynamics, with the ability to translate insights into actionable media strategies.
• Strong understanding of audience-first marketing and the application of first-party data in media planning and activation.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities across the business and influence resource allocation based on business impact.
• Experience motivating and inspiring partner teams toward shared goals and translating channel needs and results in context.
• Strong critical-thinking and written and verbal communication skills; comfortable leading, presenting, and contributing at all levels.
• Strong analytical approach to data and measurement, with the ability to extract actionable insights that drive business results.
• Experience working in matrixed organizations, collaborating with cross-functional teams and business units, and managing or influencing external agency partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead media strategy across the category portfolio, aligning category strategies with Ulta Beauty business priorities, UB Media advertiser objectives, guest insights, and enterprise media opportunities.
• Lead cross-category strategic planning for annual planning, seasonal moments, and key enterprise initiatives.
• Guide Managers in developing category roadmaps and strategic recommendations, and consult on complex business opportunities, investment decisions, and stakeholder needs.
• Partner with Merchandising, UB Media Sales, Analytics, Integrated Marketing, Core Media, and agency leadership to identify category growth opportunities and align media priorities.
• Identify opportunities to drive incremental revenue through advertiser investment, innovative media solutions, and scalable partnerships; develop client-facing materials for Sellers to present to advertisers.
• Synthesize category performance, consumer trends, competitive activity, and marketplace developments to inform business and media strategy.
• Own paid media audience strategy across Core and UB Media, defining and evolving audience-first planning principles, frameworks, and capabilities.
• Translate consumer insights and first-party data into actionable paid media audience strategies with Business Strategy, Analytics, CRM, agency teams, and other partners.
• Guide audience strategy across category and integrated media plans, connecting audience selection, customer journeys, channel activation, and business objectives.
• Establish audience planning best practices and frameworks for consistent application, measurement, and organizational learning.
• Monitor audience capabilities, privacy considerations, platform changes, and marketplace trends to inform strategy and innovation.
• Define and evolve integrated media planning principles and frameworks connecting Core Media and UB Media investments.
• Set strategic standards for integrated media planning and guide high-priority strategies across audiences, channel mix, customer journey, investment, flighting, measurement, and business objectives.
• Oversee Channel Center of Excellence priorities, developing Managers’ channel expertise and promoting consistency, best practices, and capability development.
• Establish and evolve media and channel best practices informed by industry trends, emerging technologies, platform capabilities, and consumer behavior.
• Serve as a senior strategic partner to internal stakeholders and agency leadership, influencing media priorities and coordinating enterprise and retail media investments.
• Partner with Analytics and agency leadership to establish measurement approaches, learning agendas, and success criteria for evaluating media effectiveness and future investments.
• Translate performance insights, audience learnings, and category results into cross-category recommendations and strategic priorities.
• Guide test-and-learn priorities and ensure learnings are translated into scalable planning practices.
• Identify and champion media capabilities, products, partnerships, automation opportunities, and monetization strategies.
• Develop thought leadership and strategic points of view that anticipate marketplace changes and support long-term growth.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team of category media strategists, establishing priorities and accountability and strengthening strategic, commercial, and media planning capabilities.
• Establish and evolve the category strategy operating model to support consistent planning, recommendations, channel expertise, and cross-functional engagement.
• Guide and challenge team strategies and recommendations to improve their connection to business objectives, category opportunities, consumer insights, audience strategy, and media investment.
• Coach team members in category strategy, integrated media planning, retail media network monetization, audience activation, measurement, innovation, and executive storytelling.
• Define and optimize ways of working across internal teams, agencies, and cross-functional partners to improve collaboration, efficiency, and output quality.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, growth-mindset team culture and assess organizational capabilities and future talent needs.

Benefits

• Paid time off for eligible full-time positions.
• Health benefits for eligible full-time positions.
• Dental insurance.
• Vision insurance.
• Life insurance.
• Disability benefits.
• Eligible associates may earn additional compensation under the Company’s bonus plan.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed