Sr. Director, Acquisition Marketing

NinjaTrader•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Sr. Director, Acquisition Marketing owns NinjaTrader’s paid acquisition function, including its strategy, investment, team, partner portfolio, and results. The role is accountable for scaling a seven-figure monthly media budget efficiently, setting the multi-year direction for customer acquisition, and advising the executive team on acquisition performance and investment decisions. The position will scale NinjaTrader’s established domestic acquisition program while building paid acquisition across Europe and other international markets from the ground up. This includes prioritizing markets, sequencing market entry, determining operating models and channel mix, establishing local partnerships and capabilities, and coordinating with Compliance and Legal on local regulatory requirements. The Sr. Director leads and develops performance marketers and agency and platform partners; sets standards for acquisition planning, measurement, and governance; and owns experimentation, reporting, performance creative strategy, and collaboration with Analytics and Data Science on attribution and predictive cohort models. This role is based in Chicago, with a hybrid schedule and no remote-candidate option.

Requirements

12+ years of experience in growth or performance marketing, ideally in D2C subscription-based or fintech businesses, including significant experience leading teams.
Demonstrated ownership of a paid acquisition function at scale, with accountability for budget, team, and results.
Proven experience building paid acquisition in new international markets, including market selection, operating model decisions, and navigating local regulatory requirements.
Track record managing seven figures or more in monthly media spend while maintaining strong unit economics.
Deep expertise across web and mobile paid channels, including Google, Meta, YouTube, programmatic, influencer/affiliate, iOS, and Android.
Strong command of CAC, LTV, ROAS, payback period, incrementality, and media mix modeling.
Hands-on experience partnering with Analytics and Data Science on attribution design and predictive cohort modeling.
Experience building and developing a marketing team, including hiring, structure, and progression.
Experience owning agency and platform partner relationships, including commercial negotiation and performance management.
Executive presence and a track record of presenting strategy and performance to senior leadership and defending investment decisions.
Exceptional reporting and data storytelling skills, including the ability to turn raw data into actionable executive narratives.
Excellent strategic thinking, prioritization, tradeoff-making, and ability to operate decisively in ambiguity.

Nice To Haves

Previous experience in B2C marketing for fintech companies.
Previous experience in the futures or brokerage industry.
Experience running paid and organic marketing as one combined growth system rather than separate channels.
Experience scaling a function through a period of rapid international expansion.

Responsibilities

Set the multi-year vision and operating strategy for paid acquisition and translate it into annual plans, targets, and investment decisions.
Own a seven-figure monthly media budget, including allocation across markets and channels, reforecasting, and investment tradeoffs.
Own acquisition performance against growth and efficiency targets, including CPA, CAC, lifetime value, payback period, and marginal CAC.
Represent acquisition on the Marketing leadership team and present performance, strategy, and investment cases to the executive team.
Define standards for how acquisition is planned, measured, and governed.
Build paid acquisition across Europe and the rest of the world, from market prioritization and entry sequencing through launch and scale.
Determine each market’s operating model, including in-house versus agency support, channel mix, localization, and entry economics.
Build partnerships, vendor relationships, and internal capabilities needed to operate acquisition outside the US.
Work with Compliance and Legal to meet local regulatory requirements in each market entered.
Establish a measurement framework that enables international performance to be compared with domestic performance.
Lead, develop, and grow a team of performance marketers, including hiring, team structure, and capability development.
Own agency and platform partner selection, commercial terms, performance standards, and decisions to scale or replace partners.
Develop team members to own channels and markets independently and establish progression paths.
Own a rigorous paid-channel experimentation program, including hypotheses, test design, and readouts that inform scaling decisions.
Partner with Analytics and Data Science to develop multi-touch attribution and predictive cohort models.
Own acquisition reporting from daily pacing through executive-level performance narratives and recommendations.
Direct performance creative strategy and continuous testing across concepts, formats, and hooks in partnership with Creative.
Design growth loops that combine paid investment with organic, content, and SEO programs.
Monitor new channel launches, betas, and market shifts, and determine where NinjaTrader should move early.

Benefits

Annual target bonus of 15%, based on individual performance (50%) and company/team performance (50%).
401(k) plan through ADP with company matching up to 3.5% of employee contributions.
Annual paid time off allowance accruing at 23 days per year.
Seven paid holidays annually, plus five conditional holidays annually.
One service day annually.
Paid parental bonding leave.
Health, vision, and dental coverage.
Life and disability insurance covered 100% by NinjaTrader.
20 additional flex remote days annually for Chicago-based employees.
Five company-wide office-optional weeks tied to major holidays.
Professional development and employee recognition initiatives.