Sr. Director, Acquisition Marketing

NinjaTrader•Chicago, IL

2d•$175,000 - $215,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Sr. Director, Acquisition Marketing owns NinjaTrader’s paid acquisition function, including its strategy, investment, team, partners, and results. The role is accountable for scaling a seven-figure monthly media budget efficiently and setting the multi-year direction for acquiring traders worldwide. It will scale the established US program and build paid acquisition in Europe and other international markets from the ground up, including market selection, launch sequencing, operating models, economics, and compliance. The position leads a team of performance marketers and manages agency and platform partners. It represents acquisition on the Marketing leadership team and presents performance, strategy, and investment cases to executives. The role also establishes acquisition planning and measurement standards, develops experimentation and attribution capabilities with Analytics and Data Science, directs performance creative testing, and coordinates acquisition with organic, content, and SEO programs. This role is based in Chicago, Illinois, and is not open to remote candidates. Chicago-based employees work in the office Tuesday through Thursday and remotely on Mondays and Fridays, with additional flex remote days and company-wide office-optional weeks.

Requirements

12+ years of experience in growth or performance marketing, ideally in D2C subscription-based or fintech businesses, including significant team leadership experience.
Demonstrated ownership of a paid acquisition function at scale, with accountability for budget, team, and results.
Experience building paid acquisition in new international markets, including market selection, operating-model decisions, and navigating local regulatory requirements.
Track record managing at least seven figures in monthly media spend with 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 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.
Strong strategic thinking, prioritization, and trade-off judgment, with the ability to operate decisively amid 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.
Experience scaling a function through 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 market and channel allocation, in-year reforecasting, and investment trade-offs.
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 other international markets, from prioritization and entry sequencing through launch and scaling.
Determine each market’s operating model, including in-house versus agency execution, channel mix, localization, and market-entry economics.
Build partnerships, vendor relationships, and internal capabilities needed to run acquisition outside the US.
Work with Compliance and Legal to meet local regulatory requirements in each market.
Establish a framework that makes international performance comparable to domestic performance.
Lead, develop, hire, and structure a team of performance marketers, and build capability and progression paths as the function grows.
Own agency and platform partner selection, commercial terms, performance standards, and decisions to scale or replace partners.
Run an experimentation program across paid channels, with clear hypotheses, sound test design, and actionable readouts.
Partner with Analytics and Data Science on multi-touch attribution and predictive cohort models.
Own acquisition reporting from daily pacing through executive-level narratives and recommendations.
Direct performance creative strategy and continuous testing of concepts, formats, and hooks with Creative.
Design growth loops connecting paid investment with organic, content, and SEO programs.
Monitor new channel launches, betas, and market shifts, and decide where NinjaTrader should move early.

Benefits

Annual target bonus of 15%, based on individual performance (50%) and company/team performance (50%).
401(k) plan with company matching up to 3.5% of employee contributions.
23 days of paid time off accrued annually.
Seven paid holidays annually, plus five conditional holidays annually.
One annual service day.
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.