Sr. Director, Paid Media

Celsius•Boca Raton, FL

10d•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a Senior Director, Media to lead paid media strategy, planning, investment, activation, and measurement across our portfolio. This role is the senior media authority for the business, accountable for how media investment is planned, spent, measured, and improved across Celsius, Alani Nu, and Rockstar. Reporting to the VP, Global Digital, Media, this leader owns the full-funnel media agenda — connecting brand building at the top of the funnel to conversion, retail media, and commerce at the bottom. The role leads the internal US media team, sets the standard for agency performance, and works directly with Brand, eCommerce, Insights, Sports and Entertainment, Field, and Finance to make sure media decisions are tied to business outcomes. Based in our Boca Raton office, this is a hands-on leadership role in a fast-moving category. Success means media plans that are built on a clear strategy, executed with discipline, measured honestly, and improved every quarter.

Requirements

12+ years of experience in media strategy, planning, and investment, with meaningful leadership of teams, agencies, and large-scale media budgets
Deep expertise in full-funnel media planning across brand media, retail media, commerce, paid social, video, CTV, programmatic, and search
Proven ability to challenge agency plans, evaluate channel roles, assess trade-offs, and make high-quality investment decisions
Strong command of measurement, including attribution, incrementality testing, marketing mix modeling, and test design
Experience using first-party and third-party data for audience strategy, activation, and optimization
Strong financial acumen, including working media tracking, forecasting, monthly reporting, and variance management
Significant experience managing large agency relationships across planning, buying, performance, and operational governance
Demonstrated ability to build and develop teams, and to create structure where it does not yet exist
Strong cross-functional leadership skills, with experience working across Brand, Analytics, eCommerce, and Commercial teams
Experience in CPG, beverage, or high-growth consumer brands strongly preferred
Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred
Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-growth environment with shifting priorities
Media Expert: Recognized depth in paid media, not a generalist marketer with media exposure
Owner: Takes full accountability for investment decisions, performance, and the standard of work
Commercially Minded: Connects media choices to sales, share, and profitability, not just media metrics
Builder: Creates the process, structure, and standards that make good work repeatable
Direct Communicator: Says what is working, what is not, and what needs to change, in plain language
People Leader: Develops talent, sets a high bar, and builds a team others want to join
Adaptable: Thrives in a fast-paced environment where priorities move quickly

Nice To Haves

advanced degree preferred

Responsibilities

Own the paid media strategy across brands, channels, audiences, and investment priorities, translating business objectives into integrated media plans that deliver measurable results
Lead full-funnel planning that connects upper-funnel brand building with lower-funnel conversion, retail media, and shopper activation as one consumer journey
Bring deep expertise across programmatic, online video, CTV, audio, paid social, search, retail media, and emerging channels, and define the role each channel plays in the mix
Set annual and quarterly planning rhythms, including brief standards, planning calendars, and approval milestones that hold across brands
Ensure media plans reflect brand priorities, key retail moments, seasonality, and the realities of the beverage category
Own tracking and stewardship of the working media budget, managing spend against plan, forecast, and business priorities
Lead monthly budget reporting including actuals, forecast updates, variance analysis, risks, opportunities, and pacing recommendations
Partner with Finance and Procurement on budget tracking, invoicing, reconciliation, accruals, and reporting accuracy
Monitor investment continuously to identify overages, savings, reallocation opportunities, and actions that improve return
Make and defend investment trade-offs across brands and channels with a clear rationale tied to business impact
Lead and manage media agency partners across strategy, planning, buying, activation, measurement, and optimization
Serve as the senior owner of the agency relationship — setting expectations, reviewing deliverables, resolving issues, and driving improvement in quality, speed, and outcomes
Provide strategic direction and informed challenge to agency recommendations on channel mix, investment allocation, audience design, testing, and optimization
Establish and enforce operating standards for briefing, turnaround, quality control, reporting, and escalation
Manage platform and publisher relationships to secure better terms, early access, and first-look opportunities
Set the standard for media measurement, including attribution, incrementality testing, marketing mix modeling, and the ongoing learning agenda
Partner with Insights and Analytics to build measurement plans that answer real business questions, not just report channel metrics
Define KPIs across brand equity, engagement, traffic, conversion, retail media, and return on investment, and hold plans accountable to them
Build executive-level reporting that shows what worked, what did not, and what changes as a result
Use first-party and third-party data to sharpen audience strategy, targeting, personalization, and media effectiveness
Drive a test-and-learn culture with structured testing, clear read criteria, and decisions that follow the evidence
Partner closely with the Retail Media & eCommerce teams to ensure paid media strategies are aligned with broader commerce objectives, retail priorities, and integrated marketing plans.
Collaborate on annual planning, investment strategies, and key campaign initiatives to ensure consistency across brand media, retail media, and eCommerce activations.
Align media investment priorities with key product launches, promotional calendars, and retailer-specific initiatives to maximize overall business impact
Leverage cross-functional insights and performance data to identify opportunities for greater coordination, improved efficiency, and stronger commercial outcomes across paid media and retail media investments.
Establish clear governance, communication, and planning processes that enable effective collaboration between Paid Media, Retail Media & eCommerce, Commercial, and agency partners.
Serve as the senior media partner to Brand teams, translating business challenges into media choices, test plans, and optimization actions
Integrate paid media with organic social, influencer, sports and entertainment, field marketing, and multicultural efforts so they work as one plan
Align media priorities with broader business objectives and operational capabilities across the organization
Communicate media performance, risks, and recommendations clearly to senior leadership in plain business language
Raise media fluency across the wider organization by sharing expertise and translating complex media decisions into clear business implications
Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing media team across planning, activation, and performance
Build a clear operating model across internal teams and agency partners, with defined roles, decision rights, planning rhythms, and performance expectations
Set performance standards, give direct and useful feedback, and build career paths that retain strong talent
Establish best practices, playbooks, and documented ways of working that outlast individual campaigns and individual people
Build a team environment where standards are high, priorities are clear, and people are set up to do their best work