Role Overview

The Associate Director (“AD”) is the hands-on paid media lead and integrated client partner for a portfolio of consumer brands at a full-service digital marketing agency. This role is responsible for planning, activating, and optimizing paid media campaigns across programmatic, paid social, search, and digital channels, while also serving as the primary client contact and strategic partner for assigned accounts.

The team is lean and growing. The AD must be equally comfortable setting up and managing campaigns personally and guiding more junior team members to do the same. This is a working leadership role, not a purely supervisory one. The right candidate has direct, recent, hands-on experience in paid media platforms and brings the campaign management discipline needed to hold execution to a high standard.

Beyond paid media, the AD oversees integrated delivery across organic social, influencer, content production, and brand communications for assigned accounts. Brand strategy and relaunch experience is a plus. The ability to mentor a team of 2–5 relatively new practitioners is essential.

Core Responsibilities

Paid Media Campaign Management (Primary Function)

  • Plan, activate, pace, and optimize paid media campaigns across platforms including Meta, Google Ads, The Trade Desk (TTD), and Yahoo DSP.
  • Manage hands-on campaign setup and in-platform execution. This role requires direct keyboard experience, not just oversight.
  • Lead quarterly tactical plans focused on audience strategy, channel mix, and media investment priorities.
  • Drive continuous improvement through analytics, A/B testing, and optimization frameworks; translate performance data into client-facing insights.
  • Collaborate with media partners and vendors to negotiate rates and deliver best-in-class media solutions.
  • Ensure campaigns meet pacing, performance, and quality standards; proactively flag and resolve issues.
  • Stay current on platform updates, emerging ad products, and programmatic best practices.

Client Leadership & Account Management

  • Serve as the primary point of contact and trusted partner for senior client stakeholders.
  • Lead client-facing presentations on campaign strategy, performance, and optimization recommendations.
  • Translate client business objectives into integrated paid media and marketing strategies.
  • Lead QBRs, annual planning sessions, and campaign kickoffs.
  • Maintain strong, accountable client relationships built on transparency and measurable results.

Team Leadership & Mentorship

  • Lead and mentor a team of Marketing Managers and Coordinators, some with 1 year or less of experience.
  • Foster a culture of accountability, continuous learning, and hands-on craft.
  • Establish and enforce campaign management best practices and QA standards across the team.
  • Communicate regularly with agency leadership on team performance, campaign health, and growth opportunities.
  • Model a working, collaborative leadership style. Leaders here get in the weeds alongside their teams.

Integrated Campaign & Project Delivery

  • Oversee delivery of multi-channel initiatives spanning paid media, organic social, influencer, and content production.
  • Serve as the central coordinator across internal creative, social, and production teams for assigned accounts.
  • Own project timelines, scopes, and deliverable quality; proactively identify and resolve bottlenecks.
  • Maintain clear documentation and workflows across concurrent workstreams.

Brand & Communications (Supporting Function)

  • Apply brand strategy thinking to ensure paid and organic campaigns tell a cohesive story across touchpoints.
  • Support brand communications planning for clients managing sensitive or high-profile consumer issues.
  • Contribute to thought leadership, POVs, and knowledge-sharing across the agency.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

  • Bachelor’s degree and 5–8 years of experience in paid media, digital marketing, or account management within an agency environment.
  • Direct, hands-on 2 years of experience managing paid media campaigns in-platform: Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads, The Trade Desk, Yahoo DSP, or comparable programmatic DSPs. This is a hard requirement.
  • At least 2 years of experience in a lead or management capacity with direct reports or cross-functional team oversight.
  • Demonstrated CPG or consumer brand experience. Candidates must demonstrate an understanding of how paid media supports product marketing, shopper behavior, and brand awareness.
  • Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple accounts and workstreams simultaneously.
  • Excellent client communication and presentation skills. Candidate must be comfortable presenting performance data and strategy at the VP level.
  • Servant leadership orientation: a working leader who collaborates alongside their team rather than above it.

Preferred (Nice to Have)

  • Experience with retail media platforms is a plus, not a requirement.
  • Familiarity with influencer and creator marketing ecosystems.
  • Experience leading brand launches or rebrands, including sub-brand narrative development.
  • Background managing large multi-channel client budgets.
  • Experience with website redesign or refresh projects from a brand and messaging perspective.

Key Success Metrics

  • Paid media campaign performance
  • Client satisfaction, trust, and retention
  • On-time, on-budget project delivery
  • Team development and capability growth
  • Account profitability and scope alignment
  • Organic account growth and expansion