Director, Paid Media

Lever is seeking a strategic Director, Paid Media to lead the planning, activation, and optimization of paid media campaigns across Paid Search, Paid Social, Display, and Programmatic channels. This role owns how media is built and run at Lever — campaign strategy, channel architecture, budget allocation, and the optimization discipline that turns spend into measurable business outcomes for our clients.
Success in this role is defined by performance. The Director, Paid Media is accountable for the quality of media strategy across the agency’s book of business, the consistency of activation standards across pods, and the continuous improvement of ROAS, CPA, CAC, and lead quality on the accounts Lever manages.
This is a hands‑on leadership role. The Director, Paid Media sets the strategic direction and stays close enough to the platforms to guide complex builds, troubleshoot underperformance, and make sound decisions about where budget should move and why.
The role also oversees Lever’s Reporting and Analytics function , ensuring measurement frameworks, attribution approaches, and performance reporting give both clients and internal teams a clear line of sight from media investment to business result.
The Director, Paid Media works closely with the Director, Client Success, the Director, SEO & Generative Search, and pod leadership to keep Lever’s marketing strategies integrated and performance-driven. This role reports into the VP, Strategic Delivery.
Media Directors, paid media specialists, and members of the Reporting & Analytics team report directly to the Director, Paid Media .
Primary Ownership Areas Agency-wide paid media strategy, activation standards, and channel innovation
Campaign performance across all managed platforms and client accounts
Leadership, mentorship, and development of Media Directors and paid media specialists
Budget strategy, pacing discipline, and media mix recommendations
Oversight of the Reporting & Analytics function and measurement frameworks
Evaluation and adoption of emerging advertising platforms and technologies
What You’ll Do Lead Paid Media Strategy and Activation Develop and execute paid media strategies across Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Display, and programmatic platforms.
Define campaign objectives, account architecture, audience strategy, bidding approach, media mix, and testing roadmaps for the agency’s most complex and highest-value accounts.
Oversee campaign builds, launches, budgets, pacing, and optimization cadence to ensure client goals, timelines, and performance expectations are consistently met.
Provide hands‑on activation support for new platform launches, major restructures, advanced optimization work, and high-priority client initiatives.
Serve as the agency’s subject matter expert on platform capabilities, campaign types, automation and Smart Bidding behavior, and signal quality.
Lead, Mentor, and Manage the Media Team Lead, mentor, and manage a team of Media Directors and paid media specialists, including workload assignment, work review, feedback, and career development.
Support the team in solving complex campaign challenges and developing advanced media strategies.
Facilitate knowledge sharing across pods so platform insights, test learnings, and innovations reach the entire agency.
Help forecast staffing needs, capacity, and operational improvements for the paid media practice.
Oversee Reporting and Analytics Capabilities Lead the development of reporting frameworks that deliver clear, accurate, and actionable insight for clients and internal teams.
Guide the evolution of measurement strategy, attribution models, and conversion tracking — including tagging, UTM standards, offline conversion imports, and signal hygiene.
Ensure reporting and analytics resources are aligned to the needs of pod teams and client accounts.
Integrate data insights directly into campaign strategy and optimization decisions.
Maintain Media Quality and Operational Standards Establish and maintain standards for campaign structure, naming conventions, tracking requirements, QA, optimization routines, and reporting expectations across pods.
Develop frameworks and best practices that guide how campaigns are built, managed, and optimized agency-wide.
Collaborate with Media Directors to identify operational improvements that enhance both campaign performance and team efficiency.
Advance Media Innovation and Agency Growth Continuously evaluate new advertising platforms, targeting capabilities, automation tools, betas, and emerging technologies, and recommend where Lever should adopt them.
Encourage testing frameworks that explore new strategies, audience approaches, creative formats, and platform capabilities.
Partner with cross‑functional teams and present performance insights and strategic recommendations to leadership and clients.
Contribute media expertise to audits, proposals, media plans, and budget recommendations for prospective and existing clients.
Stay current on digital advertising trends, platform and policy updates, privacy changes, AI‑driven campaign tools, and industry best practices.
What You’ll Bring 8+ years of experience in paid media or digital marketing leadership within an agency or performance‑focused environment.
Deep, hands‑on expertise across paid search, paid social, display, and programmatic platforms — including Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, and emerging social channels.
Strong experience managing large-scale, multi‑channel advertising budgets with clear accountability for ROAS, CPA, and CAC.
Proven experience mentoring media professionals and building high‑performing teams.
Strong analytical mindset with the ability to interpret performance data, diagnose root causes, and guide strategic decisions.
Working command of measurement infrastructure: conversion tracking, tagging, attribution, and analytics platforms.
Strong strategic thinking and the ability to translate platform and industry developments into actionable client opportunities.
Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to build client confidence and collaborate across teams and roles.
100% premium paid medical, dental and vision benefits for employees
401K with a salary match
Paid holidays
Competitive vacation and personal time‑off package
Company donation match – you donate, we donate
Time off for community service – because charity can’t always wait until evenings or weekends

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