Director of Paid Media

Opportunity at a GlanceThe Director of Paid Media is responsible for the overall paid media strategy, execution and performance outcomes to drive new enrollment growth for Walden University. This critical role works with C-level stakeholders, cross functional teams, and our external agency to drive top to bottom alignment and accomplishment of the annual goals.  In addition, this role would play a key role in advancing paid marketing efforts, leveraging a customer centric and data-led approach to modernize and expand our media programs.The ideal candidate will combine a data-driven approach with creative thinking to develop, implement, and optimize high-impact advertising strategies across a diverse media ecosystem, including linear TV, CTV, OTT, audio, digital out-of-home, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, paid search, and affiliate marketing.  This candidate will have a deep understanding of marketing platforms, measurement & experimentation methodologies, and media enabling data flow ecology.ResponsibilitiesDevelop and oversee a comprehensive media strategy that spans the marketing funnel, aligning with Walden University's objectives for brand growth, lead generation, applications, and enrollment. Drive alignment on annual and quarterly media plans, ensuring alignment with finance and marketing analytic forecasts and incremental ROI targets. Lead the development and execution of test-and-learn roadmaps to continually refine media and creative performance. Help drive cross functional alignment for test and learn priorities and outcomes. Oversee media and creative testing to identify high-performing assets and inform future creative strategies. Partner with agency and data & analytics teams to continually provide more robust measurement frameworks for full-funnel media performance and methodologies for attribution and channel optimization. Partner with creative and web teams to ensure strategic media and messaging alignment, fostering innovation in ad formats and storytelling.Act as the primary liaison between Walden University and its agency partners, ensuring strategic alignment, flawless execution, and results-oriented collaboration.Foster strong internal partnerships across marketing, enrollment, and analytics teams to ensure cohesive planning and execution.Leads media and landing page experiments including multi-panel and large-scale match market testing. Interfaces with leadership from admissions, student services, accreditation, operations and finance as needed. Responsible for helping hire, train, and manage a staff of marketing professionals. Create and review monthly and annual budgets.Completes other duties as assigned.  Performs other duties as assignedComplies with all policies and standards