Associate Director, Paid Social

Paid social has evolved far beyond media buying. Success today requires understanding consumer behavior, creative performance, platform innovation, and how culture influences the way people discover and buy products. Our team partners with clients to build full funnel strategies that connect all of those pieces — combining data, creativity, testing, and measurement to drive meaningful business results.

We believe the best ideas come from people who are endlessly curious, willing to challenge conventional thinking, and excited to experiment. We work collaboratively across media, creative, measurement, strategy, and platform partnerships to continuously push our clients and ourselves forward.

About The Role

The Associate Director, Paid Social is responsible for independently leading paid social strategy, performance, and client relationships across a portfolio of accounts while developing and mentoring a high-performing team. As the senior paid social lead on their accounts, this person brings deep expertise in performance marketing and/or CPG brand strategy, with the ability to translate complex business challenges into actionable, full-funnel strategies that drive measurable growth.

We're looking for a confident, highly proactive leader who takes ownership, brings strong strategic perspectives, and isn't afraid to roll up their sleeves. Someone who can lead client conversations, diagnose performance challenges, build and optimize campaigns, and confidently make decisions without requiring constant senior leadership involvement. They balance big-picture strategic thinking with deep technical expertise and a strong understanding of what drives performance inside the platforms.

Beyond account leadership, this role is responsible for developing senior strategists and media buyers, elevating the quality of strategic thinking and execution, and fostering a culture of accountability, curiosity, and knowledge sharing. The Associate Director will partner closely with Paid Social Directors while maintaining independent ownership of their accounts, proactively communicating risks and opportunities, and escalating complex challenges when appropriate.

Success in this role requires someone who can confidently lead both clients and teams, operate with urgency and autonomy, and consistently deliver exceptional strategic and operational work.

Hands-on experience within paid social advertising platforms, including the ability to independently build, audit, and optimize campaigns, is a requirement for this role.

What you’ll do:

• Independently lead paid social strategy, performance, and client relationships across a portfolio of accounts, overseeing full funnel media planning, creative strategy, testing, measurement, and ongoing optimization.
• Serve as the senior paid social expert and trusted strategic advisor for assigned clients, confidently leading strategic conversations, navigating performance challenges, and delivering proactive, data-backed recommendations.
• Maintain deep hands-on platform expertise, with the ability to independently audit accounts, build campaigns, troubleshoot technical issues, diagnose performance trends, and implement optimizations when needed.
• Lead, mentor, and develop senior strategists and media buyers, establishing clear expectations, providing actionable feedback, and fostering a culture of accountability, strategic thinking, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure operational excellence across campaign activation, QA, pacing, budget management, reporting, and client communication, proactively identifying risks and resolving challenges before they escalate.
• Collaborate with Paid Social Directors and cross-functional teams to advance creative innovation, testing strategies, and measurement best practices while contributing insights and knowledge sharing across the broader practice.

Who will love this role: 

• A highly organized, self-sufficient leader who takes ownership, moves with urgency, and thrives on independently managing complex client accounts and competing priorities.
• A strategic thinker who loves getting into the details, has strong opinions backed by data, and isn't afraid to jump into an ad account to solve a problem.
• A confident client-facing leader who builds trust, communicates clearly, and enjoys challenging conventional thinking to deliver better business results.
• A people-first manager who enjoys developing senior talent, setting high standards, and building teams that consistently deliver exceptional work.
• An endlessly curious paid social enthusiast who is passionate about eCommerce and/or CPG marketing, creative innovation, consumer behavior, platform developments, and sharing knowledge with others.

You should have: 

• 6+ years of paid social experience, including agency experience independently leading strategy, performance, and client relationships across multiple accounts, with a strong background working with eCommerce and/or CPG brands.
• Proven track record developing and executing full-funnel, performance-driven paid social strategies that deliver measurable business outcomes, with expertise in customer acquisition, creative effectiveness, audience strategy, testing, optimization, and measurement. Experience with eCommerce KPIs (ROAS, CAC, LTV) and/or CPG measurement approaches (brand lift, sales lift, incrementality) is strongly preferred.
• Advanced hands-on expertise across major paid social platforms, particularly Meta and TikTok, with strong working knowledge of Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube, Reddit, and emerging platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to independently build and optimize campaigns, audit account structures, troubleshoot technical issues, and develop actionable strategies to improve performance.
• Proven experience managing and mentoring paid social teams, developing senior talent, setting clear expectations, and driving accountability for performance and execution.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills, with experience independently leading client relationships, delivering strategic recommendations, and navigating challenging conversations.
• Strong understanding of creative strategy, testing methodologies, attribution, and performance measurement, with the ability to connect media performance to broader business objectives.
• Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables required); experience with eCommerce analytics and attribution platforms such as GA4, Northbeam, or Triple Whale is preferred. Relevant platform certifications are a plus.

Position also offers a bonus based on company and client success.