Job Description
Director, Paid Media Practice Lead
About Cro Metrics
Cro Metrics is building a modern Digital Marketing Agency that blends experimentation, behavioral insight, analytics, creative, and AI-enabled delivery. We believe most agencies are too siloed—our advantage is integrating paid media with CRO, creative, and measurement to drive compounding growth.
The opportunity
We’re hiring a Paid Media Practice Lead to run and scale our paid media offering—currently ~$1M in annual revenue—into a predictable, high-performing, high-margin practice. This is a senior leadership role with real ownership: strategy + delivery + team + P&L + growth. In the first phase, expect to be a player/coach (roughly 40–50% hands-on execution) while you build the systems and team that make scale possible.
What you’ll be accountable for
1) Set the standard for media strategy and execution
- Establish best-in-class standards for strategy, campaign architecture, pacing, optimization, experimentation, and a clear “definition of done.”
- Stay current as platforms evolve; use AI/automation to amplify team output and quality, not as a novelty.
- Build playbooks, QA systems, and governance that create consistent outcomes across accounts and channels.
2) Run the Paid Media practice like a P&L owner
- Own growth and profitability: scale beyond ~$1M ARR while delivering 60%+ gross margin.
- Build and execute an annual plan (objectives, staffing model, cost structure, utilization targets, and service standards).
- Run a weekly/monthly operating rhythm with forecasting and metrics that make results predictable (revenue, margin, retention/expansion, delivery quality, utilization).
3) Recruit, grow, and manage a high-performing team
- Hire the right roles, set performance expectations, coach and develop leaders, and build career paths.
- Create and manage an on-shore/off-shore contractor model that’s efficient without sacrificing quality.
- Ensure the right work is done by the right person at the right time at the right price.
4) Be the senior strategic partner to client executives
- Build trusted relationships with senior-most stakeholders; lead QBRs and annual planning.
- Handle escalations with calm, clarity, and credibility.
- Drive retention and expansion by translating business goals into strategic roadmaps and measurable outcomes.
Additional responsibilities (also critical)
Drive growth through pitches, packaging, and disciplined qualification
- Lead scoping and pitch strategy; strengthen how paid media is sold via clear packages/pricing and crisp value articulation.
- Use (and improve) the client fit scorecard—pursue the right opportunities, not just any opportunities.
- Contribute to outbound/inbound pipeline through leadership visibility, partnerships, and repeatable sales enablement (POVs, case studies, pitch assets).
Willing to do the work (player/coach)
- In the early stage, personally own a meaningful portion of strategy and execution—building, launching, optimizing, auditing, and troubleshooting.
- Model what “excellent” looks like through hands-on work, then codify it into processes and training.
Integrate paid with CRO + creative to create compounding impact
- Lead integrated engagements and/or clearly articulate how paid + CRO + creative compound (landing page testing, creative testing, offer/UX improvements, audience learnings, experimentation).
- When delivery gets messy and ownership is ambiguous, you run toward the problem and create clarity—rather than protecting turf.
Own measurement and decision-quality rights
- Establish reporting standards, attribution approach, tracking governance, and incrementality/testing where feasible so performance is explainable and actionable.
- Partner closely with Analytics to ensure measurement aligns to business decisions, not vanity metrics.
Build a repeatable cross-functional delivery system
- Create a clean operating rhythm with PM, Analytics, Creative, and Lifecycle: intake → strategy → build → QA → launch → optimize → learnings → reporting/QBR.
- Define roles, handoffs, SLAs, and escalation paths so delivery stays fast, high quality, and margin-friendly.
What success looks like (12–18 months)
- Paid Media scales beyond ~$1M ARR with 60%+ gross margin and predictable forecasting.
- Clear standards: playbooks, QA checklists, reporting templates, measurement plans, and a staffed talent model (including contractors).
- Executive client relationships that drive retention and expansion.
- A proven integrated motion where paid + CRO + creative produce compounding gains.
Qualifications
Required
- 8–12+ years in paid media / performance marketing, with significant experience in an agency or consulting environment.
- Demonstrated track record owning (or materially influencing) a practice or department: hiring, process design, quality systems, and client leadership.
- Strong strategic and hands-on execution ability across major platforms (specific channel mix can vary).
- Proven ability to manage profitability through resourcing, scope discipline, and operational rigor.
- Excellent executive communication—able to simplify complexity and lead confident recommendations.
Nice to have
- Experience running integrated programs (paid + CRO/experimentation + creative testing).
- Thought leadership that supports inbound growth (speaking, writing, community).
- Experience implementing automation/AI workflows for analysis, reporting, or ops.
Traits that will make you great here
- High standards and high velocity: you’re relentless about quality, but you ship.
- Commercial judgment: you know what’s winnable, what’s profitable, and when to walk away.
- Ownership mindset: you fix messy problems; you don’t avoid them.
- Builder energy: you like creating the system and the team, not just running campaigns.
Important Note: Cro Metrics is a U.S.-based remote company and is not able to hire in CA, AK, WA, OR, HI, NY, or NJ, or outside of the United States.
