Paid Media Director - Europe

About the Role:

As a Paid Media Director, you will lead the strategy, execution, and growth of integrated paid media programs for consumer brands across Europe. This is a fully virtual role for candidates based in London or Berlin. You will primarily work within your local time zone, with some flexibility to overlap with U.S. East Coast hours when needed. You will serve as a senior client partner and people leader while remaining hands-on in the platforms, with the ability to build, QA, and optimize campaigns directly. This role requires both strategic leadership and practical execution; it is not a strategy-only or oversight-only position.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Strategy and Client Leadership

• Own senior client relationships, translating business objectives into clear media strategies, measurement frameworks, and growth roadmaps.
• Lead the development and execution of full-funnel paid media strategies across paid social, paid search, display, video, and emerging platforms.
• Drive bottom-of-funnel performance programs optimized to revenue, ROAS, CPA, and customer acquisition, which represent the majority of client investment, while building the traffic, consideration, and awareness campaigns that support them.
• Oversee campaign performance and investment decisions, using incrementality, marginal returns, and business outcomes, rather than platform-reported results alone, to guide budget allocation.
• Partner with consumer-brand clients to identify growth opportunities and connect media performance to broader commercial goals.

Hands-On Execution

• Work directly within Meta, Google, and other advertising platforms to build, QA, audit, and troubleshoot campaigns.
• Set up and restructure ad accounts, including shopping, product feed, and catalog-based campaigns.
• Design and lead testing roadmaps, secure client alignment on tests, and translate results into clear recommendations.

European Market Leadership

• Direct multi-market European campaigns across the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and other key markets, ensuring strategies reflect local consumer behaviors, cultural nuances, market conditions, and platform dynamics.
• Stay current on changes in the European media landscape, privacy regulations, measurement practices, platforms, and consumer trends.

Team Leadership and Collaboration

• Lead, mentor, and develop cross-functional teams of media buyers and strategists, establishing high standards for strategic thinking, execution, and client service.
• Collaborate with creative, analytics, strategy, and external partners to deliver integrated, innovative solutions.
• Work closely with global teammates, including North America, to align media strategy, share best practices, and support international accounts.
• Improve team processes, operating standards, and ways of working, including the use of AI and automation, to support quality, scalability, and efficiency.

Requirements:

• Must currently live in London or Berlin.
• 8+ years of paid media or performance marketing experience, including significant agency experience.
• Currently working at the Associate Director or Director level in paid media, performance marketing, or a closely related discipline.
• Proven experience leading paid media for DTC, retail, or ecommerce brands with campaigns optimized to revenue, ROAS, CPA, or CAC.
• Full-funnel experience, including deep bottom-of-funnel performance expertise as well as traffic, consideration, and awareness campaigns.
• Current, hands-on proficiency in Meta and Google Ads, with the ability to walk through account structure, targeting, bid strategy, and optimization decisions in detail.
• Substantial experience serving consumers across multiple European markets; experience limited solely to the United Kingdom is not sufficient.
• Demonstrated understanding of measurement approaches, including incrementality testing, holdout or geo experiments, and work with MMM or MTA partners.
• Proven success managing and developing teams and leading senior-level client relationships.
• Experience managing meaningful media budgets and complex, multi-market campaign portfolios.
• Strong strategic, analytical, and commercial thinking, with the ability to turn performance data into clear recommendations and business decisions.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with fluency in English required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proficiency in an additional European language.
• Experience with additional channels such as TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, programmatic, or Amazon.
• Practical experience applying AI tools within media planning, execution, or reporting workflows.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across countries and time zones, including occasional work outside standard hours for global meetings.