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AbelsonTaylor

Health-focused advertising agency with emotional storytelling

Senior Director - Performance Media

Performance & Paid MarketingConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeChicago, IL, USA$155k - $180k

About the Job

Requirements

  • At least 10 years of digital or performance media experience, including significant leadership responsibility across Paid Search, Programmatic, and Paid Social.
  • Healthcare or pharmaceutical media experience, including experience with regulated brands and cross-functional agency teams, is strongly preferred.
  • Demonstrated expertise in performance media strategy, activation, optimization, audience planning, measurement, and analytics.
  • Deep knowledge of major platforms and systems such as DV360, SA360, Campaign Manager 360, Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Meta, LinkedIn, PulsePoint, and Prisma.
  • Experience leading teams, managing senior client relationships, and presenting strategic recommendations to executive stakeholders.
  • Strong financial, operational, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage priorities across multiple clients and workstreams.
  • Analytical and creative problem-solving skills, sound judgment, and a commitment to high-quality work.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the agency performance media practice across Paid Search, Programmatic Display and Video, Paid Social, and emerging digital activation channels.
  • Establish strategic direction, channel standards, quality controls, and best practices that support effective, compliant, and measurable activation.
  • Partner with the Media Strategy team to develop channel recommendations aligned with client strategy, audience needs, investment levels, and business objectives.
  • Guide testing, optimization, innovation, and platform adoption across the performance media portfolio.
  • Serve as the senior escalation point for activation, platform, measurement, and performance challenges.
  • Serve as a senior performance media subject matter expert in client meetings, strategic presentations, and annual planning engagements.
  • Translate complex platform, data, and performance topics into clear, actionable recommendations for clients and internal teams.
  • Guide senior team members in developing clear report observations, implications, and optimization actions.
  • Support new business, organic growth, scopes of work, case studies, and agency thought leadership.
  • Collaborate with Media Strategy, Marketing Intelligence, Creative, Integrated Strategy, Brand Planning, and Account teams to deliver connected media programs.
  • Partner with Creative leadership on asset requirements, dynamic content opportunities, new formats, deliverable timing, and performance-informed creative recommendations.
  • Help align channel activation, ad operations, measurement, analytics, and reporting approaches across accounts.
  • Partner with department leadership on staffing, account assignments, workload management, revenue projections, investment pacing, and operational priorities.
  • Maintain oversight of activation quality, budget stewardship, pacing, billing inputs, and issue resolution across assigned business.
  • Develop and maintain department processes, templates, playbooks, onboarding materials, and training resources.
  • Lead, mentor, and develop Associate Directors, Supervisors, Specialists, and other performance media team members.
  • Balance workloads, clarify ownership, set priorities, and create opportunities that build strategic and technical skills.
  • Provide ongoing coaching, formal performance feedback, and career development support.
  • Foster an inclusive, collaborative, accountable, and psychologically safe team environment.

Desired Qualifications

  • Healthcare or pharmaceutical media experience, including experience working with regulated brands and cross-functional agency teams.

About the Company

AbelsonTaylor

Health-focused advertising agency with emotional storytelling

AbelsonTaylor is a health-focused advertising agency in Chicago that creates and manages full-service marketing campaigns for pharmaceutical, healthcare provider, and consumer health brands. It uses multidisciplinary teams to craft campaigns that emphasize the human side of scientific data, helping audiences understand health decisions through emotional storytelling. The company's products are integrated advertising services—creative design, strategy, and campaign management—delivered across multiple channels. By staying independent, AbelsonTaylor can tailor its work to each client and staff, prioritizing client needs and flexibility over conformity. Its goal is to help health and wellness brands communicate complex information clearly and connect with both healthcare professionals and the general public in a meaningful way.

Company size
201-500
Company stage
Not listed
Total funding
Not listed
Headquarters
Chicago, IL
Founded
1981

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