Senior Director

Overview (Why This Role?)

As Senior Director of Performance Media at Hearst Magazines, you’ll be charged with being an expert in paid media channels, and how to best lead teams to execute programs for our advertising business. You’ll be at the intersection of analytics, marketing and digital revenue operations – weaving together core concepts from each discipline to bring key moments to market.  

This leader will work closely with the Sales, Marketing, and Account Management teams to identify new revenue opportunities, build strategic relationships, and optimize packaging and performance for a wide variety of campaign outcomes for our clients. They will oversee a team of media buyers involved in creating campaigns across self-serve tools such as Google Ads and Meta Business Manager. The ideal candidate should be a proven and inspirational leader, a clear and strong communicator, highly organized, possess a passion for analytics, and be extremely detail oriented.

About Hearst Magazines (Why Us?)

Hearst Magazines’ portfolio of more than 30 iconic brands in the U.S.—including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s BAZAAR, and Popular Mechanics—inspires, entertains, and builds new and bold experiences for an engaged and growing audience across digital, video, social and print, reaching nearly 130 million readers and site visitors each month. With sophisticated content creation, cutting-edge technology, and industry-leading data capabilities, we make media and products that move people across all platforms. We are a global media company that publishes nearly 200 magazine editions and 175 websites around the world—and together, we are shaping what’s next.

Key Responsibilities (What You Are Doing)

• Lead the paid media practice within advertising, deeply understanding the value proposition of our social and distributed ad products. Ensure that ideation and reality meet with our operational teams, guiding them to building infrastructure and support to scale the business.
• Build relationships with our partners at platform companies, meeting with them regularly to bring their updates and innovation to the Hearst Magazines teams. Develop beneficial partnership terms and encourage strong working relationships between the companies.  Work internally across Media Strategy, Ad Product Marketing and Business Development to bring new opportunities to market. 
• Manage a team of media buyers at all levels, including hiring, career pathing, individual skill development, and yearly reviews, with a focus on building a productive and efficient team structure.  Cultivate an environment of creativity and experimentation to introduce new revenue streams to the team.
• Own and present regular reporting and performance updates to leadership and executive teams. Collaborate with leadership and finance to help form yearly budgets, including revenue targets and anticipated costs.
• Be responsible for the monthly and annual revenue goals of our paid media efforts, tracking progress, and developing strategies to reach and exceed them.
• Be a point of escalation in troubleshooting efforts of technical issues involving campaigns, yield, and site behavior, bringing in support from other departments or external partners when needed.
• Strengthen relationships across departments to identify and develop areas of cross-functional and symbiotic growth.
• Work with Product and Engineering teams to create a roadmap and prioritize various asks that improve the team’s tools and automation.

Qualifications (What We’re Looking For)

• Have a bachelor’s degree and 10+ years of relevant work experience
• Extremely proficient in Excel and/or Google Sheets
• Be dedicated to people management and a have a strong desire to help your employees grow and thrive in their careers
• Proven success in growing a team in size and performance
• Capable of advocating for your team’s needs to leadership and external partners
• Skilled at creating a long-term vision for the organization, and effective at implementing structure and processes to reach it
• Comfortable working with, organizing, and drawing results from large data sets
• Have a passion for problem solving, both at the micro level involving data intricacies and at the broader team and strategy level
• Enjoy working in a fast-paced and collaborative environment
• Possess strong written and verbal communication skills
• Have a professional background in commerce, digital media, search, or social channels
• This is a hybrid position based in New York City, with an in-office requirement of four days per week. 

Benefits (What We Offer)

• Work with the Best: Collaborate with top-tier professionals across media, advertising, tech, fashion, lifestyle, and publishing, shaping the future of these dynamic industries.
• Grow Your Skills: Unlock your potential with access to innovative training programs, immersive workshops, and exclusive industry events.
• Work-Life Harmony: Enjoy the flexibility of hybrid work, empowering you to balance professional success with personal priorities.
• Foster Connection & Belonging: Join our Employee Resource Groups and help create a welcoming workplace where everyone feels valued and empowered.
• Wellness First: Prioritize your well-being with a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance from Day 1.
• Plan for Your Financial Future: Enjoy competitive financial perks, including a 401(k) plan with a generous company match.

The base salary for this role is between $149,000 - $181,000. The actual base pay offered is dependent upon many factors, such as: transferable skills, work experience, business needs and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. 

Hearst Magazines is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.