Paid Media Lead

Overview Paid Media Lead    Reports to: Director, Channel Marketing  Scope: Paid media strategy alignment, agency relationship management, performance oversight, and enrollment-focused channel stewardship    Role Summary    The Paid Media Lead is the internal owner of paid media performance across EIM’s portfolio of university partners and programs. This role does not execute campaigns directly, but instead serves as the strategic liaison between EIM and its paid media agency partner, ensuring campaigns are aligned to enrollment goals, program strategy, and performance expectations.     This individual is responsible for translating business goals, audience insights, messaging priorities, and enrollment objectives into clear strategic direction for the agency while holding external partners accountable for optimization, reporting, and performance outcomes. The role sits at the intersection of channel strategy, product marketing, enrollment forecasting, and operational execution.     The Paid Media Lead must be highly analytical, proactive, and outcome-oriented, with the ability to connect marketing performance to enrollment impact and communicate recommendations clearly across stakeholders.  Responsibilities Paid Media Strategy & Performance Oversight  Own the internal paid media performance strategy across programs, ensuring campaigns align with enrollment priorities and business goals  Monitor channel performance against key KPIs including CPL, lead quality, application conversion, and enrollment contribution  Identify performance trends, risks, and optimization opportunities, bringing strategic recommendations to internal stakeholders and agency partners  Translate agency reporting into clear, enrollment-focused insights and narratives for business leaders, PMMs, and senior leadership  Surface enrollment forecast risks tied to paid media performance with enough lead time to support course correction  Agency Relationship Management  Serve as EIM’s primary day-to-day relationship owner with the paid media agency partner  Lead recurring agency performance and optimization meetings, driving accountability, decisions, and follow-through  Ensure agency partners receive complete and accurate program context including audience insights, positioning, enrollment targets, creative direction, and launch timelines  Hold agency accountable to agreed optimization cadences, testing strategies, reporting standards, and performance expectations  Escalate performance concerns proactively and manage the relationship against outcomes, not activity alone  Budget & Channel Stewardship  Partner with the Director, Channel Marketing to manage budget allocation across channels, programs, and enrollment priorities  Review media investment recommendations and advocate for reallocations based on performance data and business impact  Maintain visibility into pacing, budget utilization, and forecasted spend risks  Support strategic channel planning and recommendations across paid search, paid social, display, video, and emerging channels  Cross-Functional Collaboration  Partner closely with Product Marketing Managers to align paid media strategy with positioning, audience segmentation, and program lifecycle stages  Collaborate with Creative Services and CRO/UX functions to ensure messaging, landing page experiences, and funnel performance are optimized end-to-end  Participate in enrollment forecasting and business planning conversations, contributing paid media pipeline insights and performance context  Serve as the internal point of coordination for paid media-related requests, prioritization, and communication flow  Qualifications Required  3–5 years of experience in paid media, performance marketing, growth marketing, or digital marketing  Experience managing or collaborating closely with external agencies or vendors in a performance marketing environment  Strong understanding of paid media platforms including Google Ads and Meta Ads Manager  Ability to analyze campaign performance data and translate findings into strategic recommendations and business implications  Strong organizational, communication, and stakeholder management skills  Ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining focus on outcomes and operational clarity  Preferred  Experience in higher education, healthcare, or another enrollment-driven industry  Familiarity with CRM and marketing automation platforms such as Salesforce and Marketing Cloud  Exposure to attribution modeling, conversion optimization, and multi-touch reporting frameworks  Experience working in matrixed or cross-functional marketing organizations