Director, Growth & Media

Company Description

CREATIVITY IS OUR SUPERPOWER. It’s our heritage and it’s also our future. Because we don’t just make toys. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences and develop children through play. Mattel is at its best when every member of our team feels respected, included, and heard—when everyone can show up as themselves and do their best work every day. We value and share an infinite range of ideas and voices that evolve and broaden our perspectives with a reach that extends into all our brands, partners, and suppliers.

Job Description

The Opportunity: 

The Director, Growth & Media will play a pivotal role in a) elevating Mattel as a consumer-facing Masterbrand (30%) and b) launching new brands under Innovation Venture (70%) the team responsible for launching breakthrough ideas – new brands, new business models and new ways to play. 

The Director, Growth & Media is accountable for turning creative ambition into measurable revenue impact. This role owns creative activation, media strategy, and new channel development to deliver cultural breakthrough and accelerate growth across Venture initiatives. The Director defines the growth strategy, builds the activation engine, and ensures ideas break through culturally and scale commercially.

This role operates at the intersection of brand, culture, media, and distribution, translating insight into action and experimentation into repeatable growth models and new audience development. Success requires strong judgment, speed, and a clear bias toward outcomes.

This role reports to the Sr. Director, Head of Brand Marketing – Mattel Masterbrand & Innovation and partners closely with Brand Creative, Regional Marketing, Design, Operations, and external agencies and partners.
 

What Your Impact Will Be: ​​​​​​​

Growth Strategy & Creative Activation

• Define and own the growth strategy across Venture brands and Mattel Masterbrand initiatives, with clear hypotheses tied to revenue, audience expansion, and brand relevance.
• Lead creative activation that drives cultural breakthrough—setting the standard for how Venture ideas show up in the world.
• Translate brand and product strategy into high-impact creative narratives, launches, and moments.
• Ensure creative work is insight-led, distinctive, and designed to perform across channels.

Media & Channel Innovation

• Own media strategy across paid, earned, and emerging channels, with a focus on efficiency, learning velocity, and scale.
• Identify, test, and operationalize new growth channels (e.g., creators, platforms, partnerships, experiential, commerce adjacencies).
• Build repeatable playbooks from test-and-learn activity; shut down what doesn’t scale.
• Partner with regional and commercial teams to ensure channel strategies convert demand into revenue globally.

Revenue Growth & Performance

• Be accountable for growth outcomes—revenue contribution, pipeline expansion, and return on marketing investment.
• Establish KPIs, dashboards, and operating rhythms that link creative and media activity to business performance.
• Use data, experimentation, and foresight to continuously refine growth strategy.
• Leverage cultural insights to inform design and product strategy, creating an iterative and always-on cycle.

Leadership & Cross-Functional Influence

• Act as the growth lead across initiatives, aligning brand, product, media, and commercial teams around a shared growth agenda.
• Set clear direction, make trade-offs, and unblock teams to maintain momentum.
• Partner externally with agencies, platforms, creators, and partners to extend capability and reach.
• Build organizational muscle in modern growth thinking—raising the bar for how Mattel activates and scales innovation.

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For:

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA a plus.
• 12+ years experience across growth marketing, brand activation, media, or commercial strategy—preferably in consumer, entertainment, or culturally driven categories.
• Fluency in modern media, creator ecosystems, and emerging platforms.
• Proven track record of driving revenue growth through creative activation and channel innovation.  Ability to build trust with both creative and analytical stakeholders.
• Strong strategic instincts paired with operational rigor and follow-through.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through ambiguity, make decisions, and drive outcomes.
• Executive-level communication and presentation skills.