Growth Marketing Manager (Paid Media + Creative Strategy)

About Athlete to AthleteAthlete to Athlete is a fast-growing, venture-backed start-up based in Los Angeles that offers Athletic Mentorship and Coaching Programs for youth athletes. In our programs, student-athletes are paired with a current Division 1 College-Athlete Mentor who plays their sport and can help build their confidence, taking their game to the next level. Our mission is to build the next generation of driven, confident, and resilient student-athletes through mentorship.
About the RoleAs a Growth Marketing Manager (Paid Media + Creative Strategy), you will own the execution and performance of our paid acquisition programs while partnering closely with Creative, Product, Engineering, and Sales to continuously improve outcomes. This role combines paid media execution with creative collaboration and cross-functional project ownership. You will manage paid performance end-to-end while helping shape creative direction and ensuring work moves smoothly across teams. We are looking for a detail-oriented growth marketer who thrives inside ad platforms, loves working with data, and welcomes the opportunity to collaborate across multiple teams in a rapidly growing startup. You enjoy being hands-on, know how to pace campaigns and hit multiple KPIs, and work effectively with partners to gather the assets and insights needed to continuously improve performance.
We encourage you to apply even if you do not meet every qualification listed. We value potential, curiosity, and a willingness to learn.

What You'll Do

• Collaborate with marketing team leadership to develop paid media strategy, with hands-on execution across paid platforms (Meta and Google prioritized; additional platforms like TikTok and YouTube as we scale).
• Set up, manage, and optimize paid campaigns across platforms like Meta and Google Ads, monitoring pacing, troubleshooting delivery, and hitting KPIs tied to Qualified Leads, CPL, efficiency, and growth.
• Own campaign performance end-to-end, from launch through optimization, pacing, creative iteration, and performance reporting.
• Analyze campaign performance data, customer behavior, and funnel quality signals to identify opportunities and execute impactful optimizations.
• Partner closely with Sales, Engineering, Creative, and Product teams to surface insights and improve marketing efficiency, lead quality, and downstream conversion.
• Lead creative audits to identify what is working, what is not, and what to test next.
• Translate insights into clear creative briefs, messaging frameworks, and creative roadmaps.
• Partner with leadership to evolve messaging frameworks, value prop articulation, and proof points.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure alignment on goals, deliverables, timelines, and required resources (including Creative, Product, and Engineering).
• Engage customers, parents, and program participants to gather assets, testimonials, and story-driven content, fostering trust and collaboration throughout the process.
• Communicate results through concise, data-driven reporting with clear insights and recommendations.

What You've Done

• 3-5 years of hands-on media buying experience, with deep expertise in Meta and Google Ads (TikTok and YouTube experience is a plus).
• Strong understanding of auction mechanics, campaign architecture, and core performance levers across audiences, creative, bids, budgets, and landing experiences.
• Proven experience managing six-figure monthly budgets while balancing growth and cost efficiency.
• Demonstrated ability to optimize to quality outcomes, not just volume (for example Qualified Leads, funnel conversion rates, and lead-to-sale insights in partnership with Sales).
• Ability to build advanced audiences using site behavior, CRM data, and engagement signals.
• Strong analytical skills with a track record of turning data into structured testing plans and actionable optimizations.
• Working knowledge of attribution and measurement concepts.
• Familiarity with Meta Events Manager and Pixel/CAPI basics.
• Comfortable with reporting and visualization tools such as GA4, Looker, Tableau/dashboards.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional partners on marketing and creative initiatives.
• Strong project management fundamentals, including organizing workflows, capturing learnings, and improving processes over time.

Who You Are

• Curious and motivated to deeply understand customer behaviors, marketplace dynamics, and performance drivers.
• Highly organized with meticulous attention to detail.
• Strong communicator with the ability to collaborate effectively across all levels of the organization.
• Able to manage multiple projects simultaneously, prioritize effecti