Director of Paid Media

Company Description

About Adtalem Global Education

Adtalem Global Education is a national leader in post-secondary education and leading provider of professional talent to the healthcare industry. Adtalem educates and empowers students with the knowledge and skills to become leaders in their communities and make a lasting impact on public health, well-being and beyond. Through equitable access to education, environments that nurture student success, and a focus on expanding and diversifying the talent pipeline in healthcare, Adtalem is building a brighter future for communities and the world.

Adtalem is the parent organization of American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Chamberlain University, Ross University School of Medicine, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and Walden University.

In our U.S. locations, we operate on a hybrid work model with three in-office days and two remote days per week. Starting Q1 2025, we will transition to a four-day in-office schedule, Monday–Thursday. This in-office time fosters creativity, innovation, communication, and stronger team relationships, supporting both individual and organizational success.

Visit Adtalem.com for more information, and follow on Twitter and LinkedIn.
 

Job Description

Opportunity at a Glance

The Director of Paid Media is responsible for the overall paid media strategy, execution and performance outcomes to drive new enrollment growth for Walden University. This critical role works with C-level stakeholders, cross functional teams, and our external agency to drive top to bottom alignment and accomplishment of the annual goals.  In addition, this role would play a key role in advancing paid marketing efforts, leveraging a customer centric and data-led approach to modernize and expand our media programs.

The ideal candidate will combine a data-driven approach with creative thinking to develop, implement, and optimize high-impact advertising strategies across a diverse media ecosystem, including linear TV, CTV, OTT, audio, digital out-of-home, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, paid search, and affiliate marketing.  This candidate will have a deep understanding of marketing platforms, measurement & experimentation methodologies, and media enabling data flow ecology.

Responsibilities

• Develop and oversee a comprehensive media strategy that spans the marketing funnel, aligning with Walden University's objectives for brand growth, lead generation, applications, and enrollment. 
• Drive alignment on annual and quarterly media plans, ensuring alignment with finance and marketing analytic forecasts and incremental ROI targets. 
• Lead the development and execution of test-and-learn roadmaps to continually refine media and creative performance. Help drive cross functional alignment for test and learn priorities and outcomes. 
• Oversee media and creative testing to identify high-performing assets and inform future creative strategies. 
• Partner with agency and data & analytics teams to continually provide more robust measurement frameworks for full-funnel media performance and methodologies for attribution and channel optimization. 
• Partner with creative and web teams to ensure strategic media and messaging alignment, fostering innovation in ad formats and storytelling.
• Act as the primary liaison between Walden University and its agency partners, ensuring strategic alignment, flawless execution, and results-oriented collaboration.
• Foster strong internal partnerships across marketing, enrollment, and analytics teams to ensure cohesive planning and execution.
• Leads media and landing page experiments including multi-panel and large-scale match market testing. 
• Interfaces with leadership from admissions, student services, accreditation, operations and finance as needed. 
• Responsible for helping hire, train, and manage a staff of marketing professionals. 
• Create and review monthly and annual budgets.
• Completes other duties as assigned.  
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Complies with all policies and standards

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree preferably in business or marketing required. 
• Master's Degree preferred.
• 10 years experience in a marketing management position required.
• Education or healthcare experiences preferred. 
• Experience working in a complex or matrix environment required.
• PC skills in Microsoft Office, internet applications, and various marketing programs.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, highly regulated environment.
• Excellent project management skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Strong leadershi