Director, Advertising Strategy - Santa Monica, 90404

Director, Advertising Strategy - Santa Monica, 90404, United States of America

How we LEAD:
We are UMG, the Universal Music Group. We are the world’s leading music company. In everything we do, we are committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship. We own and operate a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising, and audiovisual content in more than 60 countries. We identify and develop recording artists and songwriters, and we produce, distribute and promote the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music to delight and entertain fans around the world.

We are seeking an experienced Director, Advertising Strategy to support Interscope Records’ paid media initiatives for frontline and catalog repertoire. This is a permanent, full-time position. Artist success is our ultimate metric, and what drives our mindset, skillset, and company culture. The ideal candidate for this position is passionate about the ever-changing advertising landscape and about MUSIC! They have experience overseeing strategy and execution across digital media channels, including paid search, social, programmatic, display, video, mobile and are confident leading goal-oriented, full-funnel strategies that drive measurable results. They excel at managing multiple high-priority campaigns, building high trust relationships with internal and external stakeholders, and maintaining structure, organization, and accountability in a fast-paced environment. A natural storyteller, the Director of Advertising Strategy can distill complex data into clear, actionable insights with clarify and confidence for both marketing and executive audiences.

How you’ll CREATE:

• Partner with Interscope leadership, digital project managers, and paid media teams to lead full-funnel campaign planning, execution, and optimizations across artist and label priorities.
• Serve as the main point of contact between the central media team, Interscope marketing team, and artist management to ensure seamless communication and alignment.
• Represent paid media strategy and results in executive level and cross-functional meetings, framing presentations around goals, learnings, and growth opportunities.
• Track performance across campaigns, providing proactive recommendations to optimize for fan engagement, revenue growth, audience acquisition goals.
• Partner with CRM embeds to coordinate always-on fan acquisition and first-party audience segmentation strategy.
• Manage both hard dollar and gratis media budgets, tracking spend, pacing, testing, and optimization opportunities.

• Lead test-and-learn initiatives including creative A/B testing, multivariate testing, and platform or format experimentation.
• Research emerging platforms, trends, and innovations to inform future media planning strategies.
• Collaborate with creative and content teams to ensure campaign assets align with platform best practices.

Bring your VIBE:

• Bachelor's degree, preferably with a concentration in advertising, marketing, business administration, or communications preferred

• 5+ years’ experience leading digital advertising strategy - preferably within entertainment, e-commerce, or agency environments. 10+ years industry experience.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to adapt quickly in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; comfortable presenting to senior leadership and external partners.

• Hands on experience with major digital ad platforms including Meta, Google AdWords, TikTok, X, Snapchat, and other DSPs

• Understanding of Google Shopping, Demand Gen, and PMAX campaigns, Facebook Commerce Manager, and Shopify

• Proficiency in Keynote, Word, Excel and PowerPoint with ability to build visual-first presentations and performance summaries for executive audiences.

• Familiarity with tools such as DoubleClick, Google Analytics, Domo, Looker, and Linkfire

• Experience driving eCommerce revenue growth and lead generation through paid media.

• Passionate music fan