Performance Media Director

Role Overview

• Lead Performance Strategy for New Balance
• Own the vision and execution of EMEA and regional performance media strategy across Paid Search, Paid Social, Display, and emerging channels.
• Partner closely with New Balance stakeholders to shape seasonal plans, commercial responses, product‑launch frameworks, and full‑funnel thinking.
• Translate brand moments, athlete partnerships, and product priorities into data‑driven, audience‑first media plans that drive measurable outcomes.
• Build performance frameworks that link new audiences through traffic focused campaigns with lower‑funnel conversion and retention.
• Create integrated planning approaches that combine media, creative, retail, and commerce signals.
• Stay ahead of platform innovation and bring Brave Bison‑level energy to identifying new opportunities, formats, partnerships, and betas.
• Champion AI adoption across the department
• identifying where automation, predictive tooling, and AI‑enabled optimisation can meaningfully improve performance and efficiency.
• Provide senior technical leadership across Google Ads, SA360, Microsoft, Meta, TikTok, YouTube, DV360, and other key platforms.
• Ensure world‑class campaign architecture, optimisation routines, automation strategies, and measurement frameworks.
• Partner with analytics and creative teams to continually improve performance through audience segmentation, dynamic creative, and predictive modelling.
• Act as the primary performance partner for New Balance across EMEA and key regional teams
• seen as a genuine extension of their senior marketing leadership.
• Lead strategic presentations, quarterly business reviews, performance deep dives, and annual planning cycles.
• Deliver clear, story‑driven insights that cut through complexity and focus on commercial impact
• with a particular emphasis on ROI storytelling that connects media activity to business outcomes.
• Proactively unlock new opportunities to strengthen New Balance's performance engines across EMEA.
• Balance assertiveness and diplomacy to constructively challenge client thinking where needed, driving better outcomes through structured problem‑solving and well‑evidenced recommendations.
• Lead, inspire, and challenge a multidisciplinary team of search, social, and programmatic experts.
• Foster a culture built on curiosity, innovation, experimentation, and operational excellence.
• Support learning pathways, certifications, platform training, and ongoing career development.
• Drive a growth mindset across the team
• modelling resilience, encouraging proactive development, and holding yourself and others accountable for continuous improvement.
• Elevate measurement frameworks that integrate platform data, attribution, incrementality testing, and business outcomes.
• Work closely with analytics to build dashboards, reporting suites, and predictive tools.
• Champion test‑and‑learn programmes across markets, continually raising the performance bar.
• Own portfolio‑level forecasting and oversee QA frameworks to ensure budgets, pacing, and quality standards are consistently airtight across all markets.
• Contribute to Brave Bison's paid media new business strategy
• supporting pitches, crafting compelling narratives, and coordinating cross‑functional input to help win work.
• Represent the agency externally through thought leadership, industry events, and marketing activity that reinforces Brave Bison's performance credentials.

Requirements

• 7–10+ years' experience in performance media with deep specialism in Paid Search, Paid Social, and Programmatic Display.
• Proven track record leading large or global e‑commerce or retail accounts (sporting goods experience a plus).
• Highly confident working with senior marketing stakeholders.
• Strong analytical capability and ability to convert data into commercially relevant insights.
• Exceptional communication and storytelling skills with a bias for clarity and impact.
• Experience managing and growing high‑performing teams.
• Confident constructively challenging senior stakeholders and driving structured problem‑solving across client and agency teams.
• Demonstrable experience championing AI adoption and automation within performance media.
• Expert understanding of: Google Ads, SA360, Microsoft Ads Meta, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn DV360 or similar DSPs GA4, tracking infrastructure, attribution models.

Benefits

• Dynamic working: To keep that work-life harmony in check, we're flexible on where and when you work
• Private medical insurance: To keep you fighting fit and give you and your family peace of mind.
• Income protection: We know it feels good to be covered, just in case.
• Calm Subscription: Now more than ever, it’s important to mind your mind!
• 25 days annual leave: This increases to 27 days after three years with us, and then increases every subsequent year up to a max. of 30 days
• Christmas closure: No need to save holiday days for the Christmas closure period. It's on us!
• Birthdays off: One extra day to celebrate your big day
• Summer hours: Between June and Aug we finish at 15.00 every Friday.
• Online coaching and mental health support: Unlimited via OpenUp
• Remote Working: Work abroad for up to one month a year.
• Performance & Salary: Reviewed twice a year for everyone.