Director, Acquisition

Gannett Co; United States; Remote; USD 130,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Job summary

USA TODAY Co., Inc. is pursuing a Director of Acquisition to lead subscriber growth across paywall, onsite, email and paid channels for the USA TODAY Network.

You will set the strategy, oversee the test roadmap and leverage AI to accelerate insights, optimize CAC and ROI, and guide a high-performing acquisition team through disciplined experiments and cross-functional collaboration. You'll partner with Product, Pricing, FP&A and Analytics to forecast performance, drive revenue, and report

Qualifications

• 8+ years in acquisition, growth or performance marketing.
• 3+ years owning results for a subscription or direct-to-consumer business.
• Deep experience with paywall, onsite conversion or checkout optimization with a structured experimentation program.

Responsibilities

• Set acquisition strategy across channels tied to subscriber and revenue targets.
• Own paywall and acquisition marketing strategy with a test roadmap for offers and targeting.
• Build dynamic, scalable acquisition frameworks and templates personalized by segment and channel.
• Use AI to analyze results, detect anomalies, synthesize research, and shape direction.
• Partner with Product, Pricing, FP&A, Analytics to forecast performance and priorities.
• Lead weekly, monthly and ad hoc acquisition readouts for clear actions.
• Build, coach and grow a team of acquisition marketers.

Skills

Acquisition marketing

Growth marketing

Performance marketing

Analytics tools

A/B testing

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Google Analytics

Job description

About USA TODAY Co.

USA TODAY Co., Inc. is a diversified media company with expansive reach at the national and local level dedicated to empowering and enriching communities. We seek to inspire, inform, and connect audiences as a sustainable, growth focused media and digital marketing solutions company. Through our trusted brands, including the USA TODAY NETWORK, comprised of the national publication, USA TODAY, and local media organizations, including our network of local properties, in the United States, and Newsquest, a wholly-owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom, we provide essential journalism, local content, and digital experiences to audiences and businesses. We deliver high-quality, trusted content with a commitment to balanced, unbiased journalism, where and when consumers want to engage. Our digital marketing solutions brand, LocaliQ, supports small and medium-sized businesses with innovative digital marketing products and solutions. USA TODAY Co. open roles are featured on various external job boards.

Purpose

Own acquisition performance across paywall, onsite, email, paid, social, lead generation and other prospecting channels, with accountability for new starts, acquisition revenue, CAC, ROI and scalable AI-informed growth strategies.

About the role

You’ll own how USA TODAY and the USA TODAY Network win new subscribers. As Director, Acquisition, you're accountable for new starts, acquisition revenue, CAC and ROI across paywall, onsite, email, paid, social, lead generation and other prospecting channels. You’ll set the strategy, run a disciplined test roadmap and use AI to spot what’s working sooner and act on it faster.

What you’ll do

• Set acquisition strategy across channels, audiences, offers, messaging and journeys, with every initiative tied to subscriber and revenue targets.
• Own paywall and acquisition marketing strategy, partnering with Optimization on a test roadmap for offers, messaging, layouts, journeys and audience targeting.
• Build dynamic, scalable acquisition frameworks and templates that personalize by segment, product, market and channel.
• Use AI to analyze results, detect performance anomalies, synthesize market and competitor research, draft strategic one-pagers and shape creative direction.
• Partner with Product, Pricing, FP&A, Audience, Production and Analytics to forecast performance, prioritize work and resolve revenue dependencies.
• Lead weekly, monthly and ad hoc acquisition readouts that turn performance insights into clear actions.
• Build, coach and grow a team of acquisition marketers.

How we’ll measure success

• New subscriber starts and acquisition revenue
• CAC, ROI, payback, conversion rate, lead quality and funnel performance
• Experiment velocity, win rate and business impact of acquisition tests
• Speed and quality of AI-supported insights, competitive analysis, reporting and creative recommendations

What you’ll bring

• 8+ years in acquisition, growth or performance marketing, including 3+ years owning results for a subscription or direct-to-consumer business.
• Direct accountability for acquisition targets such as new starts, revenue, CAC, ROI and payback.
• Deep experience with paywall, onsite conversion or checkout optimization, backed by a structured experimentation program (test design, A/B and multivariate testing, statistical rigor).
• Strong command of acquisition unit economics and forecasting, including partnering with FP&A on targets and variance.
• Fluency with web and marketing analytics tools such as Google Analytics and comfort working directly in the data.
• Regular, practical use of generative AI for analysis, research synthesis and content development, with examples you can walk us through.
• The ability to present performance to senior leaders clearly and turn it into decisions.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

Nice to have

• News, media or digital subscription experience
• Hands-on experience with paywall, experimentation and personalization platforms
• Ownership of paid media, SEO or lead generation programs
• Offer and price testing experience
• People leadership experience

#LI-REMOTE

#LI-NR2

Salary

The annualized base salary for this role will range between $130,000 and $140,000. Variable incentive compensation, including commissions, is not reflected in these figures and based on the role, may be applicable. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, education level, location, and union representation, if applicable.

USA TODAY Co., Inc. is a proud equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a diverse workforce. As such, we will consider all qualified applicants for employment and do not discriminate in connection with employment decisions on the basis of an applicant or employee's race, color, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, citizenship status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, marital status, personal appearance (including height and weight), sexual orientation, family responsibilities, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy status (including childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), education, genetic characteristics or information, political affiliation, military or veteran status or other classifications protected by applicable federal, state and local laws in the jurisdictions where USA TODAY Co. employs employees. In addition, USA TODAY Co., Inc. will provide applicants who require a reasonable accommodation, as a result of an applicant's disability or religion, to complete this employment application and/or any other process in connection with an individuals' application for employment with USA TODAY Co., Inc. Applicants must be authorized to work in the applicable location. Applications from outside these regions will be removed from our system after submission.