Director, Digital Activation

Unlockhealth; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, Dental and Vision

401(k) with company match

Hybrid/Remote work options

Unlimited PTO

Parental Leave

Employee Assistance Program

Job summary

Unlock Health seeks a strategic Digital Media Lead to drive performance across paid search, paid social, programmatic channels, and CTV/OLV for healthcare clients. Lead architecture, bidding, and optimization while ensuring privacy-compliant, high-impact campaigns.

You’ll coach teams, justify investments with data, and partner with cross-functional groups to align media with business outcomes. The role requires 7–10 years of leadership in digital media, budget stewardship, and strong

Qualifications

• 7-10 years of digital media activation experience.
• Expert knowledge across paid search, paid social, programmatic display and video, CTV/OLV, and other addressable channels.
• Strong analytics and performance optimization.
• Experience managing media budgets, forecasting, reconciliation, and investment performance.
• Ability to translate performance data into clear insights and confidently present recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• Healthcare media experience or knowledge of healthcare privacy, compliance, and audience considerations is valued but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Lead digital activation across paid search, paid social, programmatic display and video, CTV/OLV, and other addressable channels for a portfolio of healthcare clients.
• Translate approved media strategies into effective campaign architecture, audience approaches, bidding strategies, channel investments, and optimization plans.
• Oversee campaign launches, ensuring timelines, targeting, tracking, creative rotation, brand-safety controls, and platform requirements are accurately executed.
• Establish and maintain rigorous quality-assurance processes that support accurate launches and quick issue resolution.
• Lead ongoing campaign optimization and pacing, ensuring investments stay within agreed parameters and are supported by data.
• Turn complex performance findings into clear narratives and actionable client presentations.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to improve outcomes and broaden capabilities.
• Coach and develop digital activation team members, building technical expertise and client-facing skills.

Skills

Digital media activation

Leadership

Campaign architecture

Bidding & optimization

Data-driven insights

Stakeholder communication

Privacy-safe activation

Budget forecasting

Team development

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Who You Are

You’re a strategic, performance-minded media leader who knows how to turn complex business goals into effective digital activation strategies. You bring deep expertise across paid search, paid social, programmatic display and video, CTV/OLV, and other addressable channels, with a strong understanding of how campaign architecture, audience strategy, bidding, measurement, and optimization work together to drive meaningful results. You can move confidently between campaign execution and broader investment strategy, translating performance data into clear recommendations for clients and internal teams.

In this role, you will bring an equal commitment to the work and the people behind it. You’ll set high standards, build repeatable processes, and create the structure teams need to deliver accurate, timely, and privacy-safe campaigns. As a trusted client advisor, collaborative partner, and thoughtful people leader, you’ll develop talent, strengthen platform relationships, and make sound decisions that balance performance, audience needs, capacity, compliance, and financial stewardship.

What You’ll Do

• Lead digital activation across paid search, paid social, programmatic display and video, CTV/OLV, and other addressable channels for a portfolio of healthcare clients.
• Translate approved media strategies into effective campaign architecture, audience approaches, bidding strategies, channel investments, and optimization plans.
• Oversee campaign launches, ensuring timelines, targeting, tracking, creative rotation, brand-safety controls, and platform requirements are accurately executed.
• Establish and maintain rigorous quality-assurance processes that support accurate launches, minimize material defects, and resolve issues quickly.
• Lead ongoing campaign optimization and pacing, ensuring investments remain within agreed parameters and adjustments are supported by clear rationale and performance data.
• Turn complex performance and measurement findings into clear narratives, actionable recommendations, and compelling client presentations.
• Ensure audience, conversion, and measurement strategies are privacy-safe, platform-compliant, and aligned with healthcare-specific review and regulatory requirements.
• Partner closely with Media Strategy, Analytics, Client Experience, Creative, and other cross-functional teams to improve outcomes and strengthen integrated recommendations.
• Own platform and partner governance, including partner evaluation, testing roadmaps, troubleshooting, discrepancy resolution, and the adoption of emerging capabilities.
• Manage budget forecasting, reconciliation, billing accuracy, staffing, and investment stewardship across assigned accounts.
• Lead, coach, and develop digital activation team members, helping them build the technical expertise and client skills needed to manage increasingly complex work.
• Create scalable processes, documentation, optimization standards, and operating practices that improve quality and consistency across accounts.
• Contribute to account growth, new business pitches, and broader capability development while protecting client outcomes and agency economics.
• Manage a team of campaign managers who are hands on keyboard optimization experts on these channels - using your expertise to ensure our campaign constructs are sound while delivering results to client.
• Partner with CX leads on the accounts in your portfolio - acting as client facing media liaison where you can speak to media construct while also leaning on your campaign managers for campaign details.

What You Bring

• 7-10 years of digital media activation experience, including leadership of complex campaigns or account portfolios.
• Expert knowledge of paid search, paid social, programmatic display and video, CTV/OLV, and other addressable channels.
• Advanced experience with campaign architecture, trafficking, bidding, pacing, optimization, and performance analysis.
• Strong knowledge of audience targeting, conversion, measurement, privacy-safe activation, and brand-safety standards.
• Experience managing media budgets, forecasting, reconciliation, billing, and investment performance.
• Ability to translate performance data into clear insights and confidently present recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• Experience evaluating partners, developing testing roadmaps, and introducing tools or approaches that improve performance.
• Strong quality-assurance, troubleshooting, and escalation-management skills.
• Experience developing media professionals, allocating work, and establishing consistent team standards.
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills in a fast-moving environment.
• Healthcare media experience or knowledge of healthcare privacy, compliance, and audience considerations is valued but not essential.
  

Perks and Benefits

• Competitive Salary
• Health, Dental and Vision benefit packages to fit all types of lifestyles
• Life, Short- and Long-Term Disability Insurance paid 100% by the company
• FSA / HSA Options
• 401(K) with a generous company match program
• Flexible Paid Time Off (aka- unlimited)
• Paid Parental Leave
• Hybrid and Remote work schedules available
• Employee Assistance Program (unlimited free telephonic counseling for a variety of issues such as mental health, financial support, and legal advice)
• Employee Referral Program

About Us:

Unlock Health is a full-service marketing communication agency, grounded in technology, built for healthcare - and integrated with a managed care consultancy with deep revenue strategy expertise. We brought together leading healthcare firms to solve a core challenge: aligning brand, marketing, technology, and revenue strategy so healthcare organizations can attract and retain patients, grow brand equity, and protect their margins. We help our clients do everything from patient acquisition and brand building, to simplifying complex martech ecosystems, and creating digital experiences. Our work is rooted in clarity, authenticity, and a deep understanding of what moves healthcare forward.

Equality Opportunity Employer Statement
Unlock, and its affiliate companies, is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to building an inclusive and diverse workforce. We provide equal employment opportunities without regard to an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.