Manager, Paid Media

The Guitar Center Company; Westlake Village (CA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401K with company match

Employee discount

Tuition reimbursement

Gig leave

Job summary

The Guitar Center Company is seeking a seasoned ecommerce digital media buyer to lead data-driven media planning across the GC enterprise. You will manage seven-figure annual budgets, optimize campaigns for ecommerce and retail, and partner with creative, analytics, and product teams to implement measurement and test-and-learn initiatives.

You will design campaigns for ecommerce and store traffic, drive platform expansion to new inventories, and provide actionable insights to improve

Qualifications

• 4–6+ years of experience as a media buyer responsible for seven-figure annual budgets.
• Mastery of Meta and Google platforms with ability to translate learnings across new ad platforms.
• Continuous learning and professional curiosity about new trends in digital advertising.
• Experience measuring the impact of online ads on in-store visits and sales.
• Strong opinions on creative direction and ad impact.
• Advanced understanding of attribution modeling for ecommerce and retail.
• Comfort with integrating marketing automation tools to streamline workflows.
• Highly process-oriented with strong multitasking to manage multiple projects.
• Experience using AI solutions to speed up workflows.
• Music instrument industry experience is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

• Campaign design and execution across ecommerce, store traffic, and lead generation.
• Develop creative strategy and drive a test-and-learn feedback loop with creative partners.
• Manage Guitar Center’s marketing budget for maximum efficiency and performance.
• Expand media buying to new platforms and placements, testing new inventory sources.
• Provide actionable insights from performance analyses to improve campaigns.

Skills

Media buying

Budget management

Meta Ads

Google Ads

Creative direction

Attribution modeling

Marketing automation

AI in marketing

Multitasking

Trends & learning

Tools

Google Analytics

AI tools

Marketing automation software

Job description

The ideal candidate will lead a data-driven approach to media buying across the entire GC enterprise, fostering a test-and-learn culture. They will be responsible for implementing media buying best practices—including measurement, creative strategy, and campaign execution—to support diverse business objectives across ecommerce and retail initiatives. This role requires strong analytical skills, as well as the ability to collaborate with internal teams to navigate the complexities of creative development, promotional strategies, and media measurement.

This is an excellent opportunity for a seasoned ecommerce digital media buyer to manage budgets in-house while gaining expertise in online-to-offline measurement. The position offers significant visibility within the digital organization and the opportunity to influence the strategic direction of the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities:

• Campaign Design and Execution: Possess a deep understanding of the required campaign structures and creative for various campaign types (e-commerce, store traffic, lead generation)
• Creative Strategy: Help drive performance-oriented creative best practices within the Guitar Center marketing organization. Partner with creative resources to create a test and learn feedback loop between the paid media team and creative partners.
• Data Driven Decision Making: Effectively manage Guitar Center’s marketing budget by ensuring optimal allocation of each dollar for maximum efficiency. Success in this role requires not only strategic budget management but also fostering a test-and-learn culture and leading ad experimentation initiatives.
• Platform Expansion: Drive expanding our media buying tactics to new platforms and placements. Testing and growing on new inventory sources will be a large driver of growth in 2026, and this person needs to be comfortable on the frontier.
• Performance Analysis: Continuously analyze campaign and site performance to identify opportunities for growth and improvement. Provide actionable insights and recommendations to enhance campaign effectiveness.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE & REQUIREMENTS:

• 4-6+ years experience as a media buyer and allocator of seven figure annual budgets.
• Mastery of Meta and Google with the ability to easily take learnings to new ad platforms.
• Continuous learning – candidate must be professionally curious and interested in new trends in digital advertising.
• Experience measuring the impact of online advertising on in-store visits and sales.
• Strongly opinionated on creative direction and the impact that ad creative has on ad performance.
• Advanced understanding of attribution modeling for both ecommerce and retail advertising.
• Comfort with integrating marketing automation tools to streamline campaign workflows.
• Highly process-oriented, with strong multitasking skills to manage and track multiple projects and deliverables simultaneously.
• Experience using AI solutions to speed up workflows.
• Music instrument industry experience not required but a strong plus.

Why Guitar Center? Here's just some of the rewards:

For our employees who are musicians we offer the unique opportunity of gig leave--take time off to share your music with the world and return to your job after your tour! Guitar Center offers robust benefits and perks, including Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K plus company match, mental health support, paid sick/holiday/vacation time, employee discount program, and tuition reimbursement options.

Pay Rate: $115,000 - $135,000/yr depending on background and experience.

This position is eligible to participate in the Guitar Center Company bonus program based on Company performance.

The job posting is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific employee, which is always dependent on actual experience, education, and other factors. The pay range(s) listed are provided in compliance with state specific laws. Pay ranges may be different in other locations

Guitar Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides fair and equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected status prohibited under Federal, State, or local laws. All employment decisions are based on valid job‑related requirements.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website, you may request a reasonable accommodation to express interest in a specific opening. You can request a reasonable accommodation by sending an email to [e-mail].