Media & Digital Strategy Director

Mars; Louisville (KY); Hybrid; USD 147,000 - 202,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free premium pet food

Free parking

Medical, dental, vision

Education support

Job summary

Champion Petfoods is seeking a Media & Digital Strategy Director to lead full-funnel media and digital strategy, driving brand awareness, consideration and growth across channels. This role owns investment governance, integrated planning, agency leadership, and performance measurement.

This position collaborates with Content Operations, Ecommerce, Global Insights, and Mars Global Center of Excellence, shaping audience intelligence and personalized experiences for the pet parent journey while

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive experience in Media and Digital Marketing.
• Deep expertise in full-funnel media strategy and planning across brands and channels.
• Digital-first orientation with ability to evolve strategies for changing consumer behavior.
• Proven experience managing media investments with governance and optimization.
• Strong understanding of audience intelligence, data and measurement.
• Proven agency and partner leadership with accountability and execution.
• Proven people leadership experience and team development.

Responsibilities

• Define the media engagement strategy across awareness, consideration, conversion and advocacy.
• Lead transformation toward a digital-first model and strengthen capabilities.
• Own allocation and governance of media investment across brands and channels.
• Lead media agency relationships and ensure best-in-class planning and measurement.
• Establish a robust measurement framework and translate data into insights.
• Build actionable audience intelligence and segmentation for personalization.
• Oversee Search, AI and digital discovery strategies for visibility.
• Build and develop a high-performing media team.

Skills

Full-funnel media strategy

Brand & retail media

Search & Social

Video/CTV

Programmatic

Emerging digital channels

Audience intelligence

Data & measurement

Agency leadership

People leadership

Job description

Job Description:

Champion Petfoods is expanding! We are excited to announce we are looking for a Media & Digital Strategy Director to join our rapidly growing company.

Champion Petfoods is an award-winning pet food maker with a reputation of trust spanning 35+ years. Founded in a small town in Alberta, Canada, Champion – with its ORIJEN® and ACANA® brands – is a key player in the global premium pet food industry across three major geographic regions.

We would love to hear from you if you are passionate about personal and professional growth and see yourself as a key player contributing to our continued success as an award-winning company.

Here’s the Scoop – Summary

The Media & Digital Strategy Director leads development and execution of the full-funnel media and digital strategy, ensuring investment is strategically allocated to build brand awareness, drive consideration and conversion, and accelerate business growth.

This role owns media and digital engagement strategy, investment governance, integrated planning, agency leadership, and performance measurement, while continuously evolving capabilities and thought leadership across digital touchpoints for pet parent engagement.

This position is a key enabler for expanding brand awareness and driving brand relevance, while working closely with team members in Content Operations, Ecommerce, Global Insights, and Mars Global Center of Excellence.

The Director ensures an integrated approach across the pet parent research and shopping journey, ensuring creation and delivery of metrics to meet business objectives.

The Media & Digital Strategy Director works out of ourCorporateoffice in Boulder (CO), Nashville (TN) or New York (NY)andworksa hybrid schedule with 3 days in-person.

What a typical day looks like:

• Full-Funnel Media Strategy. Define the media engagement strategy across awareness, consideration, conversion and advocacy, translating brand and business priorities into integrated annual strategies.
• Digital & Emerging Media Transformation. Lead the organization in transformation towards a digital-first pet parent model; strengthening team capabilities across media platforms, insights, and effective GEO strategies.
• Investment Strategy & Governance. Own the allocation and governance of media investment across brands, channels and funnel stages, establishing clear principles for prioritization, optimization and ROI.
• Agency Leadership & Media Excellence. Lead media agency relationships, scopes of work and performance, ensuring access to best-in-class planning, buying, innovation, technology and measurement capabilities.
• Measurement, Performance & Optimization. Establish a robust measurement framework across the funnel, translating media performance into actionable insights and continuously improving effectiveness, efficiency and return on investment.
• Audience Intelligence, Data & Personalization. Build actionable audience intelligence and segmentation to sharpen targeting, personalization and media effectiveness across the pet parent journey.
• Search, AI & Digital Discovery. Lead Search, SEO/GEO and AI-driven discovery strategies to maximize brand visibility, relevance and authority across evolving digital journeys.
• Team Leadership & Capability Building. Build and develop a high-performing Media team, strengthening future-ready capabilities across Media, Audience Intelligence, Measurement, Search and AI.

What are we looking for?

• 15+ years of progressive experience in Media and Digital Marketing, ideally within consumer products or DTC organizations.
• Deep expertise in full-funnel media strategy and planning, with strong knowledge across Brand Media, Retail Media, Search, Social, Video/CTV, Programmatic and emerging digital channels.
• Strong digital-first orientation, with demonstrated ability to evolve media strategies and capabilities in response to changing consumer behaviors, technology, GEO and new forms of digital discovery.
• Proven experience managing media investments, including budget allocation, governance and optimization across brands, channels and audiences to maximize effectiveness and ROI.
• Strong understanding of audience intelligence , data and measurement, with experience leveraging insights, segmentation and performance analytics to improve targeting, personalization and media effectiveness.
• Proven agency and partner leadership , with experience managing complex agency relationships, setting strategic direction and driving accountability, innovation and high-quality execution.
• Proven people leadership experience , with a track record of building, developing and inspiring high-performing teams while strengthening functional capabilities and ways of working.

What can you expect from Champion?

Safety:

a strong commitment to ensure all people are provided with a safe,healthyand respectful environment.

Earnings:

Salaryrangefrom USD$147,000 to USD$202,000, 401k with Company, and donation matching.

Industry Competitive Benefits:

Medical, Dental,Visionand Employee Assistance Programs to meet your individual or family needs.

Continuing Education:

In House & Online Learning & Development, as well as an Education Assistance Program.

Quality:

a dedication toupholdthe highest standards of authenticity, nutritional integrity, and food safety, to earn the trust of Pet Lovers everywhere.

Other Perks:

Free Bag of Premium Pet Food each month, Free Parking and more!

Come as you are.

We value diversity in all forms and know the power it can bring. Workplace equalityallows forcreative ideas to bloom, diverse points ofviewsto be heard, and increases overall happiness. That soundspretty goodto us.

Champion is an equal opportunity employer. Regardless of your race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, veteran status, or any other creed, you are wanted here.

#cpfind

The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is between the range listed below, however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including but not limited to, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.The total compensation package for this position mayalso include other elements, if eligible, including variable pay, medical and dental benefits, participation in 401k plan, and paid time off benefits. Eligibility for these additional elements depend on the position offeredand the employee’s work schedule (i.e., part-time schedule, store associate). Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an applicant receives an offer of employment.