Media Operations Manager

Ulta Beauty; Bolingbrook (IL); Hybrid; USD 91,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision benefits

Paid time off

Bonus plan eligibility

Job summary

Ulta Beauty is seeking a Media Operations Manager to drive the systems, processes, and workflows of our paid media function. The role oversees agency/vendor performance, SLAs, and governance across Marketing, Finance, and external partners.

Winning candidates will be a process builder and systems thinker who thrives on reducing complexity and delivering scalable media operations at pace.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in media operations, marketing operations, or a related field.
• Demonstrated track record of building or improving operational processes in a fast-moving environment.
• Experience managing media budgets and working cross-functionally with finance.
• Agency experience preferred.
• Strong project management skills with tools like Monday.com.
• Excellent communication and analytical abilities.

Responsibilities

• Build and oversee campaign planning process and standardized back-out timing for Ulta-Funded marketing across Paid Media Strategy including Paid Media, Affiliate, and Search.
• Design, document, and scale operational frameworks - improve end-to-end media operations workflows from briefing to QA and billing.
• Establish and maintain a campaign calendar and intake process to align media execution with planning cycles.
• Identify bottlenecks and build scalable solutions to reduce manual effort and improve turnaround.
• Partner with IM Operations & Marketing Operations to align Paid Media timing with Integrated Marketing planning.
• Coordinate with Retail Media Network campaign planning and RMN timing with the marketing enterprise.
• Oversee Paid Media process for Creative Deliverables ensuring alignment with Asset Planning and Production Cycles.
• Host weekly status and planning meetings with Paid Media Team and interface with PM agency teams.

Skills

Media ops

Project mgmt

Communication

Analytics

Cross-functional

Vendor mgmt

Tools

Monday.com

Excel

PowerPoint

CRM systems

Job description

Overview

Experience the possibilities of our progressive, omnichannel approach to beauty retail. At Ulta Beauty, our Marketing team is applying the latest technologies to personalize the buying experience of true beauty enthusiasts—in ways that surprise and delight. Building love and loyalty, one communication, one experience, one brilliant idea at a time. We represent the perfect blend of strategy and creativity. Of tactics and analytics. To make Ulta Beauty a brand guests will advocate for. Growing share of heart. Delivering with disciplined consistency. Whether your deepest passion is for design or content, strategy or data, or some combination of all things marketing, Ulta Beauty will provide significant latitude to explore your talents and passions, with opportunities to stretch and deepen, to grow and build. Truly, the possibilities are beautiful.

THE IMPACT YOU CAN HAVE:

The Media Operations Manager is the operational backbone of our paid media function. This role owns the systems, processes, tools, and workflows that enable the media team to execute efficiently and at scale — ensuring that campaigns move from planning to activation to measurement with speed and precision.

This position will oversee the performance of external agencies and technology vendors by ensuring that SLAs are met, relevant policies and guidelines are upheld, and partners can deliver excellence and innovation.

This is a highly cross-functional role, sitting at the intersection of Marketing, Finance, and external agency and vendor partners. The right candidate is a process builder and systems thinker who thrives on bringing order to complexity.

YOU'LL ACCOMPLISH THIS BY:

Process & Workflow Management

• Build and oversee campaign planning process and standardized back-out timing for Ulta-Funded marketing across Paid Media Strategy including Paid Media, Affiliate, and Search.
• Design, document, and scale operational frameworks - continuously improve end-to-end media operations workflows — from briefing and trafficking to QA, reporting, and oversee billing operations
• Establish and maintain a campaign calendar and intake process to align media execution with integrated marketing planning cycles
• Identify bottlenecks and operational gaps; build scalable solutions that reduce manual effort and improve turnaround time
• Partner with IM Operations & larger Marketing Operations to ensure Paid Media Strategy timing is aligned to larger Integrated Marketing planning lifecycle.
• Partner with Retail Media Network (UB Media) campaign planning processes and how RMN timing connects with the Marketing enterprise
• Oversees Paid Media process for Creative Deliverables – ensuring Paid Media planning cycle aligns with Asset Planning and Production Cycles
• Hosts weekly status and planning meetings with Paid Media Team to align key milestones and action across the Media team
• Interfaces daily/weekly with Project Management agency team

Tools & Technology

• Evaluate, implement, and manage integrations between media tools and broader marketing systems (i.e. Media Tools, Monday.com)
• Manage MediaTools change management internally and with finance

Vendor & Agency Coordination

• Serve as the primary operational liaison with media agencies and vendors — overseeing timelines, deliverables, and accountability
• Establish agency SLAs & ensure SLAs and reporting requirements are met; elevate issues when needed
• Own onboarding and offboarding of agency and vendor relationships, including access management and contract tracking

Standardization and Governance

• Partner with agency project management leaders to build and maintain operational reporting that surfaces performance, pacing, and process health for internal stakeholders
• Partner with cross-functional partners (Strategic Analytics, Integrated Marketing) on templates including Media Plan templates, Mid-Flight and Post-Campaign Reporting Templates, Hindsight, etc.
• Oversee calendar and expectations for key ET deliverables including Sales Lock, GTM, Quarterly Performance Review (ensuring teams know schedule and expectations)
• Create standardization across internal & external agency parties including documentation, naming conventions, etc.

Billing Operations

• Partners with FP&A partners to align on Purchase Order strategy and set-up; overseas set-up end-to-end in partnership with Procurement (Ulta) and Agency Partner.
• Submits Purchase orders (annual or quarterly) on behalf of Paid Media Business leads
• Provides framework for invoice approvals for Paid Media Business leads (does not physically own/approve invoices)
• Business POC for any troubleshooting to partner with Ulta FP&A and agency teams on unpaid invoices, PO re-adjustments, etc.

THE ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESS

• 6+ years of experience in media operations, marketing operations, or a related field
• Demonstrated track record of building or improving operational processes in a fast-moving environment
• Experience managing media budgets and working cross-functionally with finance
• Agency experience preferred
• Strong project management skills:proficiencyin project management tools (e.g., Monday.com) and best practices.Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong communication: ability to clearly articulate project goals, updates, and challenges to stakeholders.
• Problem-solvingmindset: ability toanticipateroadblocks and provide proactive solutions.
• Solidanalytical skills:ability to interpret data andprovideactionable insights.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a collaborative team.Strongproficiencywith Microsoft Office Excel and PowerPoint.

hybrid

The pay range for this position is $90,800.00 - $120,000.00 / Year with the opportunity for eligible associates to earn additional compensation pursuant to the Company’s bonus plan. Exact pay will be based on factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, level, shift, geographic location, and business and organizational needs. Full-time positions are eligible for paid time off, health, dental, vision, life and disability benefits. Part-time positions are eligible for dental, vision, life, and disability benefits. For additional information concerning our benefits, visit our Benefits and Career Development page: https://learn.bswift.com/ulta

About

At Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA), the possibilities are beautiful. Ulta Beauty is the largest North American beauty retailer and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products, hair care products and salon services. We bring possibilities to life through the power of beauty each and every day in our stores and online with more than 25,000 products from approximately 500 well-established and emerging beauty brands across all categories and price points, including Ulta Beauty’s own private label. Ulta Beauty also offers a full-service salon in every store featuring—hair, skin, brow, and make-up services.

We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest records, conviction records, or other criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of any applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the New York City Fair Chance Act.