Senior Director, Performance Media

AbelsonTaylor Group; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 155,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

401k with company match

Adoption assistance

Life Insurance & Disability

Paid parental leave

Summer Fridays

Flexible Time Off

Holidays

Learning & Development

Wellness Program

Job summary

AbelsonTaylor Group in Chicago is seeking a Senior Director, Performance Media to lead the agency's performance media practice across Paid Search, Programmatic, and Paid Social, guiding strategy, quality, growth, and operations.

You will partner with Media Strategy, Creative, Analytics, and Account teams to deliver connected programs, supervise teams, mentor staff, and drive client outcomes while ensuring compliant, measurable activation.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of digital or performance media experience with leadership responsibility across Paid Search, Programmatic, and Paid Social.
• Healthcare or pharmaceutical media experience preferred, including regulated brands and cross-functional teams.
• Strong expertise in performance media strategy, activation, measurement, and analytics.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic direction and operational excellence for the performance media practice.
• Lead and mentor senior team members, setting priorities and ensuring high-quality work.
• Partner with Media Strategy, Creative, Analytics, and Account teams to deliver connected media programs.
• Present recommendations to executive stakeholders and manage client relationships.
• Drive testing, optimization, and adoption of platforms across channels; manage budgets and forecasts.

Skills

Leadership experience

Performance media strategy

Cross-functional collaboration

Client relationships

Analytics

Tools

DV360

SA360

Campaign Manager 360

Google Ads

Microsoft Advertising

Meta

LinkedIn

PulsePoint

Prisma

Job description

At AbelsonTaylor Group, work that makes you feel good isn't just what we do, it's who we are. We create an environment where creativity thrives, teamwork flourishes, and people can do meaningful work that advances health and brighter futures.

We are seeking a Senior Director, Performance Media to join our team. This leader is responsible for the strategic direction, quality, growth, and operational excellence of the agency performance media practice. The role oversees Paid Search, Programmatic Display and Video, Paid Social, and emerging activation channels while connecting media strategy, activation, creative, analytics, ad operations, and technology.

What You'll Do

Performance Media Leadership

• Lead the agency performance media practice across Paid Search, Programmatic Display and Video, Paid Social, and emerging digital activation channels.
• Establish strategic direction, channel standards, quality controls, and best practices that support effective, compliant, and measurable activation.
• Partner with the Media Strategy team to develop channel recommendations aligned with client strategy, audience needs, investment levels, and business objectives.
• Guide testing, optimization, innovation, and platform adoption across the performance media portfolio.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for activation, platform, measurement, and performance challenges.
• Serve as a senior performance media subject matter expert in client meetings, strategic presentations, and annual planning engagements.
• Translate complex platform, data, and performance topics into clear, actionable recommendations for clients and internal teams.
• Guide senior team members in developing clear report observations, implications, and optimization actions.
• Support new business, organic growth, scopes of work, case studies, and agency thought leadership.

Cross-Functional & Creative Partnership

• Collaborate with Media Strategy, Marketing Intelligence, Creative, Integrated Strategy, Brand Planning, and Account teams to deliver connected media programs.
• Partner with Creative leadership on asset requirements, dynamic content opportunities, new formats, deliverable timing, and performance-informed creative recommendations.
• Help align channel activation, ad operations, measurement, analytics, and reporting approaches across accounts.
• Partner with department leadership on staffing, account assignments, workload management, revenue projections, investment pacing, and operational priorities.
• Maintain oversight of activation quality, budget stewardship, pacing, billing inputs, and issue resolution across assigned business.
• Develop and maintain department processes, templates, playbooks, onboarding materials, and training resources.
• Lead, mentor, and develop Associate Directors, Supervisors, Specialists, and other performance media team members.
• Balance workloads, clarify ownership, set priorities, and create opportunities that build strategic and technical skills.
• Provide ongoing coaching, formal performance feedback, and career development support.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative, accountable, and psychologically safe team environment.

What Makes You a Great Fit

• 10+ years of digital or performance media experience, including significant leadership responsibility across Paid Search, Programmatic, and Paid Social.
• Healthcare or pharmaceutical media experience strongly preferred, including experience working with regulated brands and cross-functional agency teams.
• Demonstrated expertise in performance media strategy, activation, optimization, audience planning, measurement, and analytics.
• Deep knowledge of major platforms and systems such as DV360, SA360, Campaign Manager 360, Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Meta, LinkedIn, PulsePoint, and Prisma.
• Experience leading teams, managing senior client relationships, and presenting strategic recommendations to executive stakeholders.
• Strong financial, operational, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage priorities across multiple clients and workstreams.
• Analytical and creative problem-solving skills, sound judgment, and a commitment to high-quality work.

Benefits and Perks:

• Medical, Dental and Vision coverage
• 401k with Company match of 50% on the first 6%
• Adoption Assistance - Up to $2,500 of financial assistance
• Company Paid Life Insurance, Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
• Short-Term Disability providing 100% of salary coverage
• Paid Parental Leave for birth and non-birth parents (4 weeks)
• Summer Fridays
• Flexible Time Off (FTO)
• 11 Holidays and End of Year Office Closure
• Company provided Learning and Development opportunities
• Wellness Program

Compensation Range: $155,000 - $180,000. The starting salary offer will depend on the candidate’s skills, qualifications, and experience. The company reserves the right to adjust this pay range at any time.

At AbelsonTaylor Group (ATG), we love science, art, and data. Since our beginnings in 1981, ATG has been singularly focused on health, wellness, and pharma products – not sneakers, beer, or cars (though we like those things, too). Besides being passionate about our purpose, we are dedicated to our people and their professional growth and fulfillment. We value a diverse and inclusive workforce and strive to bring together people with unique skills and varied backgrounds to work toward common goals. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without discrimination regarding age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

This position follows a hybrid schedule, requiring employees to be onsite Tuesday-Thursday each week in our Chicago office. We make reasonable accommodations for employees and applicants with disabilities who require schedule accommodations.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in AbelsonTaylor Group’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.