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Director, Paid Media & Performance Marketing

ProjectkittyhawkNorth Carolina2w ago

Who We Are

Our mission is simple but critical: to build pathways for adult learners to earn high-quality, workforce-aligned degrees and credentials from North Carolina’s public universities.

At Project Kitty Hawk, our work reflects our company values: 

Collaboration – We prioritize our partners’ success and reputation, aligning every initiative with their goals, reflecting their values, and enhancing their impact. 

Innovation – We innovate, not replicate. As creative problem solvers, we use data-driven insights to push boundaries, continuously improve our services, develop solutions, and redefine what it means to serve nontraditional learners. 

Empathy – We understand the unique challenges of nontraditional learners, and are committed to supporting them with empathy, respect, and solutions that fit their needs. 

Integrity – We operate with transparency and accountability in everything we do. We uphold honesty, take ownership of our work, and maintain the highest standards. 

Teamwork – We embody the collaboration we seek. We always strive to be dependable, supportive, and solutions-oriented teammates. 

Together, we partner with universities in the University of North Carolina (UNC) System to produce innovative, flexible degree and credential programs in high-demand fields. Each PKH team member plays a vital role in advancing this mission and shaping the future of education for adult learners. 

These values will enable us to realize PKH’s vision: to make North Carolina’s public universities the top choice for adult learners and to amplify the UNC System’s role as a national leader in higher education innovation, access, and student success. By joining our team, you have an opportunity to contribute to our achievement of that vision, in the process helping to create opportunities for thousands of learners to earn their success and move up the economic ladder.

At Project Kitty Hawk we hire talented people who are not only dedicated to our mission but share our belief that working together makes us stronger and more effective. In this organization you’ll find individuals with a range of interesting backgrounds and life stories; the true magic happens when those individuals come together to solve problems in service of a common goal. We encourage you to bring your unique perspective, talents, and ideas to the table as we strive to make a meaningful impact.  

The role

Project Kitty Hawk (PKH) is seeking a Paid Media & Performance Marketing Director to lead performance-driven paid media initiatives supporting online programs across the UNC System.

This role owns paid media strategy, execution, and optimization across multiple institutional partners, with a focus on driving high-intent demand, building awareness where needed, and improving cost of acquisition and enrollment outcomes. 

The ideal candidate brings deep experience in down-funnel, intent-based search marketing as well as upper-funnel awareness and demand-generation campaigns across social, forums, and emerging platforms. This role requires a strong analytical mindset, advanced targeting expertise, and the ability to tailor channel strategy to the unique brand, program, and market dynamics of each university partner. 

What you will do:

Manage end-to-end paid media strategy and execution across a full-funnel mix, including:  High-intent, down-funnel paid search and conversion-focused campaigns and upper-funnel awareness and demand-generation campaigns across paid social, forums, and other platforms 

Translate enrollment goals, program demand, and partner brand considerations into tailored channel strategies and performance plans. 

Ensure campaign structure, messaging, and targeting align with institutional brand standards and program positioning. 

Actively monitor and optimize campaigns to improve CPL, CPA, conversion rates, and lead quality. 

Reallocate spend based on performance trends, program priorities, and seasonal enrollment cycles. 

Identify underperforming tactics quickly and pivot strategy to maximize efficiency and impact. 

Design and optimize campaigns using advanced targeting tactics, including geotargeting, geofencing, remarketing, and retargeting. 

Develop audience strategies that balance reach, intent, and efficiency across the funnel. 

Continuously refine targeting and segmentation to improve lead quality and conversion performance. 

Evaluate, test, and scale new paid media platforms, formats, and channels based on program-specific and partner-specific needs. 

Identify when more targeted or alternative approaches (e.g., affiliate marketing, niche platforms, contextual placements) are appropriate to test. 

Apply a disciplined test-and-learn framework to assess impact, efficiency, and scalability before broader investment. 

Partner closely with SEO and content teams to evaluate paid vs. organic opportunity by program, keyword, and market. 

Adjust paid media investment as organic performance improves to lower overall cost of acquisition. 

Collaborate with web and CRO teams to improve landing pages, conversion paths, messaging, and forms based on performance data. 

Support experimentation efforts including A/B testing of creative, landing pages, and funnel flows. 

Analyze full-funnel performance from click through enrollment to identify trends, gaps, and optimization opportunities. 

Provide clear, actionable insights and recommendations to marketing leadership and internal stakeholders. 

Partner with admissions and analytics teams to assess lead quality, speed-to-lead, and downstream outcomes. 

Support evaluation of new program opportunities by analyzing search demand, keyword volume, audience intent, and competitive density. 

Partner with marketing leadership and business development to develop lead volume, CPL, and enrollment projections for prospective programs. 

Use paid media and search insights to inform go-to-market recommendations, channel mix, and budget expectations. 

Identify early indicators of program risk or opportunity based on market signals and performance benchmarks. 

Collaborate closely with the Director/Head of Marketing on strategy, planning, and forecasting. 

Align with admissions teams to ensure paid media supports conversion efficiency and enrollment goals. 

What you bring:

7+ years of hands-on experience in paid media and performance marketing, with direct responsibility for strategy, execution, and optimization. 

Deep expertise in high-intent, down-funnel paid search campaigns and conversion-focused optimization. 

Proven experience running upper-funnel awareness and demand-generation campaigns across paid social, forums, and diverse media platforms. 

Strong experience with advanced targeting tactics, including geotargeting, geofencing, remarketing, and retargeting.

Demonstrated ability to test and scale new channels, platforms, and tactics based on performance data and program-specific needs. 

Experience conducting or supporting market demand analysis and program viability assessments using search and competitive data. 

Experience in higher education is a plus. 

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate data into forecasts, insights, and recommendations. 

Experience working cross-functionally with SEO, web, CRO, and analytics teams. 

Hands-on experience with major paid media platforms, including: 

Google Ads (Search, Display, YouTube) 

Microsoft Advertising (Bing) 

Meta (Facebook & Instagram) 

LinkedIn Campaign Manager 

Additional platforms such as Reddit, programmatic DSPs, or affiliate networks a plus 

Experience with analytics and measurement tools, such as: 

Google Analytics (GA4) 

Google Tag Manager 

Attribution and reporting tools (e.g., Looker, Tableau, or similar BI tools) 

Familiarity with SEO and market research tools, including: 

Google Search Console 

Keyword and competitive research platforms (e.g., SEMrush, Ahrefs, or similar) 

Experience collaborating with web and CRO tools and workflows, such as: 

A/B testing platforms (e.g., Optimizely, Google Optimize, or similar) 

CMS and landing page platforms (e.g., WordPress or comparable systems) 

What We Offer

Project Kitty Hawk offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes full medical/dental/vision coverage, a 401K with match, and a generous time-off policy with paid volunteer time. In addition, we are committed to providing competitive salaries with the potential for performance bonus and remote working flexibility.

Project Kitty Hawk is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate based on actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or handicap, sex, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, arrest record, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.    

Project Kitty Hawk is dedicated to this policy concerning recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities, and general treatment during employment. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please contact Kelly Snow at klsnow@projectkittyhawk.com.

Director, Paid Media & Performance Marketing

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