VP Paid Media

ABOUT THE ROLE We are seeking an experienced and visionary leader to serve as our Vice President, Paid Media. As the senior-most Paid Media leader at Kanahoma, this individual will be responsible for the strategic direction, performance, and continuous evolution of our Paid Media practice. Reporting directly to the SVP, Marketing, the VP, Paid Media will fully own the Paid Media product, from strategy and team leadership to execution quality and partner outcomes. WHAT YOU'LL DO As the VP, Paid Media, you will define the Paid Media product and team, bringing a strong point of view on attribution, the future of search, and creative strategy. You will directly manage the Paid Media team, drive year-over-year enrollment growth across the partner portfolio, and actively contribute to agency operations and new business development. You will also lead the integration of AI tools and emerging technologies to keep Kanahoma at the forefront of performance marketing. Key responsibilities will include: - Owning Paid Media as a product, defining and evolving product strategy, standards, and vision in collaboration with the SVP, Marketing - Translating agency-level strategy into actionable paid media frameworks, processes, and playbooks, leveraging AI tools to accelerate development and improve consistency - Partnering with the Accounts team on upsells and partner renewals, identifying and championing opportunities to expand Paid Media scope - Representing the Paid Media team in partner pitches and AOR conversations - Collaborating with the SVP, Marketing on SOW development, resource planning, and new business pipeline - Building and leading a best-in-class Paid Media team, directly managing Sr. Directors and Directors of Paid Media - Recruiting, developing, and retaining top paid media talent, actively supporting hiring and onboarding across all levels of the team - Championing AI fluency across the team, ensuring all Paid Media team members are trained on and actively utilizing approved AI tools in their day-to-day workflows - Conducting weekly one-on-ones with direct reports, holding quarterly skip-level meetings with all Paid Media team members who are not direct reports, and setting, tracking, and evaluating direct reports' annual and bi-annual goals - Owning Paid Media performance, meeting or exceeding partner inquiry, application, and start goals across all Paid Media books of business - Ensuring all Paid Media campaigns come within 5% of planned spend goals, maintaining a thorough understanding of partner portfolio performance for L10 weekly meetings - Identifying and implementing AI-powered optimization strategies to improve campaign performance, reduce inefficiencies, and drive stronger partner outcomes - Owning Kanahoma's forward-looking Paid Media POV, serving as Kanahoma's primary voice on where paid media is headed, across attribution, search evolution, and creative strategy - Bringing a strong perspective on cross-channel attribution, the future of paid search, and creative strategy thinking across the paid team WHAT YOU'LL NEED - 10+ years of experience in paid media, with a proven track record of driving growth and innovation - Strong leadership skills, with the ability to build and lead high-performing teams - Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams - Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the