Director, Paid Social

Chicago, IL (On-site)

$121K/yr – $174K/yrDirector/Executive7+ years expFull time

Posted 2 days ago

Job Summary

Own and lead a paid social program across platforms, shaping strategy, measurement, and optimization while guiding a team and engaging clients.

  • Lead a paid social team to meet performance goals within budget and timeline
  • Design and oversee strategies on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to achieve brand and performance objectives
  • Serve as a senior strategic partner to clients and internal teams

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Lead, motivate, and develop a paid social media team, ensuring the successful creation, execution, and optimization of campaigns that meet or exceed performance goals while staying within budget and timeline parameters
  • Design and oversee paid social strategies across key platforms (including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok) to deliver against brand and performance objectives
  • Foster strong, trusted relationships with clients and internal cross‑functional teams, serving as a senior strategic partner
  • Develop and own action plans for achieving and measuring social media success, including KPI definition, measurement frameworks, and optimization strategies
  • Champion the value of paid social by educating clients, partners, and internal teams on emerging capabilities, best practices, and platform innovation
  • Apply deep paid social expertise and creativity to brainstorming, planning, and strategic working sessions, contributing to integrated media solutions
  • Provide strategic direction to teams on advanced optimization approaches, testing frameworks, and the adoption of new platform features and capabilities
  • Deliver clear, compelling presentations to senior client stakeholders and internal leadership that communicate strategy, performance, and future opportunities
  • Develop and socialize points of view on emerging technologies, trends, and opportunities within the social media ecosystem, including the responsible use of AI‑enabled tools to enhance performance, insights, and operational efficiency

Requirements

  • 7+ years of experience in digital media and marketing, with progressive responsibility within an agency or media environment and significant client‑facing experience
  • 4+ years of people management experience, including leading managers and/or senior practitioners
  • 3+ years of hands‑on experience managing and optimizing campaigns across Facebook and Instagram, with experience in TikTok required; expertise in both API‑based and self‑serve buying environments
  • Proven experience applying paid social to drive results across brand‑building and direct‑response KPIs
  • Strong analytical capability, with the ability to interpret complex performance data and translate insights into strategic recommendations and optimization roadmaps
  • Deep understanding of best practices for social media brand communication and performance marketing
  • Demonstrated executive presence with comfort presenting to and influencing senior client leadership
  • Comprehensive knowledge of paid social platform mechanics, optimization methodologies, and measurement best practices
  • Excellent relationship‑building, diplomacy, and decision‑making skills, paired with creative and strategic thinking
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office, with intermediate to advanced Excel skills (e.g., formulas, pivot tables, data analysis)

Benefits

  • The Power of One starts with our people! To do powerful things, we offer powerful resources. Our best-in-class wellness and benefits offerings include:
  • Paid Family Care for parents and caregivers for 12 weeks or more
  • Monetary assistance and support for Adoption, Surrogacy and Fertility
  • Monetary assistance and support for pet adoption
  • Employee Assistance Programs and Health/Wellness/Comfort reimbursements to help you invest in your future and work/life balance
  • Tuition Assistance
  • Paid time off that includes Flexible Time off Vacation, Annual Sick Days, Volunteer Days, Holiday and Identity days, and more
  • Matching Gifts programs
  • Flexible working arrangements
  • 'Work Your World’ Program encouraging employees to work from anywhere Publicis Groupe has an office for up to 6 weeks a year (based upon eligibility)
Starcom logo

Starcom

3.7 Glassdoor

With a history that dates back over 80 years, Starcom is a global communications planning and media leader. We are an agency still grounded in our founding principle that people are at the center of all we do. Each day, we apply this belief to harness the transformative power of data and technology to inspire and move people and business forward. With almost 7,000 employees in over 100 offices around the world, Starcom partners with the world's leading marketers and brands, including Bank of America, Best Buy, Kellanova, McDonald's, Novartis, Samsung, Visa, WK Kellogg Company and more.

Founded in 1936
Chicago, Illinois, USA
6.1K employees (2,084 in marketing)
66% recommend to a friend
59% CEO approval

Salaries

Posted range

$121K/yr – $174K/yr

Taken straight from the job posting.

See all Starcom salaries

Funding

Total Funding
$57.1M
Last Raise
$43.2M
Series A, 1 months ago

Funding History

  • Feb 2026
    Series A • $43.2M
  • Aug 2025
    Series A
  • May 2025
    Series A • $13.9M

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
20.1K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
43.1%
Direct
41.6%
Referral
9.1%
Social
4.6%
Paid
1.1%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~6.1K

Recent News

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Director, Paid Social

Starcom · Chicago, IL · On-site