Performance Marketing and Media Manager

Responsibilities

• Partner with cross-functional leaders in Finance, Operations, Franchise Support, Brand and Technology to understand growth objectives , school economics, capacity and operational constraints; translate these into actionable agency briefs and media priorities.
• Help define when campaigns should optimize for leads, trial bookings, attended trials or new enrollments
• Work with Finance and Operations to establish realistic CAC and acquisition-efficiency targets grounded in business economics
• Develop strategic recommendations and collaborate closely with agency partners on media mix, audience, budget, targeting, creative and landing-page tests
• Own day-to-day agency relationships, briefing cadence, performance expectations, accountability and follow-through; ensure agencies understand evolving business needs and meet agreed standards.
• Work closely with agencies to develop, execute, test and optimize paid programs across Google Ads, Meta, YouTube, TikTok and emerging channels.
• Partner with the Senior Brand Manager to align paid creative with brand standards, campaign priorities and performance learning.
• Monitor performance by channel, campaign, market and school.
• Translate reporting into executive-ready insights, hypotheses, recommended actions and measurable follow-through for leadership, franchisees and Marketing.
• Work with reporting and analytics systems such as Evidence Studio, BigQuery , GA4 and Google Tag Manager to validate measurement and articulate business requirements; underlying data engineering remains with Technology.

Requirements

• Must be located in the Greater Chicago Area
• Must have Multi-location experience
• 5+ years in digital, performance, growth or media marketing, with demonstrated ability to evaluate paid-media outcomes and guide agency partners.
• Strong knowledge of Google Ads and Meta performance fundamentals, media measurement, testing, optimization and conversion economics; familiarity with YouTube and other channels.
• Proven agency management, briefing, stakeholder alignment and accountability skills; ability to translate business needs into media objectives and recommendations.
• Strong analytical skills across funnel KPIs, CAC, ROAS, LTV, attribution, reporting and data-informed decision-making.
• Ability to partner with Finance, Operations, CRM, Brand and Technology and present recommendations clearly to executive and franchise audiences.
• Sound judgment, initiative and comfort managing competing priorities in a multi-location environment.

Preferred

• Hands-on Google Ads or Meta campaign setup and optimization experience; valuable for troubleshooting and agency challenge, but not required for routine campaign ownership
• Franchise, membership, family services, education, fitness or wellness experience
• Experience with HubSpot, GA4, Google Tag Manager, Looker Studio, BigQuery , Evidence Studio, Sprout Social or conversion-rate optimization.
• Experience with local-market paid media, privacy-conscious measurement, multi-system reporting and responsible AI applications.

Benefits

• Hybrid/WFH flexibility with a collaborative home base in the Chicago area
• Comprehensive health benefits with a substantial employer premium contribution
• Competitive time off program
• 401k with company match
• Competitive total compensation package including 15% performance bonus eligibility. The expected base salary range for this position is $85,000 – $95,000 annually. Final compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and business needs.