Reporting to the Executive Director, Integrated Investment, the Managing Director, Head of Social will serve as Crossmedia’s senior paid social expert and strategic leader. This role is responsible for advancing the agency’s paid social capabilities across strategy, audience development, platform innovation, activation, optimization, measurement, and emerging opportunities.

We are looking for a leader who brings more than platform expertise. You understand how to translate changing consumer behavior, platform capabilities, data, and creative into sophisticated media strategies that deliver measurable business impact. You bring a strong point of view, challenge conventional thinking, and know how to turn complexity into clear, actionable direction for clients and teams.

You’ll lead the strategic vision for paid social across the agency and work directly with senior clients to solve complex business challenges. You’ll guide and develop our social team and partner across Planning, Analytics, Paid Search, Programmatic, and Integrated Investment to ensure social plays a meaningful role within broader media strategies.

You’ll also help shape the continued evolution of CrossSocial, connecting paid social with creators, content, influencer, and experiential capabilities where they create greater strategic value and impact.

This is an opportunity to have a meaningful influence on the future of paid social at Crossmedia—shaping our capabilities, developing talent, elevating client thinking, and helping define how we continue to lead in an increasingly dynamic social landscape.

YOUR OBJECTIVES

You will set the strategic direction for Crossmedia’s paid social practice, raising the standard for how we approach social strategy, planning, activation, optimization, and measurement.

As a trusted advisor to senior clients, you’ll bring clarity and perspective to an increasingly complex social ecosystem. You’ll connect business challenges with audience insights, platform capabilities, and performance data to develop strategies that are both innovative and grounded in measurable outcomes.

You’ll lead and develop a high-performing team of approximately 25+ people creating an environment that values curiosity, strong thinking, collaboration, and continuous improvement. You’ll establish clear standards for excellence while helping the team build the skills and confidence needed to navigate an evolving marketplace.

You’ll also contribute to the continued evolution of CrossSocial, identifying opportunities to connect paid social with complementary capabilities such as creators, influencers, content, and experiential in ways that strengthen the strategy and create greater value for clients.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Paid Social Expertise

• Serve as Crossmedia’s senior subject-matter expert in paid social, providing strategic leadership across clients, teams, and the broader agency.
• Set the strategic vision and standards for paid social across planning, activation, optimization, testing, measurement, and performance.
• Develop sophisticated, audience-first strategies that connect business objectives, consumer behavior, media investment, creative, and platform capabilities.
• Establish best practices for campaign architecture, audience strategy, experimentation, optimization, and measurement.
• Evaluate emerging platforms, formats, technologies, and capabilities and translate relevant opportunities into actionable client strategies.
• Bring a well-informed point of view on the evolving social landscape and help clients and internal teams navigate change with confidence.
• Partner with Analytics, Planning, Creative, and Investment teams to ensure paid social strategies are integrated, data-informed, and connected to broader business outcomes.

Client & Strategic Leadership

• Build and sustain trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders, serving as a strategic advisor on social and broader media opportunities.
• Translate complex business challenges into clear, differentiated, and measurable paid social strategies.
• Lead senior-level strategy discussions, planning sessions, presentations, and business reviews.
• Bring proactive thinking and new perspectives to client relationships, identifying opportunities to strengthen strategies and drive growth.
• Demonstrated ability to develop appropriate team structures and staffing plans, scope work effectively, and align resources to client needs, priorities, and budgets
• Contribute to client retention, relationship expansion, and new business through differentiated social expertise.
• Partner with Paid Search, Programmatic, Planning, Analytics, Integrated Investment, and Business Leadership to ensure social is effectively connected to broader media strategies.

Team & Practice Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing paid social team of approximately 25+ people.
• Establish a high standard for strategic thinking, client leadership, innovation, and execution.
• Create an environment that encourages curiosity, collaboration, experimentation, and continuous learning.
• Share expertise and provide senior-level guidance on complex client and marketplace challenges.
• Strengthen the agency’s paid social capabilities through training, development, knowledge-sharing, and evolving best practices.
• Help attract, develop, and retain exceptional paid social talent.

CrossSocial & Integrated Capabilities

• Help shape the continued evolution of CrossSocial, with paid social as its core strategic and performance capability.
• Identify opportunities to connect paid social with creators, influencers, content, and experiential initiatives when they strengthen the overall strategy and client outcomes.
• Partner with internal and external specialists to bring complementary capabilities into client programs where appropriate.
• Help develop scalable approaches and partnerships that expand Crossmedia’s social capabilities while maintaining deep expertise in paid social.

LEADERSHIP & CULTURE

We are looking for a leader who brings:

• Curiosity — A genuine interest in the evolving social landscape, emerging technologies, consumer behavior, and new opportunities.
• Strategic perspective — The ability to connect marketplace change with business objectives and actionable solutions.
• A strong point of view — The confidence to challenge conventional thinking and provide clear, informed direction.
• Commercial acumen — An understanding of how great strategy contributes to client growth, retention, and business results.
• Collaboration — The ability to bring together diverse expertise and build strong partnerships across disciplines.
• An entrepreneurial mindset — A willingness to identify opportunities, build capabilities, and help shape what comes next.
• Hands-on leadership — The ability to operate at a strategic level while remaining connected to the work, the clients, and the team.

REQUIREMENTS

• 12+ years of experience in paid social media, with significant experience in senior strategic and leadership roles within an agency, platform, or client-side environment.
• Deep expertise in paid social strategy, including full-funnel planning, audience strategy, activation, optimization, testing, and measurement across major social platforms.
• A strong understanding of the evolving social landscape, including platform innovation, consumer behavior, emerging technologies, and creator ecosystems.
• Experience with leading and developing a high-performing team, with a strong focus on accountability, collaboration, and talent development
• Proven ability to translate business objectives into sophisticated, audience-first social strategies.
• A track record of developing senior client relationships and serving as a trusted strategic advisor.
• Strong understanding of how paid social connects with Paid Search, Programmatic, Planning, Analytics, Creative, and broader media strategies.
• Commercial acumen and experience contributing to client growth, retention, new business, and/or expansion.
• Strong analytical instincts and the ability to translate performance data and insights into smarter strategic decisions.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and storytelling skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders internally and externally.
• An entrepreneurial, hands-on approach and the ability to operate effectively within a dynamic, evolving environment