We are seeking a strategic, business minded leader to establish the vision, operating model, and standards for an integrated performance marketing capability across SEO, paid search, programmatic while leading internal teams and agency partners.

This leader will connect organic and paid search, programmatic activation, audience strategy, testing, measurement, and optimization into one performance engine. They will make cross-channel investment trade-offs, create repeatable processes, and influence LOB marketers, senior executives, analytics, finance, creative, content, marketing operations, and agencies.

The ideal candidate will bring:

• Progressive leadership experience across integrated performance marketing, performance media, digital media, retail media, or a related discipline, with ownership of meaningful budgets, portfolios, or business outcomes.
• Strong working expertise across SEO, paid search/SEM, and programmatic media, with the ability to define how channels work together across the consumer journey.
• Sufficient SEO depth to set direction, identify technical and content opportunities, challenge agency recommendations, connect organic search to content strategy, and lead the function credibly.
• Demonstrated full-funnel, audience-centric planning experience across awareness, consideration, conversion, retention, or other relevant objectives.
• Experience establishing investment frameworks, forecasting, budget recommendations, KPIs, performance reporting, testing roadmaps, and optimization routines.
• Strong marketing-effectiveness instincts: the ability to distinguish channel metrics from business impact and translate measurement, attribution, experiments, and insights into investment decisions.
• Experience adapting search and content strategy to AI-driven discovery, changing consumer behavior, evolving search experiences, AEO, GEO, automation, and AI-assisted optimization.
• Experience managing agencies as strategic extensions of the organization.
• Experience influencing across complex, matrixed organizations and clarifying decision rights among multiple stakeholders.
• B2C and B2B experience is strongly preferred

This leader will:

• Own the integrated performance media capability across SEO, paid search, programmatic, and connected performance disciplines.
• Head up SEO, including strategy, prioritization, content/search integration, measurement, agency partnership, and evolution of the discipline.
• Lead the Paid Search team, including one associate, and establish standards for keyword and audience planning, bidding, creative testing, and reporting.
• Lead the in-house Programmatic team, including three team members, and establish standards for activation, audience quality, inventory, optimization,
• testing, and measurement.
• Manage embedded agency partners, holding them accountable for talent quality, strategic rigor, delivery, transparency, performance, and continuous improvement.
• Create a connected operating rhythm across channel teams, agencies, analytics, finance, creative, content, marketing operations, and LOB partners.
• Build the talent model, coaching rhythm, capabilities, and succession depth needed for a durable performance marketing organization.
• Partnership with LOB Strategy Media

This hybrid position is based in Columbus, OH. Candidates located near a Nationwide campus will collaborate in office 2 days per week. Current Nationwide Remote Associates may be considered.

Job Description Summary
Are you ready to put your marketing savvy, communications skills and data driven approach to work for one of the top brands in the insurance and financial services industry? If you want to influence a large marketing investment spend, drive business growth and profitable results using the best in class marketing technology, we want to hear from you!

As a Director of Media Planning & Buying, you'll lead Nationwide's internal media buying team. You'll be responsible for the media strategy, activation and optimization of Nationwide's advertising investment. We'll count on you to produce coordinated media plans, based on data, that deliver business impact for the enterprise.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

• Leads all aspects of scalable campaign execution operation and procedures. Leads team processes, guides the team on specific campaign actions, develops partner relationships and ensures key performance indicators are met.
• Works directly with tech partners, media publishers, advertising agencies and internal partners to design, build and optimize marketing media buys.
• Supports and elevates Nationwide's online presence and engagement across digital platforms. Closely collaborate with internal partners, advertising agencies, tech companies, media publishers and data providers to drive high impact media campaigns.
• Represents media team internally working closely with other Marketing areas.
• Leads the company's external media agencies across coordinated planning, activation and analytics teams.
• Researches and builds partnerships with new media publishers, data partners, and technology companies that would improve the capabilities, efficiency and effectiveness of the enterprise Media team.
• Administers associate management, including performance management, salary planning and administration, training and development, workflow and organizational planning, hiring and placement and disciplinary actions. Continually scouts for strong talent; building a potential pipe line of talent.

May perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Reporting Relationships: Reports to Associate Vice President/Vice President; Manages a team of four or more marketing professionals and may be responsible for matrix reporting relationships and virtual teams.

Typical Skills and Experiences:

Education: Undergraduate degree in a quantitative field, e.g., business, finance, communication, etc. preferred; Graduate degree in closely-related field preferred.

Experience: Typically, ten or more years demonstrated experience in digital media. Extensive experience in digital media buying, with a focus on addressable display, video, social, search and mobile campaign management preferred. Experience managing and mentoring associates in a rapid growth environment, and deep experience in the demand side platform (DSP) and exchange-based media buying industry preferred.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Sophisticated knowledge of the principles of digital media development and execution, and the programmatic media supply chain. Extensive knowledge of current practices in leading programmatic and social campaigns. Ability to train, lead and mentor associates in all aspects of media buying and planning. Proven understanding and skills with digital media tools, including demand side platforms, ad servers and web analytics tools. Persuasive communication and presentation skills. Ability to understand and relate market information to leadership levels. Advanced marketing and promotional skills. Ability to multi-task. Critical thinking and listening skills. Strong analytical skills with fact-based approach to solving business problems. Ability to lead and prioritize projects. Ability to function independently or on a team.

Other criteria, including leadership skills, proficiencies and experiences may take precedence.

Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager's leader and Human Resources Business Partner.

Values: Regularly and consistently demonstrate the Nationwide Values.

Job Conditions:

Overtime Eligibility: Exempt (Not eligible)

Working Conditions: Normal office environment. Extended hours as required. Occasional travel.

Benefits

We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including: medical/dental/vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date, nine paid holidays, 8 hours of Lifetime paid time off, 8 hours of Unity Day paid time off, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more. To learn more about the benefits we offer, click here.

Nationwide pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement within the actual starting salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity and location of the role as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. If a Sales job, Sales Incentives, based on performance goals are possible in addition to this range. Note on Compensation for Part-Time Roles: Please be aware that the salary ranges listed below reflect full-time compensation. Actual compensation may be prorated based on the number of hours worked relative to a full-time schedule.

The national salary range for Director, Media Planning & Buying : $122,000.00-$214,000.00

The expected starting salary range for Director, Media Planning & Buying : $122,000.00 - $182,000.00