We are seeking an innovative, data-driven Director of Performance Marketing to lead our rapidly expanding paid media programs for a VC-backed late-stage startup leading the training market in a ~$150B industry with ~15% CAGR. You will own the B2C and B2B (Enterprise) strategy and execution of multi-million dollar budgets across channels, driving aggressive YoY growth to match our company trajectory and goals.

In this high-impact role, you will leverage predictive modeling and machine learning to allocate budget, optimize bids, target prospective customers, attribute conversions, and improve ROI. This requires constantly testing new platforms, features and approaches to stay ahead of the latest trends. 

ThriveDX (formerly known as HackerU) is the global leader in cybersecurity education, and an expert in providing cybersecurity training to upskill and reskill lifelong learners. Our teams are made up of military trained cyber experts, industry veterans and seasoned educators united to close the worldwide skills and talent gap in cybersecurity. 

Operating in two divisions – education and enterprise –  ThriveDX’s award-winning solutions exist to bridge the skills gap and impact the talent shortage in the cybersecurity and overall tech industry.

The Education sector partners with top-tier academic institutions, enterprises, and government branches globally to offer advanced, professional development programs in cybersecurity and digital technology. From top universities like University of Miami, University of Michigan, California State University and University of Chicago- we provide a turnkey solution that propels students into meaningful careers. Through these partnerships ThriveDX is working to uplift learners of all socio-economic backgrounds to close the global digital skills gap one student at a time.

Major Responsibilities 

• Develop and optimize ambitious growth strategies and roadmaps for paid campaigns tied to revenue goals
• Manage annual paid media budgets of $15MM+
• Lead a high-performing team and agency resources to execute sophisticated account-based and performance marketing programs
• Maintain deep expertise in platforms like Google Ads, Google Analytics, Meta Business Suite, TikTok, LinkedIn, TradeDesk
• Leverage intent data and predictive analytics to identify and qualify target accounts and high-value segments
• Work cross-functionally with CRM, Content, and Product Marketing teams to maximize impact
• Partner closely with our Marketing leaders and key cross-functional stakeholders to develop a high-performing marketing strategy.
• Inform and help define Marketing’s OKRs along with its supporting quarterly and monthly marketing plan
• Research, prioritize and recommend new marketing opportunities to maximize growth
• Guide critical functional and business decisions through financial, operational, and strategic analysis.
• Develop a framework for evaluating new market segments, optimizing existing ones, and and determining best resource allocation
• Develop and re-evaluate promotional strategy of our various existing offerings, taking into account student demand, competition and competitive strength of our brand in the respective markets
• Build model to predict enrollment growth with current and prospective university partnerships and develop tools to track performance against the model
• Work cross-functionally to study existing internal processes and recommend improvements

Skills and Experience 

• 7+ years managing large paid media budgets and teams, with demonstrated expertise across B2C and B2B
• Substantial experience in account-based advertising strategies and respective systems/tools, e.g., Demandbase, 6sense, or similar
• Track record of leveraging analytics, attribution, and modeling to drive insights
• Experience managing high-performing teams to execute innovative programs
• Strong analytical abilities and expertise with paid media platforms and tools
• Fluent in data. You naturally seek data to answer questions, you leverage existing data and can recommend and design processes to collect and generate new data when needed. 
• Strong analytical and structured thinking skills. You are able to provide structure and a clear path to answering challenging questions. Relentless testing approach focused on optimization
• Excellence and execution. You value and strive for excellent work yet you balance speed with rigor. Great is good, but progress is better than perfect. 
• Outstanding communication skills. You are an excellent oral and written communicator. You get your points across succinctly and clearly. You are comfortable presenting and defending your findings to team members across all levels of the org, including executive leadership.
• Intellectual honesty. You are brutally honest, with yourself and others. You are equally comfortable calling attention to business risks, pointing out flaws in others’ thinking, and acknowledging your own mistakes and knowledge gaps
• Hustle. It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Nothing is beneath you. You are entrepreneurial, move fast and willing to hustle to do great things. 

Preferred Competencies

• Experience working in/with the education industry or similar
• Experience in multi-brand organizations
• Experience with marketing multi-touch attribution and complex media mix models

Core Values
Different is Good - At ThriveDX, we are a diverse, global family of lifelong learners, innovators, and education advocates.

Community is Everything - Passion, enthusiasm, and support is interwoven into the fabric of our growing community of lifelong learners.

We Courageously Make Change- We’re not afraid to ask the big questions and then work to create the solutions.

We deliver on our Promises - We hold ourselves accountable for all that we do, for every partner we serve and every learner we support.

Excellence is the only Option- Because we are passionate about education, technology, and advancement for our global community, we expect nothing but the very best from ourselves, our products, and the experiences we provide.

Your Success is our Success
If you are an exceptional team player who is ready to break down walls and forge into uncharted territories, if you want to lead a team of ambitious, passionate and like-minded individuals, then this role and this company is for you! 

If you are a Self-starter with a “deploy on day one” mindset who has the confidence and ability to bring substantial value to the organization on an immediate and continued basis, you are the perfect match for us. 

We are a group, a family, dedicated to changing-lives with a “Work hard – Play hard” attitude, who value individual contributions towards the collective goal and we cannot wait to meet the next member of our team! (and YES, we mean you)