At Northwestern Mutual, we are strong, innovative and growing. We invest in our people. We care and make a positive difference.
At Northwestern Mutual, we believe relationships are built on trust. That our lives and our work matter. These beliefs launched our company over 160 years ago. Today, they're just a few of the reasons why people choose to build careers at Northwestern Mutual.
We're strong and growing. In a company with such a long and storied history, this may be the most exciting and important time to be a part of Northwestern Mutual. We're strong, innovative and growing.
We invest in our people. We provide opportunities for employees to grow themselves, their career and in turn, our business.
We care. We make a positive difference in our communities. Nationally, thousands have benefitted from our support of research and programs to fight childhood cancer. Each year, our Foundation, employees and financial representatives donate time, talent and financial support to causes they're passionate about.
What you will do:
Northwestern Mutual is seeking a Senior Director to lead the Media & Digital Marketing team. This individual will integrate across the enterprise and provide perspective as to how strategic media investment can be used to accelerate our business priorities. They will be accountable for lead generation and brand health metrics, overseeing the company's offline and online media investment.
They will use their analytical skills and ability to communicate the value of advertising in driving business growth. They will manage both an in-house team and agency partners who serve as a direct extension of the team, working in a highly collaborative and agile environment.
How you will do it:

• Shepherd Northwestern Mutual's activation strategy as we transform our business to encompass holistic financial services
• Drive the end-to-end integrated media strategy (online and offline) that drives maximum impact across the full marketing funnel and ensures optimal channel mix and investment allocation. Your primary objective will be to accelerate lead generation and build our brand in the market.
• Provide a forward-looking perspective on the changing media landscape and shifting consumer habits; drive a testing and innovation roadmap that future-proofs the brand.
• Provide expertise and perspective as a consultant across the business, showcasing how media can be used to accelerate enterprise priorities. Lead the development of our strategic approach within new market segments.
• Identify new opportunities to drive scale and build out new channels for lead generation, creating new revenue streams for the business
• Lead relationships with key industry players to ensure that Northwestern Mutual is well positioned to take advantage of integrations and betas
• Primary lead for media agency relationship inclusive of cross channel planning, brand strategy, TV investment, media partnerships/integrations, digital, social, search and analytics
• Lead budget management & forecasting
• Continually prove out incrementality and value of our media investment; demonstrate how continued investment will drive continued growth. Partner with internal teams on the analytics roadmap, inclusive of advanced models, holdouts, and brand lift studies.

Bring Your Best! What this role needs:
The Right candidate will:

• Be an exceptional people leader who understands how to build and motivate a team
• Understand how to build a media strategy that drives growth based on the objective at hand - able to go beyond the playbook to create exceptional work.
• Have a strong perspective on what the digital ecosystem needs to look like to drive growth
• Be a strong communicator who can tell an effective story, build impactful business cases, and is comfortable selling in the impact of their work.
• Is analytically minded and is meticulous about the details of every buy; believes that quality should not be sacrificed for volume.
• Set clear goals and critical metrics for the team, prioritize workstreams appropriately, and supervise all campaigns in market ensuring they are on strategy, on brand, and making desired impact

Experience:

• Do you have 12+ years of experience managing media and acquisition strategies (a mix of agency and in-house experience is preferred)?
• Proven breadth of experience spanning digital and offline channels, include of TV, search, social, display, native, audio, etc.
• Strong communicator who can tell an effective story, build impactful business cases, and is comfortable selling in the impact of their work.
• Is analytically minded and is meticulous about the details of every buy; believes that quality should not be sacrificed for volume.
• Set clear goals and important metrics for the team, prioritize workstreams appropriately, and lead all campaigns in market ensuring they are on strategy, on brand, and making desired impact

Leadership:

• Creative, entrepreneurial spirit who is self-motivated and constantly seeking out and finding opportunities to drive the business forward without being told when and what to do.
• Exceptional leadership skills: Proven experience building and leading high-performance teams. An orchestrator, more than a director. You teach, you get your hands dirty with your team, you take the reins when it makes sense. Strong ability to unite a team and motivate and empower every individual on your team. You are committed to each individual's growth and path within the company.
• Deep passion for building brands in culture and thrives at storytelling that's amplified efficiently.
• Strong interpersonal skills and able to work well in a team environment with a proven track record in driving partnerships and relationships with internal marketing functions / partners, as well as harmonies and collaboration across integrated marketing teams.
• Ability to manage through ambiguity and establish process and structure to help the team operate more effectively and efficiently. The right candidate will be positive force who leads with optimism, especially in the face of challenges
• A collaborator at their core. Is open to new and different thinking, constructive feedback and working in lockstep with others to create an environment where everyone has a voice.

Technical:

• Extensive experience managing both online and offline media with a track record of driving strong business growth. Deep experience with Television, social, and paid search is needed.
• Proven ability to think out-of-the-box and drive innovation in ways that connect deeply with consumers
• Superior analytics skills with deep understanding of sophisticated models and methodologies for measuring success as well as ability to quickly extract key insights from performance report outs. Direct experience building MMM & MTA models preferred
• Ability to distill consumer insights and understanding of our products and services into ways-in that truly connect and resonate with our audience
• Finger on the pulse of new opportunities and emerging channels that will allow us to outsmart the competition and break thru to consumers. Strong relationships across the media industry.
• Experience managing media sponsorships to drive business results.

Benefits:
Great pay package, 401K, Company sponsored retirement plan, Educational assistance, Performance based incentive pay, Medical, dental and vision insurance, Parental leave, Caregiver time off....and more
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This job is not covered by the existing Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Required Certifications:
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We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
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