Director, Performance Marketing - Paid Media chez HFE Corp

Our story began 75 years ago when the Herschend family discovered wonder deep in an Ozark Mountain cave—and chose to share it with the world. Today, Herschend is the largest family-held themed attractions company, with over two dozen leading attractions and immersive experiences that reach audiences worldwide.

While each brand offers something unique, all are united by a shared purpose: Bringing Families Closer Together by Creating Memories Worth Repeating®. Our passionate hosts make this purpose possible through everyday acts of love and service—what we call Heartspitality®—the intersection of heart and hospitality.

As an equal-opportunity employer, we strive to provide environments where every host, guest, and partner feel welcome, valued, and loved. We firmly believe that words and actions matter, which is why all individuals are to be treated equally and with respect.

POSITION SUMMARY
The Director of Performance Marketing – Paid Media will lead the strategy, execution, optimization, and measurement of all paid traditional and digital media channels, including but not limited to out-of-home, radio, search (SEM), social, programmatic display, video, and emerging platforms. Reporting to the VP of Brand and Customer Strategy (or CMO), this role is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive paid media and integrated marketing performance strategy across our portfolio of Family Brands. The Director will drive customer acquisition, retention, and revenue growth through data-driven, ROI-focused campaigns that align with our broader brand and business objectives. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and execute an impactful paid media strategy for a portfolio of brands, in partnership with our agency partners, aligned to our business goals and growth targets.
• Lead the planning, buying, and optimization of all paid channels with our agency partners and internal teams: television, direct mail, radio, paid search, paid social, display, video, and emerging platforms, programs and partnerships.
• Own the paid media budget, ensuring efficient allocation to maximize return on ad spend (ROAS), and return on investment (ROI), driving customer lifetime value (CLV).
• Partner closely with brand, creative, performance, analytics, and product teams to create integrated campaigns that deliver results across all channels.
• Manage our high-performing agency partnerships.
• Monitor daily performance, uncover insights, and adjust strategies to improve KPIs, including acquisition cost, conversion rate, and revenue.
• Monitor dashboards and develop regular reporting to communicate performance, trends and insights, opportunities and recommendations to key stakeholders.
• Stay current on industry trends, platform updates, emerging platforms, and best practices to identify and act on new growth opportunities.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure paid media efforts align with broader marketing initiatives, customer journeys, and brand positioning, while delivering results.

SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong understanding of ads measurement methodologies and associated technologies (e.g., lift testing, incrementality, marketing mix modeling (MMM), attribution etc.)
• Deep understanding of the customer journey, and how performance advertising fits into each stage (awareness, consideration, conversion, retention) across the marketing funnel.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate data insights into actionable business decisions.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to present complex performance insights and strategies to senior executives and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong leadership skills with experience in managing people and cross-functional teams in a high-performance culture.
• Must be able to work in a highly collaborative, results-oriented and relationship-based culture.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and work under tight deadlines.
• Creative mindset with a bias for testing, learning, and continuous improvement.
• Willingness to travel, as required, to agency, hotel, and theme park operations.

EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION

•  Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree a plus.
• Experience working with a portfolio brand in the leisure and hospitality industry, tour events, theme parks, resorts, or related businesses.
• 10+ years of proven experience and success, preferably in performance advertising, advanced advertising, or measurement roles.
• 7+ years in overseeing teams, agencies, or cross-functional partners.
• Strong budget management skills: forecasting, allocation, and optimization for ROAS, ROI and CPA.

• Deep expertise and proven success in managing campaigns across traditional and digital channels, including SEM, Paid Social, programmatic display/video, retargeting, and emerging platforms.
• Proven track record of developing and scaling campaigns that drive measurable ROI across a portfolio of brands.
• Strong analytical skills with experience using tools like Google Analytics, Looker, Tableau, or similar.
• Experience with attribution modeling, incrementality testing, and marketing mix modeling.
• Excellent leadership, project management, and communication skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative, and data-driven environment.