Director, Paid Media & Performance Marketing

Who We Are

Our mission is simple but critical: to build pathways for adult learners to earn high-quality, workforce‑aligned degrees and credentials from North Carolina’s public universities.

At Project Kitty Hawk, our work reflects our company values:

• Collaboration – We prioritize our partners’ success and reputation, aligning every initiative with their goals, reflecting their values, and enhancing their impact.
• Innovation – We innovate, not replicate. As creative problem solvers, we use data‑driven insights to push boundaries, continuously improve our services, develop solutions, and redefine what it means to serve nontraditional learners.
• Empathy – We understand the unique challenges of nontraditional learners, and are committed to supporting them with empathy, respect, and solutions that fit their needs.
• Integrity – We operate with transparency and accountability in everything we do. We uphold honesty, take ownership of our work, and maintain the highest standards.
• Teamwork – We embody the collaboration we seek. We always strive to be dependable, supportive, and solutions‑oriented teammates.

Together, we partner with universities in the University of North Carolina (UNC) System to produce innovative, flexible degree and credential programs in high‑demand fields. Each PKH team member plays a vital role in advancing this mission and shaping the future of education for adult learners.

These values will enable us to realize PKH’s vision: to make North Carolina’s public universities the top choice for adult learners and to amplify the UNC System’s role as a national leader in higher education innovation, access, and student success. By joining our team, you have an opportunity to contribute to our achievement of that vision, in the process helping to create opportunities for thousands of learners to earn their success and move up the economic ladder.

At Project Kitty Hawk we hire talented people who are not only dedicated to our mission but share our belief that working together makes us stronger and more effective. In this organization you’ll find individuals with a range of interesting backgrounds and life stories; the true magic happens when those individuals come together to solve problems in service of a common goal.

We encourage you to bring your unique perspective, talents, and ideas to the table as we strive to make a meaningful impact.

Project Kitty Hawk (PKH) is seeking a Paid Media & Performance Marketing Director to lead performance‑driven paid media initiatives supporting online programs across the UNC System.

This role owns paid media strategy, execution, and optimization across multiple institutional partners, with a focus on driving high‑intent demand, building awareness where needed, and improving cost of acquisition and enrollment outcomes.

The ideal candidate brings deep experience in down‑funnel, intent‑based search marketing as well as upper‑funnel awareness and demand‑generation campaigns across social, forums, and emerging platforms. This role requires a strong analytical mindset, advanced targeting expertise, and the ability to tailor channel strategy to the unique brand, program, and market dynamics of each university partner.

• Manage end‑to‑end paid media strategy and execution across a full‑funnel mix, including high‑intent, down‑funnel paid search and conversion‑focused campaigns, and upper‑funnel awareness and demand‑generation campaigns across paid social, forums, and other platforms.
• Translate enrollment goals, program demand, and partner brand considerations into tailored channel strategies and performance plans.
• Ensure campaign structure, messaging, and targeting align with institutional brand standards and program positioning.
• Actively monitor and optimize campaigns to improve CPL, CPA, conversion rates, and lead quality.
• Reallocate spend based on performance trends, program priorities, and seasonal enrollment cycles.
• Identify underperforming tactics quickly and pivot strategy to maximize efficiency and impact.
• Design and optimize campaigns using advanced targeting tactics, including geotargeting, geofencing, remarketing, and retargeting.
• Develop…