Associate Director, Paid Media

About Northern

Headquartered in London, Ontario, Canada, Northern is an integrated digital solutions agency specializing in helping leading commercial and public service brands navigate digital change. By leveraging our expertise and deep understanding of our clients’ businesses, we collaborate to design, create, and enable tailored digital experiences that drive growth.

Northern is positioned as a leader in the performance advertising industry as a Meta and Google Premier Partner —awarded to only 3% of agency partners in Canada. Our campaigns with leading brands in North America have been recognized as best in class through the Google Premier Partner Awards, Search Engine Land Awards, and the Canadian Search Awards.

Since our founding in 2015, Northern has grown into a team of 200+ digital experts, receiving multiple recognitions in employee engagement from Great Place to Work® Canada, including Best Workplaces™ for Inclusion, Women, Mental Health, Hybrid Work, and more.

Northern is growing, and we're looking to add an experienced Associate Director, Paid Media to join our expanding paid media team. In this role, you'll take complete ownership of strategy and end-to-end execution for our key client accounts, leading high-performing, cross-channel paid advertising campaigns that deliver measurable business results. As a senior member of the team, you'll pair deep technical expertise with strategic vision, naturally leading every stage of the campaign lifecycle, from initial research and media planning through hands-on implementation, proactive optimization, and insightful reporting.

You’ll be much more than a campaign manager. You’ll own account strategy and full campaign execution while serving as the senior client partner and escalation point for strategic conversations and quarterly business reviews. You’ll optimize team capacity and workload planning to ensure we’re staffed for success, and you’ll integrate paid media strategy across the broader marketing landscape, partnering with creative, email, SEO, and UX teams to ensure campaigns reinforce overall business and brand goals.

This is a role for a data-driven leader who thrives on delivering measurable ROI while building strong client relationships and mentoring a growing team.

* Our Connected Workplace Program allows you to work remotely, in a hybrid model, or fully in-office. Preference is given to Ontario-based employees due to the requirement for occasional in-person client and team meetings.*

In exchange for your talent and expertise, Northern is committed to providing:

• Robust Benefits plan, including a Health Spending Account
• Wellness Program & Life Works EAP
• Fitness Reimbursement Program
• Vet Care Program
• RRSP Matching
• Profit-Sharing Performance Bonuses
• Endless Professional Growth Opportunities
• Delicious Meals & Company Social Events
• Free Onsite Parking
• Referral Bonus Program
• Flexible work environment - so you can work where & when you work best
• Allowance to help set up home office

Just to name a few!...

• Lead paid media strategy and execution across Google, Meta, Tik Tok, Pinterest, Snap, and Linked In, owning campaign planning, setup, optimization, and reporting end-to-end
• Develop data-driven campaigns aligned with client goals and KPIs, leveraging research, audience targeting, and performance insights to drive measurable results
• Monitor and optimize campaign performance, making strategic adjustments, troubleshooting issues, and proactively identifying improvement opportunities
• Own media pacing and budget management, ensuring campaigns remain on track with planned spend and performance targets

• Act as the senior client partner and primary escalation point, leading strategic conversations, quarterly business reviews, and resolving complex issues
• Create and present detailed performance reports, clearly communicating results, trends, and actionable recommendations to clients and stakeholders
• Provide strategic direction during client calls and touchpoints, ensuring alignment…