Head of Self-Serve Paid Media

Who we are

About Stripe

Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies - from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups - use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead. That means you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone's reach while doing the most important work of your career.

About the team

Stripe's growth marketing team is responsible for driving efficient acquisition and activation of millions of businesses globally from solo founders to scaling startups. Paid media is a critical pillar of our self-serve acquisition strategy. The paid media team manages significant investment across search, social, video and other channels to acquire developers, founders, and operators who will build on Stripe. We partner deeply with growth, data science, analytics, data engineering, creative, finance and other marketers to deliver profitable growth via paid media. 

What you’ll do

As Head of Self-Serve Paid Media, you will own and evolve Stripe's self-serve paid acquisition strategy, managing a team of 5-10 paid media experts and working cross-functionally with leaders across analytics, creative, product marketing, growth engineering, and finance. You'll be responsible for a substantial media budget and accountable for delivering efficient, scalable growth in signups, activations, and revenue. In this role, you'll own the long term strategy for how paid media delivers growth in Stripe’s self-serve business. You'll identify new channels and formats, build measurement frameworks that connect spend to business outcomes, and develop your team into world-class practitioners. You'll partner closely with data science to advance our attribution and incrementality capabilities, and with internal and external creative partners to produce high-performing assets at scale.

Responsibilities

• Own the self-serve paid media strategy end-to-end, including budget allocation, channel mix, and performance targets across search, social, display, video, and other channels
• Lead, develop, and retain a high-performing team of 5-10 paid media specialists, fostering a culture of experimentation, craft, and growth
• Drive measurable improvements in acquisition efficiency (ROAS, incremental activations) while scaling total investment
• Partner cross-functionally with analytics, creative strategy, growth engineering, product marketing, lifecycle, and finance to maximize the potential impact of paid media
• Improve the measurement capabilities: partner with data science to improve attribution modeling, incrementality testing (geo-holdouts, media mix models), and forecasting
• Develop and manage the self-serve paid media budget, including pacing, forecasting, and executive reporting
• Identify and scale emerging channels and formats
• Represent paid media performance and strategy in leadership forums and to diverse stakeholders.

Who you are

We're looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. If you meet these requirements, you are encouraged to apply. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement.

Minimum requirements

• 10+ years of experience in performance marketing or paid media, with at least 3 years leading a team 
• Demonstrated experience managing large-scale paid media budgets with accountability for business outcomes through to revenue (i.e. not just top of funnel)
• Strong analytical foundation: understand attribution, incrementality testing, LTV and data-driven optimization
• Experience in B2B SaaS, developer tools, fintech, or high-growth technology companies
• Track record of building, developing, and retaining high-performing marketing teams
• Creative sensibility: you have a strong POV on what creative works best for each platform and the level of creative velocity and quality that is required
• Experience working cross-functionally with data science, engineering, creative, and finance partners to deliver growth

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with self-serve or product-led growth models where paid media must drive not just leads but product activations
• Background in international paid media strategy, including managing campaigns across multiple markets and languages
• Experience building or advancing measurement capabilities such as media mix models, geo-based incrementality testing, or multi-touch attribution systems
• Comfort operating in a fast-paced, metrics-driven culture

• Ensure your resume and cover letter highlight specific examples of managing large-scale paid media budgets and leading teams to achieve business outcomes.
• Prepare to discuss your experience with paid media channels, including search, social, and video, and how you have optimized campaigns for better ROAS.
• Develop a portfolio that showcases your ability to analyze complex data sets and make informed decisions to drive growth.
• Be ready to explain how you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies in paid media and how you incorporate this knowledge into your work.
• Consider highlighting any experience you have with cross-functional collaborations, particularly with data science and creative teams, and how these collaborations have led to successful campaign outcomes.
• When discussing your leadership style, emphasize your ability to foster a culture of experimentation, craft, and growth within your team.