Associate Director, Paid Social Planning (NYC)

Associate Director, Paid Social Planning

New York City, USA (Hybrid Working)

A benchmarked salary between $120,000 to $140,000 (DOE) based on your level within our progression framework. You can read more about our approach to performance, salary, and progression here. Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position, market considerations, budgetary considerations, tenure and standing with the Company (applicable to current employees), as well as the employee’s/applicant’s skill set, level of experience, and qualifications.

Who we are


Born Social is a global social media agency that brings social-first thinking to the brands of tomorrow.

For the last 10 years, we’ve helped brands navigate and harness the chaos of social, bringing method to the madness - for household names like Guinness, Primark and Ford, and the next generation of brands like Nando’s, Peloton and Fever-Tree.

As a proud B Corp, we care about People, Planet and Profit in equal measure - building a business and a culture where social-first talent can thrive.

We’re proud to be part of Croud - a global, full-service digital marketing agency. Together, we operate as a unique scaled network of Intelligent, Creative Specialists, delivering better brand outcomes and unlocking potential for our people, our clients, and our communities.

We're an ambitious team of almost 200 people across the UK & US and not stopping there. We're growing fast, and looking to recruit the founding members of our US team.

As we scale in the US we are looking for our first Associate Director of Paid Social Planning to come in and bridge our offering between Born Social and Croud, representing the nuanced role of social media in the broader media channel mix.


️ What you'll be doing:

Social specialist Paid Planning: using nuanced insights about social platforms, formats, and audience behavior to inform media planning; working closely with Croud and external media partners to ensure overall media ecosystem is incorporating the needs of social and striving for innovation and effectiveness in how our media shows up.
Integrating with Strategy & Creative: Working with our Strategy teams to effectively define our audiences and where/how we plan to show up, and working in collaboration with our Creative teams to ensure we are planning our social placements ahead of landing on the creative delivery, messaging, and concepts.

Collaborating with Croud’s Biddable Team: Working closely with Croud’s media activation teams to ensure platform expertise and social nuance is being applied to optimization.

Influencer Campaigns: Working on plans to bridge organic and paid influencer practises together - ensuring we’re maximizing the opportunity to use creators across a full funnel mix, and a clear plan of being effective with how we use their content; from optimization of content shared on their channels, through to how we implement assets on brand channels.

Pitching: Working with both Born Social & Croud on both account growth and new business opportunities, demonstrating capability in innovative use of paid social to drive effectiveness for new clients.

Reporting: Collaborating with Data teams to ensure we are driving effectiveness from our paid social efforts and using these insights to iterate on and evolve plans.

Client & External Agency collaboration: Representing paid social externally in client meetings and interagency set-ups to ensure social is getting a seat at the table and is being seriously considered in the broader marketing channel mix.

Born Social & Croud Education: As the first role of its kind in the US, getting well integrated into delivery teams to assess capability and working with relevant leaders at Born & Croud to upskill team members across paid social and ensuring it is being well represented in rooms where you are not present.

Scale: Driving growth of paid social planning revenue to drive growth of new team members, collaborating with relevant leaders to eventually hire and develop a team to follow you.


Who we're looking for:

Paid Social Expert

You have 5+ years of experience in paid social planning - ideally within an agency setting. You know how to connect audience insight, platform thinking and creative strategy into one cohesive plan.

Strategic Storyteller

You bring a clear point of view on how brands should show up across the media landscape – especially social. You simplify complexity and turn strategy into action.

Creative x Media Connector

You thrive in the intersection of media, creative, and data. You understand how messaging, format, and placement work together to drive results.

Data-Led Thinker

You’re confident working with data, collaborating with analysts, and using insights to sharpen thinking and improve outcomes.

Client Leader

You’re comfortable in front of senior clients. You know how to influence, challenge, and educate – making strategy a trusted and valuable part of every partnership.

Social-Native Mindset

You understand the unique power of social in modern communication – and how to make it work harder as part of a full-funnel plan.

Creator Curious

You understand the power of creators in building brands and how to maximize the effectiveness of paid partnerships through paid social.

Collaborative Operator

You’re naturally cross-functional. You’re energised by working across departments, agencies, and borders to deliver big-picture thinking and real-world results.


️ Our values:

Our values aim to pinpoint the magic ingredients for us at our best. We look for people who share our values and can add to our culture.

See Challenge as Opportunity... is about our attitude and to be very clear, this is not a value of optimism, nor is it about loving every challenge.

Say It Simply... is how we communicate. Think of the basic rules of communication - honest, clear, confident.

Do What You Say... is the crux of our reputation and longevity. When you join Born Social, our trust is fully given. It is yours to lose.

Make Each Other Better... is about our culture of collaboration and commitment to development. We are only as good as the people around us so we all take responsibility for developing each other, as well as ourselves.

Consciously Contribute...is bigger than all the others. It ensures we grow right. It broadens our focus beyond Born Social and cements our commitment to doing what’s just, not what’s easy or immediately self-serving.

Everyone's welcome:

We celebrate different ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds here at Born Social. As an equal opportunities employer, we believe in the power of an inclusive and representative team. We welcome applications regardless of race, religion or belief, sex, gender identity, ****** orientation, age, political affiliation, family, or parental status. We don’t simply comply with the Equality Act, we go further and take pride in building a stronger and more creative work environment, committed to inclusion, diversity, and representation. All candidates will be assessed based on merit, qualifications and their ability to perform the requirements of the role.

️ Benefits

Every Born Social US employee is eligible for the benefits listed here on the Croud careers site which include:

20 days vacation a year + 12 public holidays
Full Paid Medical Insurance (including dental and vision)
Annual performance bonus
401k matching plan
Gym Membership contributions
Free fruit, breakfast cereals, snacks, soft drinks and tea & coffee
Free home office chair and screen
Quarterly team offsites / Regular socials
Free Citibike membership
Recruitment referrals bonus
Agile working policy
Standard working hours are from 9.00am to 5.30pm, there’s flexibility if agreed in advance with your line managers (it will also be necessary on occasions to work outside of these hours).


Croud is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the grounds of a person's gender, marital status, race, religion, ethnicity, age, disability or ****** orientation. All candidates will be assessed based on merit, qualifications and their ability to perform the requirements of the role.

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