Senior Director, Performance Marketing

Adventure is our Culture. Join a team that celebrates a lifestyle as bold as the terrain we love. At Backcountry, we are rooted in adventure, recognition, and wellbeing on and off the mountain. We spotlight employee stories, celebrate milestones, and offer exclusive outdoor perks. Whether you are at HQ, in a retail store, or remote, you will be part of a team that thrives on energy, exploration, and connection.

Reports to: Senior Vice President, Marketing

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah (Hybrid - 3x/week in-office)

About the Role:

Backcountry is looking for a senior marketing leader to own Paid Media across the full brand family - backcountry.com, competitivecyclist.com, steepandcheap.com, and biketiresdirect.com. As Senior Director of Performance Marketing, you will set the paid acquisition strategy, run a high-performing internal team and agency bench, and partner closely with Creative, Merchandising, and eCommerce to ensure every dollar spent is backed by the right assortment, message, and site experience.

Within your first six months, you will have audited current channel performance, reset budget allocation against incrementality and LTV targets, and built repeatable playbooks for launches, promotions, and seasonal peaks. You will have direct executive access, so decisions move fast and accountability is clear.

This is a lean team. You will own a lot, move fast, and make decisions with full end-to-end responsibility.

What You'll Do:

Performance Marketing Strategy

• Drive customer acquisition by owning the paid media strategy and roadmap across all four Backcountry banners - paid search, paid social, shopping/feed, display, affiliate, video/TV, and emerging channels.
• Set channel and budget allocation based on incrementality, LTV, and blended CAC targets.
• Translate company revenue and margin targets into a clear, prioritized paid media plan.

Execution and Team Leadership

• Manage a team of 3 plus supporting agencies, setting standards for testing velocity, reporting rigor, and channel expertise.
• Stay hands-on enough to review campaigns, audit account structure, and catch underperformance directly - this is not a fully delegated role.
• Hold agency partners accountable to performance benchmarks, media efficiency, and clear scopes of work.
• Own new channel expansion with hands-on execution of campaigns in new channels.
• Build repeatable playbooks for launches, promotions, and seasonal peaks across the brand portfolio.
• Run a continuous A/B and multivariate testing program across creative, landing pages, and audience targeting, turning results into scaled learnings.
• Track competitor activity and market trends across the outdoor and active lifestyle space to spot new channels, formats, and positioning opportunities.
• Leverage AI and automation tools to improve decisions, increase output, and maximize time spent on high-value tasks.

Cross-Functional Influence

• Partner with Creative to ensure ad concepts and assets are built for performance from the start, not retrofitted after the fact.
• Partner with Merchandising to align paid spend with inventory, margin, and assortment priorities.
• Partner with eCommerce, Product, and Web Development to ensure landing pages, site experience, and conversion funnels support paid traffic quality.
• Bring enough credibility and command of the numbers to influence functional leaders who do not report to you.

Executive Reporting and Accountability

• Report directly to executive leadership on channel performance, budget efficiency, and growth opportunities.
• Translate performance data into clear commercial recommendations - not just channel-level metrics.
• Flag risks and opportunities early and bring solutions, not just problems.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, or a related field; advanced degree a plus.
• 8+ years of experience in performance marketing or paid media, including 3+ years managing a team and agency relationships.
• Proven ownership of a paid media budget spanning multiple channels (search, social, shopping/feed, display) with clear evidence of driving efficient growth.
• Track record of working across multiple brands or business units simultaneously.
• Strong command of performance marketing economics: CAC, LTV, incrementality, marginal ROAS, and blended efficiency.
• Demonstrated ability to influence Creative, Merchandising, and eCommerce partners without direct authority over their teams.
• Comfort operating at both the strategic and hands-on level - able to set the plan and personally dig into an account when needed.
• Strong executive presence and communication skills, with experience reporting directly to senior leadership.
• Demonstrated experience using AI tools and workflows to improve campaign performance, reporting, creative production, or team efficiency.
• Hands-on proficiency with major ad platforms (Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager) and analytics/reporting tools (Google Analytics, Tableau, or Looker Studio).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in outdoor, sporting goods, cycling, or active lifestyle ecommerce.
• Experience with multi-brand or multi-site paid media management (shared team supporting several storefronts).

Why Join:

The people who do best here are builders. They take ownership, move fast, and want to see the direct impact of their work.

• Executive Access: Work directly with C-suite leadership - decisions move fast, your voice carries weight, and results are visible at the highest level.
• Leadership Opportunity: Build and scale a paid media function across four distinct brands, developing your team and agency bench while shaping how Backcountry acquires customers.
• Portfolio-Level Strategy: Own the paid media roadmap across backcountry.com, competitivecyclist.com, steepandcheap.com, and biketiresdirect.com - defining channel mix, budget allocation, and growth priorities at scale.
• Competitive Benefits (US): Paid time off policies, 401(k) match, medical/dental/vision and a variety of supplemental policies, and employee discounts across our portfolio of brands.
• Competitive Benefits (Canada): Paid time off policies, RRSP match, medical, dental, and vision coverage, a variety of supplemental benefit options, and employee discounts across our portfolio of brands.

Interview Process:

• Recruiter Screen - A 45-minute conversation with our recruiting team to align on the role, your background, and what you are looking for.
• Hiring Manager Interview - Conversation focused on your paid media leadership experience, strategic thinking, and approach to cross-functional influence.
• Executive Interview - Discussion with senior leadership on vision, culture alignment, and how you would shape the paid media function across the brand portfolio.
• In-Person Interview - We'd like to meet you at our Salt Lake City office. Details and logistics will be arranged with your recruiter.
• Reference Checks - Conducted in parallel with the final stages where possible.
• Offer - We move quickly for the right candidate.

Interview process is subject to change. Any updates will be communicated promptly and clearly.