Director of Performance Marketing

Role Summary Empower Brands is seeking a Director of Performance Marketing to help build and lead a centralized franchisee growth capability across our portfolio of brands. This role will oversee paid media strategy, platform and partner management, franchisee performance reporting, and the ongoing evolution of services that support local lead generation and conversion. The leader will work across brand teams, digital marketing, finance, operations, and franchisee stakeholders to create a more consistent and scalable approach to local marketing execution. The ideal candidate brings strong performance marketing experience, an agency or multi-location background, and the ability to translate strategy into practical, measurable programs. This person should be comfortable operating in a growing environment, working cross-functionally, and remaining close to execution as the capability develops. The role reports to the Chief Marketing Officer and partners closely with the Senior Director of Digital and Marketing Operations. Location: Richmond, VA What This Role Will Build The initial portfolio of growth products and services is expected to include: • In-house paid-media execution, including: • Google Search, Local Services Ads, Display, YouTube, and other Google advertising capabilities • Meta advertising • Localized campaign landing pages • Franchisee-facing dashboards and reporting • Call-tracking integration • Speed-to-lead tools and workflows • AI-enabled SMS, voice, and email follow-up • Lead-management and CRM integrations • Standardized direct-mail capabilities • Future franchisee demand-generation and conversion products The initial priority will be launching and scaling the in-house performance marketing capability. The broader scope will expand as the operating model, technology, and franchisee adoption mature. Key Responsibilities Build and Launch the Capability • Lead the design, implementation, and launch of Empower’s in-house performance marketing capability. • Translate the strategic vision into a practical operating model, service offering, implementation roadmap, and franchisee experience. • Lead platform implementation, configuration, and ongoing optimization. • Establish the workflows, standards, service levels, governance, and processes required to scale across multiple franchise brands. • Partner with Brand Presidents, Marketing, Finance, Legal, IT, Operations, and franchisee leadership groups to prepare for launch. • Support the onboarding of the franchise brands and franchisee accounts. • Build the capability in parallel with broader organizational hiring and platform implementation timelines. Lead Paid-Media Strategy and Initial Execution • Lead the set up of campaign architecture, account setup, migration, launch, and optimization during the initial build. • Lead execution across Google Search, Local Services Ads, Display, YouTube, Meta, and other relevant paid channels. • Establish scalable campaign structures, naming conventions, budget-management practices, tracking standards, and quality controls. • Evaluate performance by franchisee, territory, market, service line, and channel. • Ensure that account transitions preserve access, historical data, tracking integrity, and continuity of lead flow wherever possible. • Develop standards that can later be executed by campaign managers, account managers, platforms, and agency partners. Own Product and Service Evolution • Serve as the product owner for Empower’s franchisee growth-products and services ecosystem. • Develop and maintain a roadmap for MaaS, landing pages, dashboards, speed-to-lead, AI follow-up, and related capabilities. • Translate franchisee, brand, and business needs into platform requirements and product enha