Media Channels & Activation, Paid Social Manager

Target Marketing is well known for inspiring and surprising guests, and we pride ourselves on connecting them to the products and experiences they expect and love from Target. We study our guests to discover new insights and then craft every interaction to build brand equity and enterprise sales. We are marketing experts who insist on a clear and cohesive understanding of our business objectives, guest segments and behaviors, strategies and tactics, overcoming obstacles and measuring for continuous improvement. Leveraging our collective assets and fostering a healthy, supportive and open team culture, we deliver a holistically gratifying experience that guests can only get at Target.

A role within Target’s Media organization places you at the center of how we connect with guests through data-driven, performance-focused media strategies. You’ll partner cross-functionally with marketing, merchandising, analytics, and finance to translate media insights into actions that drive enterprise growth and customer engagement. As a trusted expert in paid performance media, you’ll influence strategy, guide investment decisions, and help shape how we activate across social platforms. In a fast-paced retail environment, you’ll also identify and scale innovative capabilities—from emerging channels to AI-driven solutions—ensuring Target remains at the forefront of media excellence and continues to strengthen its connection with guests. 

As a Paid Social Manager, on the Target Media team, you will support the strategy, and lead the execution, and optimization of Target’s digital media investments across paid social platforms, including Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, Reddit, NextDoor and more. In this role, you are accountable not only for campaign performance, but for shaping scalable, full-funnel media strategies that drive new customer acquisition, customer engagement, and measurable business outcomes. 

You will oversee day-to-day activation while elevating the team’s approach through advanced optimization frameworks, test-and-learn agendas, and data-driven decisioning. This includes guiding bidding strategies, audience architecture, creative and content planning, and budget allocation to maximize efficiency and impact across channels. 

You will translate complex data into clear, actionable insights, delivering executive-level reporting and recommendations to key stakeholders. You will also establish and evolve best-in-class processes, ensuring consistency and scalability across campaign setup, trafficking, measurement, and performance pacing. 

You are expected to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving paid media landscape, proactively identifying emerging trends, platform innovations, and industry shifts, and translating them into forward-looking strategies that advance Target’s enterprise media capabilities. Additionally, you will play a key role in partnering with team members, influencing cross-functional partners, and driving alignment across broader marketing and business objectives. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Evolve and support the paid social media strategy, aligning to enterprise growth objectives and full-funnel outcomes  

• Lead end-to-end execution across platforms—from strategic planning and activation through measurement, optimization, and closed-loop reporting  

• Drive performance through advanced optimization strategies, including audience design, bidding frameworks, creative strategy, and budget allocation  

• Build, manage, and influence strong relationships with internal and external partners, establishing trust, credibility, and accountability  

• Serve as a subject matter expert in paid social platforms, bringing forward innovative approaches 

• Partner cross-functionally with marketing, creative, merchandising, analytics, and product teams to develop integrated strategies that connect external media signals to internal business outcomes  

• Champion a culture of inclusivity, connection, and drive while mentoring and developing team members  

• Steer a robust test-and-learn agenda, identifying and scaling new opportunities to drive incremental performance and unlock new capabilities  

• Evaluate, test, and scale AI-driven media and creative solutions to improve efficiency and business outcomes  

• Establish, standardize, and scale best practices, processes, and frameworks to improve consistency, efficiency, and performance across campaigns  

• Support and operationalize multi-platform media roadmaps, ensuring alignment with broader marketing, and creative strategies and enterprise priorities  

• Continuously monitor industry trends, platform changes, and competitive dynamics, translating insights into forward-looking strategies 

About you:  

• MBA or 4-year college degree with relevant business, marketing, advertising, communications, or media experience; or equivalent experience

• 5+ years of digital marketing experience with a strong emphasis in paid social, performance media, and retail marketing strategies 

• Deep experience activating and optimizing campaigns across paid social platforms including Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, Reddit, NextDoor, and emerging channels 

• Proven ability to develop and execute full-funnel social media strategies that balance brand-building, engagement, and performance outcomes 

• Strong understanding of social-first creative best practices, content strategy, and platform-native storytelling, with the ability to translate audience insights into effective creative approaches 

• Experience partnering with creative teams, agencies, creators, and influencers to develop, test, and scale content that drives measurable business results 

• Knowledge of creator and influencer marketing ecosystems, including creator identification, content amplification strategies, paid partnerships, whitelisting, and measurement frameworks 

• Intimate knowledge of technical aspects of paid media activation, optimization, and measurement, including pixels, attribution methodologies, CAPI, audience segmentation, prospecting, retargeting, incrementality testing, and conversion measurement 

• Demonstrated ability to leverage performance insights to inform creative, content, and audience strategies across social platforms 

• Effective communication and relationship-building skills, with experience influencing cross-functional teams and external partners toward shared business goals 

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to synthesize complex data into clear insights, recommendations, and compelling narratives for diverse audiences 

• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with experience managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment 

• Comfortable navigating ambiguity with a strong bias for action and continuous improvement 

• Ability to work effectively across all levels of an organization with a high degree of autonomy, initiative, and strategic thinking 

• Passion for staying ahead of evolving social, creator, and digital media trends, translating new opportunities into scalable business impact 

This position will operate as a Hybrid/Flex for Your Day work arrangement based on Target’s needs. A Hybrid/Flex for Your Day work arrangement means the team member’s core role will need to be performed both onsite at the Target HQ MN location the role is assigned to and virtually, depending upon what your role, team and tasks require for that day. Work duties cannot be performed outside of the country of the primary work location, unless otherwise prescribed by Target. Click here if you are curious to learn more about Minnesota.