Global Head of Paid Media
Aon · Chicago, New York City · $150,000–$200,000 (stated in the posting)
The Global Head of Paid Media will define and own Aon’s global paid media strategy, setting the vision, standards and operating discipline for campaigns delivered across channels and the full marketing funnel. This role will lead the paid media team in driving high-quality, measurable campaign activity across awareness, engagement, demand creation, retargeting and conversion.
As a key member of the Digital Marketing leadership team, the role will partner closely with regional marketing leaders and CMOs, global functions and solution lines, digital channel leaders and key agency partners to build consistency, strengthen best practice and improve ROI across Aon’s paid media investment.
Responsibilities include:
- Own the global paid media strategy and operating model for digital campaigns across the full funnel.
- Set consistent standards for paid media planning, execution, governance, measurement and optimization across regions and solution lines.
- Drive stronger ROI from paid media investment through disciplined performance management, testing, audience strategy and budget effectiveness.
- Lead and develop the paid media team, ensuring clear priorities, strong stakeholder engagement and high-quality delivery.
This is an exciting opportunity to help build and mature Aon’s global digital marketing function, strengthening paid media as a strategic growth lever and establishing a scalable, data-driven operating model that raises standards, improves investment decisions and delivers greater impact for the business.
Key Responsibilities & Performance Outcomes
- Define and lead the global paid media strategy, ensuring paid media activity within digital campaigns supports Aon’s digital marketing priorities, brand-to-demand approach, audience strategy and commercial growth objectives.
- Manage global paid media planning and execution for digital campaigns across channels including paid search, paid social, programmatic display, sponsored content, digital out-of-home, retargeting and emerging media opportunities.
- Embed consistency, governance and best practice across regions and solution lines, establishing clear standards for campaign setup, targeting, creative requirements, measurement, optimization and reporting.
- Lead media investment strategy and governance by strategically allocating paid media investment and ensuring spend priorities align to business objectives, audience opportunities, campaign performance and commercial outcomes.
- Strengthen measurement and attribution by partnering with analytics and marketing technology teams to advance measurement frameworks, attribution and performance insight capabilities that support more effective media investment decisions.
- Partner closely with regional CMOs and marketing teams to balance global consistency with regional relevance, ensuring campaigns are adapted effectively for local market needs while maintaining strategic alignment.
- Collaborate across the digital leadership team including demand generation, social, web, SEO, content, analytics, marketing automation and campaign operations to deliver integrated, full-funnel digital journeys.
- Develop scalable paid media frameworks and blueprints that improve speed, quality and repeatability of digital campaign activation across priority initiatives, audiences and business areas.
- Lead agency, platform and vendor performance to ensure external partners are delivering value, innovation, transparency, operational excellence and measurable return on spend.
- Champion test-and-learn approaches including audience expansion, creative optimization, channel mix testing and emerging media pilots to improve campaign effectiveness and inform future investment decisions.
- Drive digital transformation and innovation across paid media through the responsible adoption of AI, automation, advanced audience strategies, emerging channels and evolving measurement approaches, improving media effectiveness, operational efficiency and decision-making while keeping Aon aligned with industry best practice and evolving customer expectations.
- Provide team leadership and direction by setting priorities, building capability, coaching team members and creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, learning and performance.
Key Behavioral Competencies
- Strategic Leadership: Demonstrates vision in building a global paid media capability that supports business priorities, improves campaign effectiveness and strengthens Aon’s digital marketing maturity.
- Commercial and ROI Focus: Maintains a disciplined focus on measurable outcomes, ensuring media spend is connected to audience quality, engagement, pipeline contribution and commercial value.
- Collaboration and Influence: Builds strong relationships across regions, solution lines, functions and digital teams, influencing senior stakeholders and driving alignment around shared priorities.
- Analytical Thinking: Uses data, audience insight and performance reporting to inform planning, optimize campaigns and make clear recommendations on spend, channel mix and future investment.
- Change Agility: Leads teams and stakeholders through evolving media channels, technologies, operating models and performance expectations with confidence and pragmatism.
- Communication Excellence: Communicates complex media strategy, performance insights and recommendations clearly to senior leaders, regional teams and cross-functional partners.
- Operational Excellence: Balances strategic ambition with strong execution, ensuring campaigns are well planned, well governed, well measured and delivered to high standards.
- People Development: Invests in team capability, creates clarity on priorities and standards, and supports ongoing learning across paid media, analytics, platforms and campaign innovation.
- Client-Centric Mindset: Ensures paid media activity is grounded in audience needs and supports relevant, high-quality experiences for clients, prospects and other priority audiences.
Leadership Impact
- Establish paid media as a strategic growth lever across Aon’s global marketing organization.
- Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing investment through consistent governance, measurement and optimization.
- Strengthen Aon’s digital marketing maturity through scalable operating models, innovation and capability development.
Success Measures
- Improved paid media performance against agreed campaign KPIs, including reach, engagement, audience quality, cost efficiency, conversion, pipeline influence and ROI.
- Consistent execution of high-quality paid media campaigns across regions, solution lines and global priorities, delivered on time and in alignment with brand, compliance and strategic guidelines.
- Demonstrated adoption of global paid media standards, governance frameworks, operating models, measurement approaches and campaign blueprints across regions and solution lines.
- Positive stakeholder feedback from regional CMOs, solution line leaders, global functions and digital leadership partners reflecting strong collaboration, clarity and value creation.
- Demonstrated optimization of paid media spend through improved targeting, channel selection, creative testing, performance reporting and evidence-based recommendations.
- Evidence of innovation through adoption of new channels, technologies, tools, partners or best practices that improve campaign effectiveness and scalability.
- Strong team performance, engagement and capability growth, with clear ownership, high standards and a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
For positions in San Francisco and Los Angeles, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction record in accordance with local Fair Chance ordinances.
Aon is not accepting unsolicited resumes from search firms for this position. If you are a search firm, you will not be compensated in any way for your submission of a candidate, even if Aon hires that candidate.
Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.
Pay Transparency Laws:
The salary range for this position (intended for U.S. applicants) is $150,000 to $200,000 annually. The actual salary will vary based on applicant’s education, experience, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data. The salary may also be adjusted based on applicant’s geographic location.
This position is eligible to participate in Aon’s annual incentive plans in addition to base salary. The amount of any incentive varies and is subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable incentive plan.
A summary of all the benefits offered for this position:
Aon offers a comprehensive package of benefits for full-time and regular part-time colleagues, including, but not limited to: a 401(k) savings plan with employer contributions; an employee stock purchase plan; consideration for long-term incentive awards at Aon’s discretion; medical, dental and vision insurance. This role does not accrue vacation. Rather, this role is eligible to take paid time off at the discretion of the employee and management in accordance with company policy and practices.
Various other types of leaves of absence; paid sick leave as provided under state and local paid sick leave laws, short-term disability and optional long-term disability, health savings account, health care and dependent care reimbursement accounts, employee and dependent life insurance and supplemental life and AD&D insurance; optional personal insurance policies, adoption assistance, tuition assistance, commuter benefits, and an employee assistance program that includes free counseling sessions.
Eligibility for benefits is governed by the applicable plan documents and policies.
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