Director of Brand Media and Sponsorships

The Team: 

Upstart’s Growth Marketing team drives scalable, data-driven customer acquisition across our lending products. We design, execute, and optimize media strategies that connect consumers to credit at the moments that matter most. This year, Upstart will begin to make investments in bringing our brand story to life, and with it, make Upstart a true power-house brand in fintech. We’re seeking a new Head of Brand Media to lead that charge. 

As Director of Brand Media & Sponsorships at Upstart, you will own the strategy, execution, and measurement of our brand media investments and external sponsorships. This role is net-new and responsible for driving incremental growth and brand impact through TV and streaming media, strategic sponsorships, and integrated brand activations. We’re looking for someone who is up to the challenge of making Upstart a memorable and household name, while also bringing some fun and analytical rigor to the mix. 

You will lead how Upstart shows up in high-reach environments by owning media buying strategy, partner relationships, and cross-functional collaboration with Analytics, Creative, and Product Marketing to ensure our brand investments are measurable, scalable, and effective.

This is a senior, highly visible role with end-to-end ownership across planning, buying, partnerships, and performance evaluation. As a net-new role, you’ll be responsible for leading our initial brand investment strategy and scaling the budgets, team and strategy from zero to one.

How you’ll make an impact

• Own Upstart’s branded media and sponsorship strategy from annual planning through in-market optimization.
• Lead TV and top-of-funnel media buying, including partner selection, negotiation, budgeting, flighting, and performance evaluation.
• Develop and manage strategic brand partnerships, sponsorships, and integrations that extend Upstart’s reach and reinforce brand credibility.
• Develop and execute branded activations in partnership with digital, creative, and external partners, ensuring alignment with brand and business goals.
• Partner closely with Analytics to define measurement frameworks for brand media, including incrementally testing, lift studies, MMM inputs, and attribution approaches.
• Collaborate with Creative and Product Marketing to translate brand strategy into effective media executions and partner activations.
• Scale significant annual brand media budgets, balancing reach, frequency, and efficiency while adapting to performance signals and market conditions.
• Establish best practices for brand media planning, buying, and measurement as Upstart continues to scale upper-funnel investment.

Minimum Qualifications 

• 10+  years of experience in brand media, partnerships, or integrated marketing, with meaningful ownership of TV and/or large brand partnerships.
• Proven experience managing large-scale media budgets and leading negotiations with media buyers, networks, or platforms.
  
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret performance data, design experiments, and make data-driven decisions in ambiguous environments.
• Track record of developing and executing sponsorships or strategic partnerships that deliver measurable brand or business impact.
• Experience operating in a highly cross-functional environment, partnering with creative, finance, analytics, and senior stakeholders.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment where adaptability and problem-solving are key

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience operating in highly regulated or longer consideration cycle vertical (e.g., financial services, fintech, lending, insurance, marketplaces).
• Experience scaling brand investment from early experimentation into a more mature, repeatable media program.
• Familiarity with marketing mix modeling, brand lift studies, or advanced media measurement methodologies.
• Experience managing agencies across media planning, buying, and partnerships.

Position location This role is available in the following locations: Remote, with a preference to be based in NYC area

Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.