Director, Media Innovation & New Models

Risepoint is an education technology company that helps regional universities launch and grow online programs for modern learners. Risepoint supports more than 100 universities and colleges across five countries, with programs concentrated in high-demand fields including nursing, healthcare, teaching, business, technology, and public service. Our suite of products and services supports the full student journey and each university’s long-term goals. Together, we increase access to affordable education that delivers a strong return on investment for learners and meets employer and community needs. Learn more at risepoint.com.

The Impact You Will Make

Drive measurable improvements in CPA and L:E by identifying, testing, and scaling innovative media channels, advertising models, and tactics that advance partner business and marketing objectives.

How You Will Bring Our Mission to Life

What You Will Do

• Build the innovation roadmap:  Use performance data, marketplace developments, platform changes, competitive activity, emerging technologies to prioritize the channels, tactics, advertising models, technologies, and partnerships most likely to materially improve CPA, L:E, lead quality, enrollment, or other priority business outcomes.
• Design and lead experimentation: Turn opportunities into disciplined tests with clear hypotheses, success metrics, investment requirements, test designs, and decision criteria. Partner with analytics to establish measurement approaches that determine whether innovations create incremental business value rather than simply shifting conversions.
• Develop new advertising models: Explore and validate new approaches to how Risepoint generates, captures, and converts demand with outcome based monitoring and optimization.
• Lead media supplier evaluation: Establish a rigorous approach for identifying, evaluating, and recommending media suppliers and capabilities, providing an independent point of view beyond agency recommendations. Assess suppliers based on strategic fit, differentiation, performance potential, economics, data and measurement capabilities, scalability, and risk.
• Own marketplace intelligence: Maintain a forward-looking view of the media and advertising landscape—including platform changes, emerging channels, new technologies, AI capabilities, privacy and measurement developments, supplier innovation, and shifts in consumer behavior—and translate those developments into implications and opportunities for Risepoint.
• Affiliate:  Define the strategy for the effective use of affiliate, playbooks, partner selection, operations and effectiveness monitoring.
• Educate the organization: Create forums, communications, and learning opportunities that build marketplace knowledge across Media Directors, pods, and broader stakeholders. Distill marketplace complexity into clear guidance on what is changing, why it matters, and what Risepoint should do about it.
• Scale what works: Create the playbooks, business cases, measurement frameworks, supplier relationships, and implementation guidance that enable Media Directors and pods to incorporate successful innovations into partner strategies.
• Stop what doesn't work: Establish clear criteria for ending tests or supplier relationships that aren't demonstrating sufficient performance or strategic potential, ensuring innovation investment remains focused on the highest-value opportunities.
• Build organizational capability: Strengthen Risepoint's ability to evaluate and adopt new media opportunities over time, reducing dependence on any single agency, platform, or supplier for innovation and marketplace expertise.

What Success Looks Like

• Deliver measurable operational impact: Achieve a 20%+ improvement in process efficiency through AI, automation, and process optimization while maintaining or improving quality, accuracy, and media effectiveness.
• Build scalable operations for the future: Establish the automation, governance, SOPs, and operating models needed to seamlessly support today’s media execution while enabling future business transformation and increased media in-housing.
• Embed AI into how the team works: Build strong AI capability and adoption across the organization, with teams consistently applying AI and automation to reduce manual work, improve decision-making, and increase overall effectiveness.

How Impact Will be Measured

• Drive measurable business impact by identifying, testing, and scaling innovative media channels, advertising models, tactics, and suppliers that improve CPA, L:E, and partner outcomes.
• Build a disciplined innovation engine that rapidly evaluates opportunities, proves incremental value, and enables Media Directors and pods to scale what works.
• Strengthen Risepoint’s media intelligence and capabilities by independently evaluating the supplier marketplace and translating emerging trends, technologies, and competitive developments into actionable insights for the organization.

What You’ll Bring to the Team

Experience That Matters Most

• Deep media and performance expertise with a strong understanding of the evolving media ecosystem, measurement, and the levers that drive acquisition and business outcomes.
• Proven innovation and experimentation track record, including identifying new channels, ad models, technologies, and suppliers; designing rigorous tests; and scaling what works.
• Strong strategic judgment and influence, with the ability to independently evaluate agencies and suppliers, translate marketplace complexity into action, and drive change through Media Directors and cross-functional teams without direct ownership.

Experience That’s Great to Have

• Broad industry perspective, ideally combining agency and client-side experience and/or experience in complex, high-consideration acquisition businesses.
• Emerging media and technology expertise, including hands-on experience with AI, ad tech, new measurement approaches, and evolving advertising models.
• Commercial and thought-leadership experience, including supplier negotiations, strategic partnerships, marketplace POV development, and educating senior leaders and teams.

Risepoint is an equal-opportunity employer and supports a diverse and inclusive workforce.