Associate Director, Data Strategy & Analytics

About the role

This role combines senior growth marketing expertise with data science and AI development. You will translate advanced marketing concepts into the data models and metrics that power Darkroom's AI system, Shadow. Your work will directly enhance the intelligence layer used by marketing agents.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Design analytical models and metric logic for the AI agent, including contribution margin, acquisition truth, cohort LTV, ad spend efficiency, and incrementality testing.
• Define data schemas that connect creative, channel, financial, and customer data into a comprehensive brand view.
• Ensure accuracy and sound judgment in metric computation, attribution, and identifying critical data points.
• Specify model requirements and collaborate with data engineering and AI teams to build pipelines and integrate agent skills.
• Lead incrementality testing strategies for Darkroom's paid media programs, including geo holdouts, matched-market tests, and conversion-lift studies.
• Conduct power analysis to correctly size tests before committing ad spend.
• Support Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) strategy, vendor selection, and model calibration.
• Partner with Paid Media and Growth Strategy teams to design tests and convert results into clear budget recommendations for executives.

Requirements

• Experience managing paid media tactically at high-growth DTC or omnichannel consumer brands.
• Deep understanding of the full marketing mix (Meta, Google, TikTok, email/SMS, marketplace, organic) and key metrics like MER, CM, LTV, and iROAS.
• Strong data science capabilities: proficiency in SQL and Python/notebooks, statistical reasoning, and building/validating metric models with real-world data.
• Ability to bridge marketer intuition with rigorous data structures and a clear perspective on essential metrics.
• Hands-on experience designing and interpreting incrementality tests, including power analysis and pre-test sizing.
• Experience with Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM), either directly or through vendor management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to explain measurement trade-offs and model logic to non-technical audiences.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with modern data warehouse and analytics stacks (BigQuery, dbt) for schema design and engineering collaboration.
• Agency or multi-brand background for broader pattern recognition.
• Experience building attribution models, forecasting/MMM systems, or internal analytics dashboards.
• Knowledge of CDPs, server-side tracking, clean rooms, exposure logs, or other privacy-safe measurement environments.

Skills & tools

• SQL
• Python
• Notebooks
• Statistical reasoning
• BigQuery (nice to have)
• dbt (nice to have)

Practical notes

• This is a hybrid role, requiring weekly in-office presence in New York.
• Benefits include unlimited PTO, company-sponsored medical, dental, and vision, a 401(k) with company match and profit-sharing, and parental leave.
• The role focuses on building technology and measurement, not direct client account management or deep data engineering infrastructure ownership.

About the company

Darkroom is a company that specializes in processing photographic film and making prints. The company uses a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light-sensitive photographic materials. Various equipment is used in this process, including an enlarger and baths containing chemicals. The company's work is rooted in a long history of photography, dating back to the early 19th century. Over time, the company has developed expertise in controlling the medium, from developing film to creating prints. While the rise of color photography and digital technology has changed the industry, Darkroom remains committed to its craft. The company's services are still in demand, particularly in educational institutions and professional photography studios. In addition to its work in photography, the company's expertise also extends to nondestructive testing, such as magnetic particle inspection. Darkroom's team has the skills and knowledge to work with a range of equipment and materials. The company's focus on traditional photographic processes has allowed it to maintain a unique position in the industry. Darkroom continues to provide high-quality services to its clients, using its expertise to produce excellent results. The company's work is a testament to the enduring value of traditional photographic techniques.