Head of Media Buying

Our client is a structured, well‑established online gaming group with a decades‑long presence across their core markets. Operating multiple brands in Casino, Live Casino and Sportsbook. They are now seeking to recruit a Head of Media Buying to join their team in Malta.

Overview of the role

The Head of Media Buy leads the company's media buying function, with a particular emphasis on innovative and alternative media buying techniques and strategies for an offshore licensed iGaming operator. Working alongside an established in-house design team and automation capability, the role brings a proactive, handson approach to acquiring traffic: continuously developing new strategies to buy advertising and drive direct conversion for the company's brands. The Head of Media Buy is accountable for media buy strategy, for the acquisition landing pages that convert paid traffic, for tracking, and for transparent reporting of spend and return on investment.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Media Buy team and set its strategic focus on black-hat media buying, through both in-house setups and external sources.
• Develop and execute black-hat strategies for campaign delivery, covering both seasonal and evergreen activity, and renew them continuously.
• Manage campaigns directly, setting the standard for the team in campaign build, optimisation and scaling.
• Build and maintain the technical and account infrastructure on which black-hat buying depends, ensuring resilience when platforms or networks change their policies.
• Document tactics and processes in playbooks, so that performance does not depend on any single individual.
• Major platforms: Meta, Google and YouTube, Bing, TikTok and X, plus Telegram, WhatsApp, ChatGPT, Reddit.
• Additional traffic types: native, push, pop and programmatic, direct buys with sports and odds publishers, and display campaigns in Bannerflow.
• New sources and markets: competitor and market research to find new sources, a channel mix tailored to each market including DACH, Brazil and Turkey, and scale, pause or discontinue decisions on the data.
• Own the media buy landing pages for Acquisition. Design and development are delivered by in-house designers and developers; the Head of Media Buy ensures the pages remain current.
• Partner with the Head of SEO to ensure sufficient landing page coverage for the traffic being purchased.
• Provide input for landing page tests, and apply the findings to improve conversion.
• Work with Netrefer on tracking, ensuring every campaign is measured from click through to registration, FTD and NGR.
• Be accountable for the agreed targets: FTDs, NGR, cost per FTD and cost per registration.
• Provide reporting on request at any time, with full transparency on where budget is spent and the return it delivers.
• Produce regular dashboards and weekly performance reports across all campaigns.
• Own the media buy budget, agreeing the split across channels with the Head of Acquisition and monitoring pacing and spend daily.
• Approve spend only against agreed budgets, maintaining a clear audit trail for every top-up, payment and spend movement.
• Reconcile spend against platform and network records and invoices, and escalate any variance immediately.
• Maintain documented records of access to ad accounts and payment methods.
• Work closely with the Head of Social Media, who owns communications strategy and white-hat media buying with a separate budget, so that both functions operate in alignment.
• Work directly with the AI Creative Lead on all campaign creatives, including briefs, variants and performance feedback.
• Lead the Media Buy team, setting priorities, reviewing work regularly and providing coaching.
• Maintain availability and responsiveness during core working hours, and set the same expectation for the team.

Requirements

• 5+ years' experience in performance media buying, including a proven record in black-hat or non-standard media buying in iGaming or other restricted verticals, supported by demonstrable results.
• Hands-on proficiency across multiple traffic types and platforms, such as Meta, YouTube, Telegram, native, push and programmatic.
• Strong knowledge of tracking and attribution, including postbacks, UTMs and server-side tracking.
• Experience leading a media buying team and managing significant monthly advertising budgets with clear controls.
• Strong financial discipline, with spend documented, reconciled and explained proactively.
• A proactive, accountable approach, with prompt responsiveness and open collaboration with colleagues.
• Advantageous: media buying experience in the DACH region, Brazil and Turkey, although not limited to these markets; iGaming experience across several markets; and experience hiring and developing media buyers.