spinhireHead of Media Buying
Runs the whole traffic acquisition department: decides which sources and geos to scale, splits the budget between teams and owns the overall ROI.
Head of Media Buying, Malta & Cyprus, middle: €6 500–8 500 per month gross · SpinHire data as of
What the role involves
The Head of Media Buying is responsible for the money the company puts into advertising every month, which means hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. They build a department of several teams for Facebook, Google UAC, TikTok and in-app, hire team leads, negotiate payouts and caps with advertisers, and decide when to enter a new geo such as LatAm or Southeast Asia and when to cut a losing source. They rarely run campaigns themselves but keep the whole chain in their head: account farming, apps and PWAs, creatives, tracking, partner payouts. The job is closer to running a business unit than to buying traffic, and conversations with the owner are in the language of P&L.
Responsibilities
- Acquisition strategy: traffic sources, geos, models of working with advertisers
- Manage team leads and build the department's structure
- Allocate the monthly budget and control the department's P&L
- Launch new sources and markets with test budgets
- Negotiate payouts and caps with advertisers and affiliate networks
- Build infrastructure together with farming, tech specialists and development
How performance is measured
- Department profit and ROIreturn on investment: revenue generated per euro spent
- Monthly spend and its growth
- CAC and FTD payback over 30–90 daysFirst Time Deposit: a new player's first deposit
- Retention of strong buyersshare of players who come back N days after registering or depositing
Skills required
Professional skills
- Deep knowledge of several sources: Facebook, Google UAC, TikTok, in-app
- Department financial model: P&L, unit economics, LTV
- CPA, RevShare, Spend and hybrid models
- Building processes, hiring and assessing buyers
- Analytics and attribution: Keitaro, BI dashboards
Soft skills
- Managing managers
- Negotiating with advertisers
- Making decisions on incomplete data
Tools
Languages: English B2 or higher for negotiating with advertisers and working on international products. Russian or Ukrainian is usually the working language inside the team.
Pay: salary bands by seniority
Ranges are in euros per month, gross (before tax), excluding bonuses. The data comes from industry job postings and offers reported by candidates; figures are a benchmark, not a guarantee.
Malta & Cyprus
| Level | Salary range, €/month | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Junior | €5 000 – €6 200 | €5 600 |
| Middle | €6 500 – €8 500 | €7 500 |
| Senior | €9 000 – €12 500 | €10 750 |
| Head / Lead | €13 000 – €20 000 | €16 500 |
Poland, Romania, Baltics
| Level | Salary range, €/month | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Junior | €3 800 – €4 800 | €4 300 |
| Middle | €5 000 – €6 800 | €5 900 |
| Senior | €7 000 – €9 500 | €8 250 |
| Head / Lead | €10 000 – €15 000 | €12 500 |
Remote · Tbilisi, Yerevan, Kyiv
| Level | Salary range, €/month | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Junior | €3 000 – €4 000 | €3 500 |
| Middle | €4 500 – €6 000 | €5 250 |
| Senior | €6 500 – €9 000 | €7 750 |
| Head / Lead | €9 500 – €14 000 | €11 750 |
Bonuses: On top of the base, a percentage of the department's profit or a stake in the business. In arbitrage teams the variable part is often several times the base.
How to break into the profession
The path runs through media buyer and team lead: usually 4–6 years in traffic, including a couple of years leading a team with proven budgets of $300K a month or more.
Working hours: Remote or in an office in Cyprus, Malta, Bucharest or Warsaw. Irregular hours, plus conferences.
Market demand: Hiring comes from casino and betting operators building in-house acquisition, and from large arbitrage teams and affiliate networks. Heads with LatAm, Africa and Asia experience are especially needed.
Where to grow next
Live jobs: Head of Media Buying
FAQ
How is a Head of Media Buying different from a Head of Acquisition?
A Head of Media Buying owns paid traffic acquisition. A Head of Acquisition is broader: affiliates, SEO and other player acquisition channels also report to them.
How much does a Head of Media Buying earn?
A remote base usually starts at $4,500–6,000; office roles in Europe offer $5,700–7,000. On top comes a percentage of the department's profit.
Can I become a head without team lead experience?
Almost never. Employers want to see that you've already led people and big budgets, not just your own campaigns.
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