Retail Media Strategist (Walmart Connect) - Freelance Contractor

Later is the world’s most intelligent influencer marketing company, built to give brands the confidence to create unforgettable campaigns. By combining real creator relationships, trusted intelligence, and expert guidance, Later removes fear and guesswork from one of marketing’s most visible investments.

Built on a native, AI-powered platform and more than a decade of proprietary data—including billions of social interactions, impressions, and $2.4B+ in verified influencer-driven purchases—Later helps teams understand what will work before they launch.

By combining trusted insight with expert guidance, Later removes guesswork from influencer marketing, enabling brands to choose the right creators, execute fully managed campaigns, and drive meaningful growth across awareness, engagement, and revenue. Trusted by leading enterprise brands including Nike, Wayfair, Unilever, and Southwest Airlines, Later bridges creativity and performance so campaigns don’t just look good—they deliver results. Learn more at later.com.

Location: Remote

Type: Contract, Ongoing

Duration: Per Project Basis (Approx 8 - 10 hours / week)

About this position:

We’re looking for a freelance Retail Media Strategist (Walmart Connect) to help us scale one of our most important emerging paid media channels. This role is equal parts operator and enabler—you’ll own execution end-to-end while building the foundation, playbooks, and internal capability needed to make Walmart Connect a repeatable, high-performing growth channel.

You’ll partner closely with the Head of Paid Media and broader performance marketing team to launch, optimize, and prove out pilot campaigns, while upskilling internal buyers on best practices across strategy, execution, and reporting.

What you'll be doing:

• Strategy

  • Define and execute the Walmart Connect channel strategy, including campaign structure, budget allocation, and testing roadmap
  • Identify high-impact opportunities to scale performance based on early pilot results and performance data
  • Develop channel-specific playbooks for campaign setup, optimization, and reporting
  • Translate campaign insights into clear, actionable recommendations for internal stakeholders and (as needed) clients

  Technical / Execution

  • Own hands-on keyboard execution across Walmart Connect campaigns (setup, trafficking, optimization, pacing)
  • Build and manage campaigns across Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and DSP (as applicable)
  • Monitor performance daily and optimize against key KPIs (ROAS, CPA, CTR, conversion rate)
  • Troubleshoot performance issues and identify root causes quickly using data
  • Establish reporting frameworks and dashboards to track performance and surface insights

  Team / Collaboration

  • Partner with the Head of Paid Media and cross-functional teams (Client Services, Creative, Analytics) to ensure integrated campaign execution
  • Act as the internal subject matter expert on Walmart Connect—supporting campaign planning and troubleshooting
  • Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure alignment between media strategy and broader campaign goals
  • Participate in client-facing conversations when needed to represent strategy and performance

  Research / Best Practices

  • Stay on top of Walmart Connect updates, betas, and best practices, bringing forward new opportunities proactively
  • Benchmark performance and identify optimization opportunities based on industry trends and competitor activity
  • Continuously refine internal processes to improve efficiency, scalability, and performance outcomes
  • Lead the development of training materials and enablement sessions for internal media buyers

What You Bring:

• 3+ years of experience in paid media, with direct hands-on experience in retail media networks (Walmart Connect strongly preferred)
• Proven track record of owning and optimizing campaigns hands-on (“in platform” execution is non-negotiable)
• Strong understanding of retail media KPIs, attribution models, and optimization levers
• Demonstrated ability to translate data into actionable insights and strategy
• Experience creating playbooks, training materials, or upskilling internal teams
• Strong communication skills with the ability to simplify complex concepts for different audiences
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment with high ownership and accountability

Nice to Have

• Experience with other retail media networks (Amazon Ads, Target Roundel, etc)
• Agency experience managing multiple campaigns/clients

Experience working in client-facing environments

How you work:

• Driven by Impact: You deliver results that matter—prioritizing high-value work, meeting deadlines, and adapting quickly while keeping outcomes clear.
• Strategic & Customer-Centric: You anticipate risks and opportunities, connect decisions to long-term growth, and build trust through proactive insights.
• Curious & Growth-Oriented: You seek knowledge, ask sharp questions, and apply learnings fast—challenging the status quo with a mindset of improvement.
• Collaborative & Resilient: You thrive in change by staying resourceful, solution-focused, and positive—removing roadblocks, sharing insights, and keeping morale high.
• Accountable & Honest: You own your work, hold yourself and others to a high bar, and use transparent feedback to drive growth.
• Emotionally Intelligent: You build trust through empathy and collaboration, foster inclusion, and inspire others with grit, optimism, and integrity.

Our approach to compensation:

We take a market-based & data-driven approach to compensation. We leverage data from trusted third-party compensation sources to help us understand the market value of a role based on function, level, geographic location, and scope. We evaluate compensation bi-annually, including performance and market-related factors.

Our salaries are benchmarked against market Total Cash Compensation for the geographic location of our job posting. Compensation for some roles is structured as On Target Earnings (OTE = base + commission/variable) while for others it is structured as Salary only.

To comply with local legislation and ensure transparency, we share salary ranges on all job postings. Skills, experience and other factors help determine the final salary we offer which may vary from the original range posted.

Additionally, all permanent team members are eligible to participate in various benefits plans as part of their overall compensation package.

Salary Range:

$75 - 100 / hour

*Co-op team members, independent contractors, and freelancers are not eligible for company benefits.

#LI-Hybrid #LI-Remote

Where we work:

We have offices in Boston, MA; Vancouver, BC; Chicago, IL; and Vancouver, WA. For select positions, we are open to hiring fully remote candidates. We post our positions in the location(s) where we are open to having the successful candidate be located.

Diversity, inclusion, and accessibility:

At Later, we are committed to fostering a culture rooted in an inclusion-first mindset at every level of the company, embracing the importance of hiring and building teams for culture add rather than culture fit. We openly build and maintain unbiased hiring, pay, and promotion practices to create a foundation for an equitable workplace, paving the way for systemic change.

We are committed to creating a diverse environment and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, or age. Please let us know if you require any accommodations or support during the recruitment process.