Be ready to go over:

• Advanced Excel – Mastery of complex formulas, data cleaning techniques, and automation using Power Query or VBA.
• SQL and Database Management – Writing efficient queries, joining tables from multiple marketing sources, and maintaining data integrity.
• Data Visualization – Designing intuitive dashboards in Power BI or Tableau that allow stakeholders to self-serve campaign performance data.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Integrating APIs from ad platforms directly into your reporting database to automate data extraction.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a complex data pipeline you built to consolidate weekly performance metrics from five different ad networks into a single dashboard."
• "How would you write a SQL query to identify our top-performing ad creatives based on click-through rate, grouped by campaign and month?"

Operational Problem-Solving & Execution

This area assesses your ability to apply analytical insights to real business challenges, manage your workload, and collaborate with diverse teams to drive growth.

Be ready to go over:

• Workflow Prioritization – How you manage your time when faced with multiple urgent requests from different brand teams.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Working with creative teams to identify high-performing visual assets and with sales teams to align digital spend with retail inventory.
• Budget Optimization – Identifying underperforming campaigns and reallocating resources to maximize overall portfolio ROI.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Developing predictive models to forecast campaign performance and inventory needs based on historical trend data.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a time when you noticed a sudden anomaly in our campaign data. How did you investigate it, and what actions did you take to resolve the issue?"
• "How do you present a technical analysis showing a campaign is underperforming to a brand manager who is highly invested in the creative direction of that campaign?"

As a Marketing Analytics Specialist at Just Play, your day-to-day activities will be dynamic, fast-paced, and highly collaborative. You will serve as the primary source of truth for all digital performance marketing data, helping to guide strategic decisions across the entire brand portfolio.

Your primary responsibilities will center around:

• Campaign Monitoring & Optimization – Actively tracking daily and weekly spend, pacing, and performance across all paid digital channels to ensure campaigns are running efficiently and meeting established KPIs.
• Data Consolidation & Dashboard Management – Building, maintaining, and automating comprehensive performance dashboards that aggregate data from social platforms, search engines, and retail media networks.
• Stakeholder Reporting & Insights – Preparing and presenting regular performance reports for brand managers, sales teams, and executive leadership, highlighting key trends, successes, and areas for optimization.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Working closely with creative teams to analyze asset performance, with brand teams to align digital spend with product launches, and with sales teams to support retail promotions.
• Agency & Partner Management – Collaborating with external media agencies and platform partners to ensure campaigns are executed according to strategic guidelines and that data is shared seamlessly.

Through these responsibilities, you will play a direct role in driving the digital growth of Just Play products, ensuring that marketing efforts are always aligned with broader business objectives and retail goals.

To be highly competitive for this position, you must demonstrate a strong combination of technical expertise, digital marketing knowledge, and professional experience.

• Must-have skills – Advanced proficiency in Excel (including Power Query and complex formulas), strong working knowledge of SQL, experience building dashboards in Power BI or Tableau, and hands-on experience analyzing campaigns within ad platforms like Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads, and Amazon Advertising.
• Nice-to-have skills – Familiarity with programming languages like Python or R for data analysis, experience working with retail portals (such as Amazon Vendor Central or Walmart Retail Link), and knowledge of the toy or consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry.

Typically, successful candidates for this role possess 2 to 5 years of experience in digital marketing analytics, performance marketing, or a highly analytical business role. A bachelor's degree in marketing, business analytics, statistics, finance, or a related field is expected.

Q: How technical is the interview process at Just Play? A: The process is highly technical and direct from the very first call. You should expect detailed questions about your day-to-day workflow, your specific tool stack, and how you solve practical data challenges. There is very little focus on generic behavioral questions.

Q: What is the typical salary range for this position? A: The salary range for the Digital Performance Marketing Specialist / Marketing Analytics Specialist role is typically $75,000 to$90,000 USD, depending on your experience level and location.

Q: Where is this role located? A: Just Play has key corporate locations in Boca Raton, FL and Newtown, PA. Candidates should be prepared to discuss their location preferences and availability to work in a hybrid or on-site office environment.

Q: What distinguishes a successful candidate in this process? A: Successful candidates are those who demonstrate immediate operational readiness. Show that you can manage data pipelines independently, communicate complex insights clearly, and focus on driving measurable business outcomes rather than just tracking vanity metrics.

Q: How fast does the interview process move? A: The process is known to be highly efficient. Because the team values directness and clarity, they move qualified candidates through the stages quickly, often resolving the entire process within a few weeks from the initial screen to the final decision.

To maximize your chances of success during your interviews at Just Play, keep these practical tips in mind:

• Be Direct and Concise: The interviewers "mean business" and value efficiency. Answer questions directly, avoid unnecessary fluff, and structure your responses clearly, focusing on the actions you took and the results you achieved.
• Know Your Metrics Inside Out: Be prepared to define and calculate key performance marketing metrics on the spot. You should be completely comfortable explaining the relationship between metrics like CTR, CPC, conversion rate, and ROAS.
• Highlight Your Automation Experience: The team values candidates who can save time and reduce manual work. Emphasize any experience you have automating reports, building templates, or streamlining data collection processes.

• Align Insights with Business Outcomes: When describing your past work, always connect your analytical insights to concrete business results. Don't just say you built a dashboard; explain how that dashboard helped a brand team save budget or increase sales.

The Marketing Analytics Specialist role at Just Play offers an exciting opportunity to drive the digital success of a leading consumer products company. By combining your analytical expertise with a passion for digital marketing, you will play a critical role in shaping how consumers discover and engage with beloved toy brands.

As you prepare for your interviews, focus heavily on demonstrating your technical proficiency in Excel, SQL, and data visualization, alongside your practical knowledge of performance marketing metrics and retail media networks. Approach each conversation with a professional, direct, and action-oriented mindset, showing the team that you are ready to make an immediate impact.

The salary range shown above represents the standard compensation for this position across our primary office locations in Newtown, PA and Boca Raton, FL. This competitive base salary is accompanied by opportunities for professional growth within a fast-moving, innovative consumer products leader. To explore additional interview experiences, detailed preparation resources, and industry insights, you can continue your preparation on Dataford to ensure you are fully equipped to succeed. Good luck with your preparation—your journey to joining the team at Just Play starts here!