SEM Associate Director, Paid Search Activation
$135,000–$155,000 year
HybridNew York City, New York, United States or New York, United States
Job Summary
Oversee hands-on keyboard execution of enterprise-level SEM campaigns across multiple lines of business, managing trafficking, QA, budget pacing, and reporting for a Fortune 500 financial brand. Direct teams responsible for campaign delivery while designing standardized operating procedures, SLAs, and playbooks to enhance efficiency and scalability. Enforce robust QA frameworks and partner with Risk, Legal, and Compliance teams to ensure strict regulatory adherence. Act as a subject matter expert in Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and SA360, troubleshooting tracking issues and operationalizing AI-driven bidding strategies like tCPA and tROAS. Collaborate with Analytics teams to build dashboards tracking CPA and ROAS, and align priorities with Marketing, Tech, Product, and platform partners. Lead this integrated in-house agency where specialists collaborate with client partners to drive growth and shape operational transformation.
Required Qualifications
- 8–10 years of professional experience in paid search / SEM execution
- proven leadership of campaign delivery teams in complex, high-volume enterprise environments
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent university degree
- Advanced proficiency in Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, SA360, and related SEM platforms
- deep expertise in Google automated bidding strategies (tCPA, tROAS, shared budgets)
- Strong understanding of AI-driven SEM capabilities, scripts, and platform automation
- QA processes required to manage automation risks at scale
- Familiarity with operating inside regulated environments and navigating risk, compliance, and governance frameworks
- Solid knowledge of digital analytics, attribution models, A/B testing, and performance optimization methodologies
- Exceptional stakeholder management, cross-functional collaboration, and team development abilities
- Highly adept at managing multiple priorities, tight timelines, and large-scale budgets simultaneously
- Hybrid: 3 days per week in the office, 2 days remote
Desired Qualifications
- experience with Google automated bidding strategies (tCPA, tROAS, shared budgets)
- experience with scripts
- experience with platform automation
- experience with QA processes
- experience with automation risks at scale
- experience with regulated environments
- experience with risk, compliance, and governance frameworks
- experience with digital analytics
- experience with attribution models
- experience with A/B testing
- experience with performance optimization methodologies
- experience with stakeholder management
- experience with cross-functional collaboration
- experience with team development
- experience with managing multiple priorities
- experience with tight timelines
- experience with large-scale budgets
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