Lead Technical SEM Manager (Scribd.com)

At Scribd Inc. (pronounced “scribbed”), our mission is to spark human curiosity. Join our team as we create a world of stories and knowledge, democratize the exchange of ideas and information, and empower collective expertise through our four products: Everand, Scribd, Slideshare, and Fable.

This posting reflects an approved, open position within the organization.

We support a culture where our employees can be real and be bold; where we debate and commit as we embrace plot twists; and where every employee is empowered to take action as we prioritize the customer.

When it comes to workplace structure, we believe in balancing individual flexibility and community connections.  It’s through our flexible work benefit, Scribd Flex, that employees – in partnership with their manager – can choose the daily work-style that best suits their individual needs. A key tenet of Scribd Flex is our prioritization of intentional in-person moments to build collaboration, culture, and connection. For this reason, occasional in-person attendance is required for all Scribd Inc. employees, regardless of their location.

So what are we looking for in new team members? Well, we hire for “GRIT”. The textbook definition of GRIT is demonstrating the intersection of passion and perseverance towards long term goals. At Scribd Inc., we are inspired by the potential that this can unlock, and ask each of our employees to pursue a GRIT-ty approach to their work. In a tactical sense, GRIT is also a handy acronym that outlines the standards we hold ourselves and each other to.  Here’s what that means for you: we’re looking for someone who showcases the ability to set and achieve Goals, achieve Results within their job responsibilities, contribute Innovative ideas and solutions, and positively influence the broader Team through collaboration and attitude.

About the team and role:

This role is on the Performance Marketing team and focuses on Scribd.com, our brand offering access to 200M+ documents on virtually any topic. Sitting at the intersection of product, data, and paid media, you’ll own the technical foundation that allows us to build scalable, automated performance marketing systems for our ad platforms. This role will focus on SEM initially but can expand to other channels as the program matures.

About you:

You have experience building in-house performance marketing systems where scale, automation, and data quality were central to success. You’re excited about designing and experimenting around systems, not just running campaigns, and are comfortable partnering closely with product, data, and engineering teams to build technical solutions that drive business goals.

In this role, you’ll:

• Own paid media content feed infrastructure, designing, experimenting, and maintaining pipelines that translate Scribd.com’s content catalog into ad platform inputs

• Ensure accuracy, safety, and quality of eligible content across DSA, PMax and other feed-based campaigns

• Organize content for ad platform ingestion, including grouping documents and categories to improve efficiency, budget management, and bidding strategies

• Define and maintain automation guardrails, including inclusion and exclusion logic of our 300M+ documents, balancing scale and risk

• Run SEM campaigns hands on initially to validate feed logic, evaluate infrastructure, and long term partner with the SEM channel manager on strategy and roadmap

• Be the primary liaison between product/content teams and channel managers, translating product priorities into performance/campaign implications and relaying performance back to cross functional teams

• Build systems for monitoring feed health and coverage as content library grows and evolves

• Design and lead experimentation at the feed/system level

What we’re looking for:

• 7+ years (with 3+ years in-house) of experience in performance marketing, growth, or marketing ops/engineering with strong track record of owning and scaling paid acquisition programs

• Demonstrated success managing complex, feed-based SEM campaigns at scale, including campaign architecture, expansion, and query to content or landing page coverage strategy

• Fluency in feed-based or catalog driven ads systems with the ability to grow program through content coverage, feed inputs, and automation best practices

• Proven ability building out structures that replace manual campaign management and scales across large content sets

• Experience enabling and managing automated campaign types (such as DSA, Performance Max, AIMax, dynamic social ads) with performance-first approach

• Strong cross functional collaboration skills, with track record of partnering with product and engineering teams to translate marketing needs into technical requirements

• Comfort working closely with data engineers, contributing to ETL pipeline development and diagnosing data quality issues as they relates to campaign performance

• Experience designing and executing experiments at the feed and system level, including feed changes, expansion or restriction logic, and content grouping and prioritization strategies

• Strong communication skills, with ability to communicate priorities, learnings, tradeoffs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with marketing subscription products or digital content services

• Familiarity with mobile app marketing and app store optimization

• Exposure to paid social catalog or dynamic ad formats (ex: Meta ad feeds, TikTok catalog ads)

At Scribd, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package and is determined within a range. Our pay ranges are based on the local cost of labor benchmarks for each specific role, level, and geographic location. San Francisco is our highest geographic market in the United States. In the state of California, the reasonably expected salary range is between $129,000 [minimum salary in our lowest geographic market within California] to $201,500 [maximum salary in our highest geographic market within California].

In the United States, outside of California, the reasonably expected salary range is between $106,500[minimum salary in our lowest US geographic market outside of California] to $191,500 [maximum salary in our highest US geographic market outside of California].

In Canada, the reasonably expected salary range is between $135,000 CAD[minimum salary in our lowest geographic market] to $179,000 CAD[maximum salary in our highest geographic market].

We carefully consider a wide range of factors when determining compensation, including but not limited to experience; job-related skill sets; relevant education or training; and other business and organizational needs. The salary range listed is for the level at which this job has been scoped. In the event that you are considered for a different level, a higher or lower pay range would apply. This position is also eligible for a competitive equity ownership, and a comprehensive and generous benefits package.

Are you currently based in a location where Scribd Inc.
Employees must have their primary residence in or near one of the following cities. This includes surrounding metro areas or locations within a typical commuting distance:

United States:

Atlanta | Austin | Boston | Dallas | Denver | Chicago | Houston | Jacksonville | Los Angeles | Miami | New York City | Phoenix | Portland | Sacramento | Salt Lake City | San Diego | San Francisco | Seattle | Washington D.C.

Canada:

Ottawa | Toronto | Vancouver

Mexico:

Mexico City

Benefits, Perks, and Wellbeing at Scribd Inc.

*Benefits/perks listed may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Scribd Inc. and the geographical location where you work.

• Healthcare Insurance Coverage (Medical/Dental/Vision): 100% paid for employees

• 12 weeks paid parental leave

• Short-term/long-term disability plans

• 401k/RSP matching

• Onboarding stipend for home office peripherals + accessories

• Learning & Development allowance

• Learning & Development programs

• Quarterly stipend for Wellness, WiFi, etc.

• Mental Health support & resources

• Free subscription to the Scribd Inc. suite of products

• Referral Bonuses

• Book Benefit

• Sabbaticals

• Company-wide events

• Team engagement budgets

• Vacation & Personal Days

• Paid Holidays (+ winter break)

• Flexible Sick Time

• Volunteer Day

• Company-wide Employee Resource Groups and programs that foster an inclusive and diverse workplace.

• Access to AI Tools: We provide free access to best-in-class AI tools, empowering you to boost productivity, streamline workflows, and accelerate bold innovation.

Want to learn more about life at Scribd? www.linkedin.com/company/scribd/life

We want our interview process to be accessible to everyone. You can inform us of any reasonable adjustments we can make to better accommodate your needs by emailing [email protected] about the need for adjustments at any point in the interview process.

Scribd Inc. is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply, and believe that a diversity of perspectives and experiences create a foundation for the best ideas. Come join us in building something meaningful.