Manager, Paid Search

As our Manager, Paid Search, you will…

Support MERGE's practice in creating, optimizing, and executing top-tier client paid search campaigns. As a hands-on player and coach, you will guide and mentor our paid search specialists while overseeing keyword research, campaign builds, client recommendations, QA processes, and performance reporting. Bring your passion, natural curiosity, and collaborative spirit to drive real impact for our clients while keeping a strong focus on agility, technical ability, and humble leadership.

What You’ll Do

Strategy & Campaign Execution

• Lead Discovery & Audits: Lead the discovery process to understand overall client and PPC goals, conducting thorough audits to pinpoint structural opportunities and refine campaign tactics.
• Optimize Landing Pages & Tracking: Ensure analytics tracking implementation is accurate, seamless, and easy to manage while identifying key optimization opportunities on landing pages.
• Develop Testing & Keyword Plans: Build and recommend keyword strategies, negative keyword maintenance, and ongoing testing plans (such as search query reports and keyword overlap analyses).
• Drive Performance: Continuously analyze program performance against core KPIs (ROAS, CTR, CPA, conversion rates) to keep campaigns sharp, agile, and effective.

Client & Partner Relations

• Deliver Clear Insights: Lead client status and reporting calls to present actionable insights, performance results, and proactive optimization strategies.
• Manage Platform Partnerships: Collaborate closely with major search engines and media partners, including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, to leverage the best tools and opportunities.
• Resolve Billing Smoothly: Act as the primary contact for resolving billing discrepancies in close partnership with our client strategy and billing reconciliation teams.

Quality Assurance & Team Growth

• Maintain High QA Standards: Lead rigorous QA checks for trafficked approved plans across engines (keywords, ad copy, extensions) and launch parameters (dayparting, bids, budgets, and targeting).
• Mentor & Teach with Humility: Train and empower paid search specialists, sharing your expertise generously while acting as a trusted subject matter expert for our broader media strategy teams.
• Shape Practice & Industry Viewpoints: Actively contribute to overall account strategy—including annual budget planning, KPI setting, and partner selection—and share insightful POVs on industry trends both internally and externally.

Who You Are

• Experienced Marketer: You bring 3 to 5 years of professional paid search campaign management experience, ideally backed by a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Advertising, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Pharma & Life Sciences Specialist: You have essential, proven experience working on Life Science and Pharma accounts, navigating their unique campaign needs with care and expertise.
• Platform & Tool Expert: You possess true mastery of search engines and management platforms (such as Fluency, Search Ads 360, Skai, Marin, Optmyzr, Smartly.io, or Adalysis), alongside strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Google Workspace.
• Agile Problem Solver: You blend critical thinking with a solution-oriented mindset, pivoting quickly when performance data or market conditions change.
• Humble Collaborator & Mentor: You enjoy lifting up others, communicating complex insights clearly, and managing multiple high-priority projects under tight deadlines with composure and team spirit.

#LI-VM

#LI-HYBRID

Our Hybrid Philosophy

For this role, we prioritize hybrid candidates in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Kansas City, MO; Raleigh, NC; and St. Louis, MO, but may consider candidates near other MERGE hubs based on the role and team’s needs. If fully remote is listed as an option, we are also open to U.S.-based candidates who would work remotely.

Hybrid work is our default approach. We value time together for collaboration, relationship building, and key moments. Managers and team leaders determine in-person expectations based on what best supports their team, clients, and business needs. Some teams and roles require more regular in-person presence than others.

MERGE has hubs in Chicago, New York City, Boston, Kansas City, Raleigh, Denver, Atlanta, and St. Louis. Regardless of work arrangement, team members may be required to travel to a MERGE hub for meetings, team gatherings, events, or other business needs.

Total Rewards

At MERGE, we’re committed to fostering an environment where our team members can thrive in both their careers and personal lives, ensuring they feel supported and empowered to succeed.

MERGE believes in transparency and equity. In accordance with state regulations, we’re proud to include salary ranges in our job postings to ensure fair compensation practices.

The salary range for this role is $78,000-$114,000, based on the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, location, and other relevant factors. The salary pay range is subject to change and may be modified at any time.  

MERGE is proud to invest in benefits that include meaningful Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, 401K, Lifestyle Spending Account, Employer Paid Life & Disability Insurance, Flexible Time off & Holidays plus many other benefits and rewards.

Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United States.