Head of Paid Search

Valnet Tech Sites; Montreal; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Valnet Tech Sites in Montreal, QC seeks a Head of Paid Search to own strategy and financial performance across the portfolio, with Google Ads as the core channel. This is a senior leadership role for a commercially minded operator who thinks in margin, not just clicks.

You will set traffic acquisition direction, manage key platforms and partners, and lead a team executing day-to-day activities. Success is measured by revenue, profitability and efficiency against targets, with emphasis on

Qualifications

• 5+ years in paid search or performance marketing.
• 3+ years in team or channel leadership.
• Proven track record managing large Google Ads budgets.
• Advanced Google Ads skills and partner management.
• Strong finance and forecasting capability.
• Experience with GA4, Excel/Sheets; SQL/BigQuery a plus.
• Excellent leadership and stakeholder management.
• Experience in fast-paced digital environments.

Responsibilities

• Define and own paid search strategy across the portfolio.
• Lead and coach the paid search team.
• Set KPIs, roadmaps and weekly performance reviews.
• Collaborate with analytics, product, content and finance.
• Report performance to General Manager and senior leadership.
• Stay ahead of search changes and AI-driven campaigns.

Skills

Paid search leadership

Google Ads expert

Financial acumen

GA4 analytics

SQL/BigQuery

Team coaching

Data reporting

Tools

Google Ads Editor

Merchant Center

AI tools

BigQuery

Job description

Location: Montreal, Quebec

Reporting Structure: Portfolio General Manager

Direct Reports: Senior Performance Marketing Manager(s) and paid search specialists

Summary

We are looking for a Head of Paid Search to own the strategy and financial performance of our paid search programs across the portfolio, with Google Ads as our primary channel. This is a senior leadership role for a commercially minded operator who thinks in margin, not just in clicks. You will set the direction for how we acquire traffic, manage our key platform and commercial partners, and lead the team that executes day to day. Your success will be measured by one thing: hitting and beating our revenue, profitability and efficiency targets.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Performance

• Define and own the paid search strategy across the portfolio, with Google Ads as the core channel, Microsoft Ads as a secondary focus, and new high intent platforms (e.g., Chat GPT) as a growth lever.
• Set account structure, bidding, keyword and audience strategies that scale volume while protecting margin.
• Own the paid search financial results : revenue, spend, net revenue, ROAS
• Find and prioritize the biggest levers to improve financial results - new verticals, GEOs, keyword expansion, bid strategy changes, funnel and landing page improvements.

Partners & Commercial

• Be the senior point of contact with Google (and other platform) account teams: drive beta access, quarterly business reviews and co-investment opportunities.

Leadership & Operations

• Lead, coach and grow the paid search team.
• Set clear KPIs, testing roadmaps and ways of working; review performance weekly with the team.
• Partner with analytics, product, content and finance to improve tracking, attribution, conversion rates and reporting.
• Report performance, insights and recommendations to the General Manager and senior leadership.
• Stay ahead of changes in search - AI-driven campaign types (Performance Max, AI Max), automated bidding, privacy and measurement shifts.

Requirements

• 5+ years in paid search or performance marketing, including 3+ years leading a team or channel.
• Proven track record of owning large-scale Google Ads budgets and delivering against revenue and profitability targets.
• Expert, hands-on command of Google Ads: Search, Performance Max, Smart Bidding, scripts, Google Ads Editor and Merchant Center where relevant.
• Proficiency with building AI agents and leveraging AI to build systems and processes
• Strong commercial and financial acumen: comfortable building forecasts, modelling margin and making spend decisions on unit economics.
• Experience managing relationships with platform reps, partners and agencies, and negotiating commercial terms.
• Advanced analytical skills with GA4, Excel/Sheets; SQL or BigQuery a plus.
• Solid understanding of conversion tracking, offline conversion imports, attribution and incrementality testing.
• Excellent leadership, communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to present to senior leadership.
• Experience in fast-paced, digital-first or high-growth environments.

Assets

• Experience in insurance, banking, mortgage or other lead-generation / financial services verticals.
• Experience with arbitrage or media-buying models where search traffic is monetized through partners.
• Bilingual English/French.

Built on Trust

We operate with unwavering trust, uphold the highest standards of integrity, and deliver consistent performance. Our mission is to serve our audiences with transparency and measurable value, building long-term relationships grounded in results.