Senior Paid Search Strategist, SEM

Global Trade Plaza; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative firm seeks a Senior Search Strategist to lead SEM efforts for a major national brand. In this role, you will craft and optimize search strategies, manage substantial budgets, and deliver actionable insights to clients. Collaborating with diverse teams, you will ensure the alignment of paid and organic search efforts, driving performance and client satisfaction. With a focus on continuous improvement, you will stay ahead of industry trends and educate teams on best practices. This position offers a dynamic work environment where your expertise will shape the future of search marketing.

Benefits

Global maternity and parental leave

Competitive benefits packages

Vacation and sick days

Six free therapy sessions

Access to online services for families

Extensive winter holiday office closures

Diversity and Inclusion Board

Enterprise-wide employee discounts

Qualifications

• 4+ years of hands-on SEM experience with proven results.
• High proficiency in Google Ads and Analytics, with certifications.
• Strong analytical and presentation skills with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize SEM strategy for a major global brand.
• Manage multiple campaigns with significant budgets and performance metrics.
• Provide data-driven insights and maintain client satisfaction.

Skills

Search Marketing

SEM

Google Ads

Bing Ads

Google Analytics

Data Visualization

Budget Management

Analytical Skills

Presentation Skills

Storytelling

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Marketing or related field

Tools

Google Tag Manager

Google Ads Editor

Google Data Studio

Tableau

Job description

As Senior Search Strategist, you’ll work as part of an integrated SEO/SEM team to develop holistic search strategy. You will manage the creation, execution, and optimization of paid search campaigns, acting as the strategic SEM lead and advisor for a major national brand.

This role will provide leadership and expertise in account structure and setup, ongoing budget and bid management, and continuous performance optimization. You’ll collaborate across multiple teams and disciplines, present data-driven insights and performance reporting to clients. You’ll be responsible for defining and communicating SEM goals, maintaining client satisfaction, and educating internal and external teams on future priorities and opportunities.

You Will

• Work as part of an integrated SEO/SEM team, aligning paid and organic search strategies to reduce costs while maximizing holistic search performance
• Lead the ongoing development, execution, and optimization of SEM strategy for a major global brand
• Own the day-to-day management of multiple campaigns with 1,000+ keywords and $1M+ spend
• Manage budget pacing, campaign setup, account structure, bid strategy, ongoing performance optimization, testing strategy, and anomaly troubleshooting
• Develop consistent account processes and procedures
• Communicate paid search best practices in a concise, easy-to-understand way
• Monitor and analyze performance
• Deliver actionable insights to clients through insightful, visually compelling reports (including implications and strategic recommendations)
• Identify market and consumer trends, telling a story with search data
• Run iterative testing strategies to drive incremental performance lifts
• Map out search tactics and strategies on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis
• Define swim lanes and collaborate with other agencies to avoid cannibalization
• Conduct regular SEM audits and competitive analyses
• Merchandise success stories and identify net-new opportunities to drive performance
• Provide data-driven insights and recommendations to refine our strategy and improve campaign performance
• Be the SEM point of contact for clients
• Stay on top of the latest trends in the search landscape, keeping clients educated and adapting our strategies as needed in response

You have:

• 4+ years of hands-on search marketing/SEM/paid search experience
• Proven results increasing traffic, conversions, and revenue from SEM/paid search campaigns
• High proficiency in Google/Bing Ads, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Google Ads Editor
• Experience managing long-term SEM strategies with multiple campaigns and monthly budgets of $500k+
• Google Ads certification
• Deep understanding of search bidding strategies, automation tools, keyword selection, prospecting vs. retargeting
• Ability to react quickly, assess, and implement solutions
• Strong presentation and storytelling skills, including data visualization
• Excellent analytical abilities with high attention to detail
• Experience analyzing data to uncover insights and identify opportunities
• Passion for staying current in a rapidly evolving digital environment, leveraging new tools and techniques to gain a competitive edge
• Experience with Discovery, YouTube/Video, Display, Shopping/PLAs, and Social campaigns a plus
• Experience with additional search tools such as Search Ads 360, Spyfu, Adgooroo, Marin, Skai, or Google Merchant Center a plus
• Experience with Google Data Studio and other data visualization tools (e.g. Tableau) a plus

What We Offer:

• Global maternity and parental leave
• Competitive benefits packages
• Vacation, compassionate leave, sick days, and flex days
• Six free therapy sessions
• Access to online services for families and new parents
• Extensive winter holiday office closures
• Diversity and Inclusion Board with 12 affinity groups
• Enterprise-wide employee discounts

Our new hires & employees are the future of our organization, and we want to set you up for long-term success. In an effort to do so, we expect our team to work from an office a minimum of 3 days a week.

We understand that not everyone may feel comfortable with this expectation, so we ask that you please let us know immediately if there are any concerns so we can help navigate accordingly.

We continually review ranges to address skills, experience and markets. Base salaries are determined during our interview process, by assessing a number of factors that include, but aren’t limited to, a candidate’s experience and skills relative to the scope and responsibilities of the position. For current CM employees, tenure will also be a consideration.

Salary Range

$80,000 - $95,000 CAD

Critical Mass is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We do not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. If you are an individual with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please reach out to [e-mail].