Senior Paid Search Specialist

Cardiff; Cardiff; Hybrid; GBP 71,000 - 97,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) plan

Flexible vacation

Workspace stipend

Job summary

Cardiff is seeking an experienced paid search leader to own our search program across Google Ads, Performance Max and Microsoft Ads. You will drive end-to-end account strategy, budgets, and bid optimization, with a focus on maximizing funded deals and ROI.

You will work with the web team on landing pages and test new platforms. Ideal candidates have 3–5 years managing large paid search accounts, experience with offline conversions, and the ability to explain spend curves.

Qualifications

• Three to five years managing Google Ads directly.
• Experience with offline conversion imports or server-side conversion setup.
• Strong command of Google Ads Editor, scripts or API for bulk work.
• Have managed $500K–$1M+ per month in paid search spend, or equivalent annual figure.
• Google Ads certification is acceptable; a rebuilt account structure and spend curve you can explain is better.

Responsibilities

• Own the account end-to-end: Search, Performance Max, Demand Gen and YouTube structure, budgets, bid strategies, geo and device modifiers.
• Run keyword and search term program with brand vs. non-brand economics, negative keyword hygiene, and match-type strategy.
• Close the loop to funded revenue by importing offline conversions and diagnosing attribution gaps.
• Make PMax earn its place with asset group strategy and reporting for insights.
• Own Microsoft Ads as a real second channel with separate budgets and strategies.
• Grow the search portfolio to meet aggressive growth targets while protecting cost per MQL and fund rate.
• Evaluate and launch new search and intent platforms and test them with measurable targets.
• Drive landing page strategy with web team and optimize pre-filled URLs and mobile apply flows.
• Build the Spanish-language search program with separate structure and targets.
• Coordinate with SEO to avoid cannibalization and duplication.
• Report weekly/monthly on spend, MQL, fund rate and ROI with actionable insights.

Skills

Google Ads

Performance Max

Large-scale search

Offline conversions

Editors / Scripts / API

Budget management

Tools

Google Analytics

GTM

Data warehouse

Job description

About Cardiff

Cardiff lends to small businesses. Since 2004 we’ve funded more than $12.4 billion across the country, to businesses in logistics, healthcare, construction, professional services, and plenty in between. We’re building our own underwriting technology, and we still answer the phone; our customers need capital fast, and they want a straight answer from a person who can actually help.

The role

Search is Cardiff’s highest-intent channel and our most contested one. When an operator with a payroll problem types “business loan same day” into his phone, we are bidding against OnDeck, Fundbox, Bluevine and a long tail of brokers for a click that will cost us real money and may be worth a $150,000 funded deal. You own that auction.

Scope and budget

This role owns roughly a third of Cardiff’s total paid media, about $700K–$1M a month today, on Google Ads, with an explicit mandate to grow it. Microsoft Ads is expected to come under this role as well, and as we expand into additional search and intent-based platforms, they will land here too.

While structured as an individual contributor without direct reports, this position holds complete accountability for our search strategy, total media spend, and channel-level performance.

What you will own

• Own the account end to end. Search, Performance Max, Demand Gen and YouTube structure, budgets, bid strategies, geo and device modifiers, the full build. You are the person who knows why the account looks the way it does.
• Run the keyword and search term program. Brand versus non-brand economics, competitor conquesting, aggressive negative keyword hygiene, and match type strategy in a category where a single loose broad match term can burn a week of budget on “personal loans no credit check.”
• Close the loop to funded revenue. Own offline conversion imports from Salesforce back into Google so Smart Bidding optimizes toward funded deals rather than applications. Diagnose and fix attribution gaps; a meaningful share of our qualified leads have historically arrived without clean campaign attribution, and shrinking that number is explicitly part of this role.
• Make PMax earn its place. Asset group strategy, audience signals, search theme control, and the reporting work required to see inside a black box. If PMax is cannibalizing brand search, we expect you to prove it and act.
• Own Microsoft Ads as a real second channel. Bing skews older and higher-income than Google, which maps unusually well to a 45-year-old business owner. We run it lightly today. You will own building it out properly: import discipline, independent budget and bid strategy, and its own read on fund rate rather than a copy-paste of the Google account.
• Grow the search portfolio. You are accountable for scaling search spend against aggressive growth targets while protecting cost per MQL and fund rate. That means knowing where the next $200K a month can actually go — incremental query space, new campaign types, new platforms — and being honest about where it cannot.
• Evaluate and launch new search and intent platforms. As paid search fragments — retail and marketplace search, AI answer-engine placements, comparison and aggregator inventory — you will be the person who tests them, sizes them, and either builds or kills them.
• Drive landing page strategy with the web team. Pre-filled URLs measurably out-perform generic entry points on our site. Take that further: pre-filled ad landing pages, keyword-matched apply experiences, and a mobile apply flow with fewer questions between click and answer.
• Build the Spanish-language search program. Not translated ad copy — a real parallel account structure with keyword research done in Spanish, matched landing pages, and its own performance targets across TX, CA, FL and AZ.
• Partner with SEO. Our organic small business loans content is a top traffic source. Coordinate so paid and organic are not bidding against each other or duplicating each other’s ground.
• Report in the language of the business. Weekly and monthly reporting on spend, cost per MQL, MQL rate, MQL-to-fund and ROI — with a point of view about what to do next, not just a table.

What we are looking for

• Three to five years managing Google Ads directly, including hands‑on Performance Max and large‑scale Search accounts.
• You have personally managed $500K to $1M+ a month in paid search spend, or a comparable annual figure, and you have grown a budget at that scale rather than inheriting and holding it.
• Demonstrated experience with offline conversion imports or an equivalent server‑side conversion setup. This is close to a hard requirement.
• Strong command of Google Ads Editor, scripts or the API for bulk work; you should not be making 400 changes in the UI.
• Comfortable defending a decision to pause a campaign that looks profitable on last-click.
• Google Ads certification is fine; a rebuilt account structure and a spend curve you can walk us through are better.

Nice to have

• Microsoft Ads (Bing) management experience — a significant advantage, since this channel is coming under the role either way.
• Experience standing up a brand‑new paid channel from zero to meaningful spend.
• Experience with a paid search program in a regulated or lending category.
• Familiarity with Google Analytics, GTM and a warehouse‑based reporting stack.

What success looks like in 90 days

• A full account audit with a prioritized list of what is wasting money and what is under‑funded.
• Offline conversion import path verified end to end, with fund‑rate reporting by campaign.
• Negative keyword and search term hygiene brought current, with a standing weekly cadence.
• A tested Spanish‑language search pilot live in at least two states.
• A recommendation — build, hold or fold — on Microsoft Ads, with the numbers behind it.

Compensation and benefits

• $95,000 to $130,000 base salary, plus an annual performance bonus of up to 15%.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• 401(k) plan.
• Flexible vacation policy alongside standard company holidays.
• Fully distributed workplace, with a stipend for workspace essentials.

Cardiff operates as an equal opportunity employer. We prioritize constructing an inclusive workplace, extending equal consideration without regard to protected attributes including race, belief, gender identity, age, or veteran status.