Associate Director, Paid Search and Social

University of Chicago; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

The Associate Director of Paid Search and Social at University of Chicago Booth School of Business leads paid digital advertising campaigns to elevate brand presence and drive prospective student engagement. The role requires a data-driven approach and strong cross-functional collaboration across marketing, admissions, and content teams.

This position oversees campaigns across major platforms, partners with an external agency, and ensures tight integration with the CRM (Slate) and enrollment

Responsibilities

• Refines and optimizes paid campaigns to maximize lead quality and conversions.
• Develops and executes a comprehensive paid social strategy to generate high-quality leads.
• Manages campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
• Oversees external paid search agency, prioritizing, evaluating, and ensuring performance.
• Designs and optimizes ad performance and landing pages with A/B testing and analytics.
• Analyzes campaign data, prepares insights, and provides ROI recommendations.
• Collaborates with content, creative, brand, and admissions teams on messaging and creatives.
• Coordinates with web development to optimize conversion paths and user experience.
• Develops annual paid-media plans, budgets, and pacing aligned with enrollment goals.

Job description

Department

Booth Marketing: Global Marketing 1

About the Department

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business is the second-oldest business school in the U.S. and second to none when it comes to influencing business education and business practices. Since 1898, the school has produced ideas and leaders that shape the world of business. Their rigorous, discipline-based approach to business education transforms students into confident, effective, respected business leaders prepared to face the toughest challenges.

Chicago Booth has the finest set of facilities of any business school in the world. Each of the four campuses (two in Chicago, one in London, and one in Hong Kong) reflects the architectural traditions of its environs while offering a state-of-the-art learning environment.

Chicago Booth is proud to claim:

• -an unmatched faculty.
• -degree and open enrollment programs offered on three continents.
• -a global body of nearly 56,000 accomplished alumni.
• -strong and growing corporate relationships that provide a wealth of lifelong career opportunities.

As part of the world-renowned University of Chicago, Chicago Booth shares the University's core values that shape the distinctive intellectual culture. At Booth, they constantly question and test ideas, and seek proof. This extraordinarily effective approach to business leads to new ideas and innovative solutions. Seven of the Booth faculty members have won Nobel Prizes for these ideas - the first business school to achieve this accomplishment. For more information about the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, please visit: http://www.chicagobooth.edu/.

Job Summary

The Associate Director of Paid Search and Social is results-driven, creative individual responsible for developing, executing, and optimizing paid digital advertising campaigns to elevate Chicago Booth's brand presence and drive prospective student engagement. This role requires a strong understanding of both paid search and paid social strategies, with a focus on lead generation. The ideal candidate will be data-driven, collaborative, and proficient in managing campaigns across various platforms.

This position is not eligible for employer-sponsored employment authorization.

Responsibilities

• Refines and optimizes paid advertising campaigns to maximize lead quality and conversion rates.
• Develops and implements a comprehensive paid social media strategy to enhance brand awareness and generate high-quality leads.
• Builds, manages, and executes campaigns across diverse social media platforms, including but not limited to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
• Oversees an external paid search agency by establishing priorities, evaluating strategic recommendations, reviewing implementation, and ensuring accountability for campaign performance.
• Develops, monitors, and optimizes ad performance and landing pages, leveraging A/B testing, audience segmentation, and performance analytics.
• Analyzes campaign data, generates insightful reports, and provides actionable recommendations to measure effectiveness, adjust strategies, and maximize ROI.
• Collaborates closely with content, creative, and brand teams to develop compelling ad creatives and messaging to optimize ads for an enhanced user experience and improved conversions.
• Collaborates with the data analytics, brand, and admissions teams to develop targeting strategies for paid campaigns, including global targeting for paid search and audience-based targeting, such as LinkedIn, and retargeting for paid social.
• Collaborates with web development teams to optimize website conversion paths and user experience.
• Develops annual paid-media plans, forecasts, budget allocations, and pacing recommendations to ensure investments remain aligned with program and fiscal-year objectives.
• Collaborates closely with the admissions team to ensure seamless integration between digital marketing activities and the CRM, including Slate.
• Tracks lead progression and analyzes conversion rates across the enrollment funnel.
• Stays current with industry trends, emerging ad formats, and platform updates, to continuously improve and innovate digital marketing strategies.
• Implements remarketing strategies to nurture leads and improve customer acquisition.
• Monitors paid-media spending and budget pacing throughout the fiscal year and coordinates with Finance, Accounting, agencies, and advertising platforms to support invoice processing, reconciliation, and continuity of advertising accounts.
• Maintains clear documentation of campaign structures, platform requirements, workflows, and key decisions to support consistent execution and effective cross-team collaboration.
• Develops and manages annual paid-media plans across program portfolios and global regions, aligning campaign timing, channel mix, and budget allocation with enrollment and marketing priorities.
• Develops, plans, and disseminates information designed to keep the public informed of the organization's programs,