Head of Paid Media & Search Strategy

Gartner, Inc.; Dolphin Cove (CT); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 167,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Base salary range

Annual bonus

Generous PTO

401k match

Stock purchase plan

Job summary

Gartner, Inc. seeks a Director, Paid Media & Search Strategy to lead Gartner Conference Marketing's paid media program and drive audience development, channel planning, measurement, and platform governance across search, social, video, display, and programmatic campaigns.

You will partner with Sales, Marketing Ops, Analytics, and external agencies to optimize investments, advance registrations, and deliver measurable business impact.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in paid media, digital marketing, performance marketing, or related disciplines.
• Expertise across search, paid social, video, display, and programmatic advertising channels.
• Experience developing audience strategies and targeting approaches in complex B2B organizations.
• Experience managing agency relationships, influencing senior stakeholders, and evaluating strategic recommendations.
• Strong understanding of measurement methodologies, attribution concepts, and campaign performance evaluation.
• Experience leading or partnering closely with SEO functions.

Responsibilities

• Develop paid media strategies aligned with business objectives, marketing goals, and growth priorities.
• Define channel recommendations across Google Search, Google Display Network, YouTube, Performance Max, Microsoft Ads, LinkedIn, programmatic media, and emerging platforms.
• Guide investment strategies, budget allocation decisions, and optimization priorities across channels, audiences, and campaign objectives.
• Lead test-and-learn initiatives designed to improve campaign effectiveness and uncover new opportunities.
• Own audience strategy across paid media programs, translating ICPs, sales priorities, and marketing objectives into actionable targeting and segmentation approaches.
• Partner with Sales and Marketing leadership to refine audience prioritization and optimize performance across customer, prospect, account, industry, and buying group segments.
• Serve as Gartner Conference Marketing's internal subject matter expert across paid media platforms and advertising technologies.
• Establish governance, best practices, measurement standards, and strategic guidance while educating stakeholders on platform capabilities, limitations, and emerging trends.
• Partner closely with Marketing Operations to ensure campaign execution aligns with strategic intent, audience strategy, measurement standards, and established best practices.
• Evaluate new platform capabilities and opportunities that can improve marketing performance and efficiency.
• Provide strategic leadership across organic search, paid search, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and emerging AI-driven search experiences.
• Partner with SEO resources to develop search visibility strategies that align with business objectives and audience priorities.
• Ensure alignment between SEO, paid search, content, and audience targeting strategies.
• Evaluate how evolving search behavior and AI-driven discovery impact Gartner's acquisition strategy.
• Evaluate, challenge, approve, or reject agency and vendor recommendations based on business objectives and industry best practices.
• Serve as the organization's internal authority for assessing external recommendations and strategic direction.
• Hold agencies and partners accountable for strategic quality, innovation, operational excellence, and performance outcomes.
• Manage and develop the SEO function, providing strategic direction, coaching, and professional development.
• Foster collaboration across Paid Media, SEO, Marketing Operations, Analytics, Sales, and Marketing teams while building organizational expertise in acquisition strategy and emerging search channels.
• Define measurement frameworks, KPIs, dashboards, and reporting requirements in partnership with Analytics teams.
• Partner with Analytics, CRM, and Marketing Operations teams to improve attribution, audience targeting, performance visibility, and measurement approaches.
• Analyze performance trends and translate insights into strategic recommendations related to audience refinement, channel optimization, and budget allocation.
• Drive continuous testing, optimization, and periodic reviews of campaign structure, targeting, measurement frameworks, and reporting approaches.
• Evaluate emerging platforms, technologies, and acquisition opportunities, including Meta, AEO, AI-driven search experiences, and future advertising innovations.
• Lead testing strategies and drive adoption of opportunities that improve performance and organizational capability.
• Lead regular reviews with Gartner marketing experts and research teams to assess emerging trends, audience behaviors, platform evolution, and opportunities impacting paid media, search, and acquisition strategies.

Skills

Paid media

Digital marketing

Performance marketing

Media strategy

Audience strategy

Agency management

Measurement & attribution

SEO collaboration

B2B marketing

Leadership

Job description

Gartner, Inc. seeks a Director, Paid Media & Search Strategy to lead Gartner Conference Marketing's paid media program and drive audience development, channel planning, measurement, and platform governance across search, social, video, display, and programmatic campaigns.

You will partner with Sales, Marketing Ops, Analytics, and external agencies to optimize investments, advance registrations, and deliver measurable business impact.