Manager, Paid Acquisition

AlleyCorp; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health insurance

401(k)

FSA/HSA

Open vacation policy

PTO + holidays

Job summary

Stepful is seeking a data-driven Manager to own paid media across Meta, Google, YouTube and emerging platforms. You will collaborate with an in-house creative team to test and scale campaigns that drive measurable impact for thousands of students.

You’ll lead end-to-end execution, optimize CAC/ROI, and report on performance while partnering with agencies and internal stakeholders. This hybrid NYC-based role offers meaningful equity and benefits.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of hands-on experience scaling paid social and paid search at a D2C startup.
• Proven track record of driving efficient growth (CAC, ROI, LTV) while scaling spend.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to handle multiple initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end paid media strategy across Meta, Google, and potential new channels.
• Build and drive a continuous testing roadmap across tactics, audiences, creative, messaging, and landing pages.
• Manage our Search agency, holding them accountable to performance goals and roadmap execution.
• Monitor performance daily, optimizing toward CAC and ROI targets while identifying new growth opportunities.
• Own weekly KPI reporting, surfacing trends and learning across the team.
• Partner with creative teams and external agencies to produce high-performing ads.
• Stay current on platform updates and industry trends to keep our paid social strategy ahead.

Skills

Paid Social

Paid Search

Budget Management

CAC Optimization

ROI Tracking

Project Management

Data Analysis

Stakeholder Comms

Agency Partnerships

Job description

About Stepful

Stepful is a workforce platform redefining how America's largest health systems build, train, and retain their talent. Since our founding in 2021, Stepful’s trained over 32,000 practice-ready healthcare workers.

Layering onto our successful direct-to-consumer training, Stepful partners with leading healthcare institutions to address the growing national shortage of healthcare workers. We’re improving access to quality healthcare for everyone, everywhere, and improving access to healthcare career ladders for those who need them most.

Our students form the talent pipelines for major employers such as NY-Presbyterian, Mt. Sinai, HCA, Providence, CVS, and Walgreens. We have partnerships with half of the top 10 health systems in the US and are in process with many more.

Stepful is backed by Y Combinator, Reach Capital, and AlleyCorp, with a recent $55M Series C led by Oak HC/FT. We were named the #1 EdTech company in the U.S. by TIME for 2025.

Our values

We credit much of our success to our exceptional team. We’re looking for mission-driven builders who thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, and embody our four core values:

• Care first: We do whatever it takes for our students to succeed.

• Learn quickly: We test, learn with data, and iterate.

• Build together: We win when we rely on each other.

• Own it: We show up, take initiative, and show pride.

The opportunity

We’re looking for a data-driven and creative Manager to take full ownership of some of our key paid channels. This role is perfect for someone who thrives in a startup environment—rolling up their sleeves, testing fast, scaling what works, and pushing boundaries to hit ambitious growth targets.

You’ll manage high-velocity campaigns across Meta, Google, YouTube, and emerging platforms, with direct access to our in-house production studio and a talented creative team to bring bold ideas to life. If you love pairing data with storytelling—and want to see your work drive measurable impact on thousands of students’ lives—this is your stage.

This hybrid opportunity is based out of our NYC office, reporting directly into our VP of Growth.

What you’ll do

• Own end-to-end paid media strategy across Meta, Google, and potential new channels. From planning through launch, optimization, and scale.

• Build and drive a continuous testing roadmap across different tactics, audiences, creative, messaging, and landing pages, translating results into actionable insights.

• Manage our Search agency, holding them accountable to performance goals and roadmap execution.

• Monitor performance daily, optimizing toward CAC and ROI targets while proactively identifying new growth opportunities.

• Own weekly KPI reporting, surfacing trends, efficiencies, and scaling opportunities, and sharing learnings across the team.

• Diagnose performance fluctuations and pinpoint the channel and business-level factors driving them.

• Partner with the creative teams and external agencies to rapidly produce high-performing video, UGC, influencer, and static assets.

• Stay current on platform updates, algorithm shifts, and industry trends to keep our paid social strategy ahead of the curve.

• Drive new acquisition and full-funnel growth ideas, playing an active role in shaping and running experiments.

What you’ll bring

• 4+ years of hands-on experience scaling paid social and paid search at a D2C startup, ideally managing $1M+ monthly budgets.

• A track record of driving efficient growth (CAC, ROI, LTV) while scaling spend.

• Strong project management skills, with the ability to handle multiple initiatives at the same time.

• Comfort with tactical execution and strategic thinking—you can set the plan and run it yourself.

• Sharp communicator, able to flag risks and opportunities to internal stakeholders and manage day-to-day agency relationships.

• High attention to detail, with a habit of catching and preventing errors before they become problems.

• Experience managing external creative agencies, briefing them effectively, and providing sharp, actionable feedback that helps them iterate toward higher-performing ads.

• Ruthlessly analytical. You dig into performance data to uncover insights, and know exactly which levers to pull to optimize campaigns at scale.

• Able to translate data into a clear narrative, making it actionable for both day-to-day decisions and broader team alignment.

Bonus points if

• You’ve worked in EdTech, healthcare, or another mission-driven B2C industry

• You geek out over testing frameworks, UGC trends, and performance marketing communities

Interview Process

• Introductory call with Talent Acquisition team member

• Interview with Hiring Manager

• Take-Home Assignment

• Virtual Panel Interview

• On-Site Panel Interview

Benefits and Compensation

• Meaningful Equity Stake

• Subsidized Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance plan options

• 401(k)

• FSA, HSA and commuter benefits

• Open vacation policy, including:

  • Guidance of 15 days PTO annually

  • Stepful closed the last week of December

  • 15 work-from-anywhere days

  • 10 public holidays observed for 2025

The target base salary range for this opportunity is $120,000 - $140,000, and is part of a competitive total rewards package including performance-based bonus, equity and benefits. Individual pay may vary from the target range and is determined by a number of factors including experience, internal pay equity and other relevant business considerations.

Stepful is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.