Manager, Paid Search

MERGE; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 78,000 - 114,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

Life Insurance

401K

Lifestyle Spending Account

Paid Time Off

Job summary

MERGE, a marketing and technology agency, seeks a Manager, Paid Search to lead discovery, audits, and optimization for client campaigns. You will mentor paid search specialists, oversee QA, and drive performance reporting with agility and humility.

The role emphasizes pharma/life sciences expertise, platform mastery (e.g., Search Ads 360, Skai, Marin, Optmyzr, Adalysis), and strong Excel/Workspace skills in a hybrid setting.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of paid search campaign management experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Advertising, or equivalent.
• Pharma/Life Sciences campaign experience.
• Mastery of search engines and management platforms listed above.
• Strong Excel and Google Workspace skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery, audits, keyword plans, and campaign builds.
• Mentor paid search specialists and oversee QA processes and reporting.
• Develop testing plans, negative keywords, and tracking improvements.
• Analyze KPIs (ROAS, CTR, CPA, conversions) and drive performance.
• Lead client status calls and deliver actionable insights.
• Collaborate with major search engines and partners for best tools.

Skills

Paid search management

Pharma & Life Sciences

Mentoring

Collaboration

Agile problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Advertising

Tools

Fluency

Search Ads 360

Skai

Marin

Optmyzr

Smartly.io

Adalysis

Microsoft Excel

Google Workspace

Job description

HYBRID - Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Kansas City, MO; New York City, NY; Raleigh, NC; St. Louis, MO

At MERGE, we are Built Different. We are a marketing and technology agency purpose-built for the intersection of health and wellness—where human impact matters most. By weaving storytelling through technology, we move beyond traditional engagement to Whole Human Marketing. This approach recognizes that humans are multidimensional and complex, and uses AI to ensure every brand interaction feels natural, contextual, and relevant.

This commitment to human-first innovation is what brings us together and propels us forward. We are united by our North Star: to unite people and brands to empower healthier, happier lives.

Emerge to the Top of Your Career

At MERGE, we strive to create a superior work experience where talented and ambitious people grow. An experience that encourages people to think higher and feel deeper. An experience where people engage their minds and hearts to do the best work of their careers.

As our Manager, Paid Search, you will…

Support MERGE's practice in creating, optimizing, and executing top-tier client paid search campaigns. As a hands‑on player and coach, you will guide and mentor our paid search specialists while overseeing keyword research, campaign builds, client recommendations, QA processes, and performance reporting. Bring your passion, natural curiosity, and collaborative spirit to drive real impact for our clients while keeping a strong focus on agility, technical ability, and humble leadership.

What You’ll Do

• Lead Discovery & Audits: Lead the discovery process to understand overall client and PPC goals, conducting thorough audits to pinpoint structural opportunities and refine campaign tactics.
• Optimize Landing Pages & Tracking: Ensure analytics tracking implementation is accurate, seamless, and easy to manage while identifying key optimization opportunities on landing pages.
• Develop Testing & Keyword Plans: Build and recommend keyword strategies, negative keyword maintenance, and ongoing testing plans (such as search query reports and keyword overlap analyses).
• Drive Performance: Continuously analyze program performance against core KPIs (ROAS, CTR, CPA, conversion rates) to keep campaigns sharp, agile, and effective.

Client & Partner Relations

• Deliver Clear Insights: Lead client status and reporting calls to present actionable insights, performance results, and proactive optimization strategies.
• Manage Platform Partnerships: Collaborate closely with major search engines and media partners, including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, to leverage the best tools and opportunities.
• Resolve Billing Smoothly: Act as the primary contact for resolving billing discrepancies in close partnership with our client strategy and billing reconciliation teams.

Quality Assurance & Team Growth

• Maintain High QA Standards: Lead rigorous QA checks for trafficked approved plans across engines (keywords, ad copy, extensions) and launch parameters (dayparting, bids, budgets, and targeting).
• Mentor & Teach with Humility: Train and empower paid search specialists, sharing your expertise generously while acting as a trusted subject matter expert for our broader media strategy teams.
• Shape Practice & Industry Viewpoints: Actively contribute to overall account strategy—including annual budget planning, KPI setting, and partner selection—and share insightful POVs on industry trends both internally and externally.

Who You Are

• Experienced Marketer: You bring 3 to 5 years of professional paid search campaign management experience, ideally backed by a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Advertising, or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• Pharma & Life Sciences Specialist: You have essential, proven experience working on Life Science and Pharma accounts, navigating their unique campaign needs with care and expertise.
• Platform & Tool Expert: You possess true mastery of search engines and management platforms (such as Fluency, Search Ads 360, Skai, Marin, Optmyzr, Smartly.io, or Adalysis), alongside strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Google Workspace.
• Agile Problem Solver: You blend critical thinking with a solution‑oriented mindset, pivoting quickly when performance data or market conditions change.
• Humble Collaborator & Mentor: You enjoy lifting up others, communicating complex insights clearly, and managing multiple high‑priority projects under tight deadlines with composure and team spirit.

#LI-VM

#LI-HYBRID

Our Hybrid Philosophy

For this role, we prioritize hybrid candidates in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Kansas City, MO; Raleigh, NC; and St. Louis, MO, but may consider candidates near other MERGE hubs based on the role and team’s needs. If fully remote is listed as an option, we are also open to U.S.-based candidates who would work remotely.

Hybrid work is our default approach. We value time together for collaboration, relationship building, and key moments. Managers and team leaders determine in‑person expectations based on what best supports their team, clients, and business needs. Some teams and roles require more regular in‑person presence than others.

MERGE has hubs in Chicago, New York City, Boston, Kansas City, Raleigh, Denver, Atlanta, and St. Louis. Regardless of work arrangement, team members may be required to travel to a MERGE hub for meetings, team gatherings, events, or other business needs.

Total Rewards

At MERGE, we’re committed to fostering an environment where our team members can thrive in both their careers and personal lives, ensuring they feel supported and empowered to succeed.

MERGE believes in transparency and equity. In accordance with state regulations, we’re proud to include salary ranges in our job postings to ensure fair compensation practices.

The salary range for this role is $78,000-$114,000, based on the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, location, and other relevant factors. The salary pay range is subject to change and may be modified at any time.

MERGE is proud to invest in benefits that includemeaningful Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, 401K, Lifestyle Spending Account, Employer Paid Life & Disability Insurance, Flexible Time off & Holidays plus many other benefits and rewards.

Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United States.

And here’s how we live our values at MERGE

• Ability. Mastering our craft
• Agility. Delivering with a growth mindset
• Humility. Collaborating for shared success

MERGE is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

MERGE welcomes and celebrates diversity regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status or people with abilities. We believe that the more diverse we are, the more creative our work will be!