Paid Search Director

Fingerpaint Group; Cedar Knolls (NJ); On-site; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equal opportunity employer

Job summary

Fingerpaint Group is seeking a Director, Paid Search to lead strategy and operations for pharmaceutical client work. You will set vision for search campaigns, oversee a four-person team, and collaborate with organic search to align omnichannel efforts.

You will forecast, scope, and staff paid search projects, act as senior client lead, and drive innovation in automation and AI-enabled bidding to improve outcomes.

Qualifications

• 6–8 years of hands-on paid search experience with leadership responsibilities.
• Deep expertise in paid search across Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, YouTube, and Search Ads 360.
• Experience in pharma or healthcare clients is a plus.
• Strong ability to translate data into clear strategic recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Define the strategic direction for paid search campaigns across major platforms.
• Present performance insights and optimization suggestions to clients and stakeholders.
• Lead and develop a four-person paid search team with accountability for results.
• Forecast, scope, and staff paid search projects for assigned brands.

Skills

Paid search strategy

Team leadership

Client management

Google Ads

Microsoft Advertising

GA analytics

AI tools

Tools

Looker Studio

Tableau

Job description

Position at Fingerpaint Marketing
Reset your expectations of what a healthcare agency can be. Fingerpaint was founded on a simple, powerful idea: Put people first. By replacing egos with a \"Never Paint by Number\" philosophy, we empower our teams to create truly original work while delivering integrated marketing and life sciences solutions for patients and providers alike. Fiercely independent, we blend empathy, creativity, and data to solve the industry’s most complex challenges, empowering bold thinkers to craft with the courage and purpose needed to break the mold.

Objectives Of This Role

As a Director, Paid Search at Fingerpaint, you will serve as a strategic and operational leader within the paid search discipline across a portfolio of pharmaceutical clients. You will set the strategic vision for your assigned accounts, drive innovation in how we manage and optimize search campaigns, and ensure our capabilities remain at the forefront of the industry. You will lead and develop a high-performing team of four direct reports, overseeing strategy and activation for your assigned brands. You will also partner with organic search and generative engine optimization counterparts to ensure a holistic, collaborative approach to search strategy. You will also be responsible for forecasting, scoping, and staffing paid search projects to ensure proper management, optimizations, and support is available for your assigned brands. You will serve as the senior point of contact for client relationships, represent paid search in new business opportunities, and lead thought leadership efforts.

Duties & Responsibilities

Paid Search Strategy & Client Leadership

• Set the strategic direction for paid search campaigns across Google, Microsoft (Bing), YouTube, and other biddable search-based platforms, ensuring alignment with client business goals, strategic imperatives, and broader media objectives
• Present complex paid search strategies, performance insights, and optimization recommendations to external stakeholders in a clear, confident, and digestible manner
• Oversee and strategically contribute to targeting, keyword research, ad copy development, landing page assignments, and KPIs/measurement objectives with consideration for campaign outcomes beyond the click, such as deep content engagement and Rx conversion
• Proactively identify emerging opportunities in the paid search landscape, including automation, AI-powered bidding, and new platform capabilities, and translate them into actionable client strategies
• Serve as the senior point of contact for assigned brands, partnering closely with clients and internal team leads across other departments to integrate paid search within the broader omnichannel media plan

Team Leadership & Development

• Foster a high-performing team culture rooted in accountability, collaboration, continuous learning, and operational excellence
• Set clear expectations and goals for team members, providing regular feedback, mentorship, and career development guidance
• Ensure quality assurance across all team deliverables, including campaign builds, keyword research, bid management, financial actualizations, and client reporting
• Prioritize and delegate tasks across the team in the areas of account creation, QA, optimization, pacing, bid management, targeting, and reporting
• Oversee scope development, staffing forecasts, and utilization planning in coordination with media, account, and project management teams

Thought Leadership & New Business

• Lead thought leadership efforts by authoring and reviewing search-related POVs, case studies, and insights based on industry updates, trends, and campaign performance findings
• Serve as a paid search subject matter expert in new business pitches and proposals, articulating Fingerpaint’s capabilities and point of view to prospective clients
• Contribute to the development and refinement of agency-wide paid search processes, best practices, and capability offerings
• Stay informed about the latest trends, technologies, and regulations in the search marketplace through research, industry events, and conferences

Job Requirements

• 6-8 years of hands-on experience managing paid search accounts, with progressive leadership and management responsibilities; agency experience strongly preferred
• Deep expertise in paid search campaign strategy, management, analysis, and optimization across Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, YouTube, and Search Ads 360
• In addition to experience in pharmaceutical industry, non-pharma experience is welcome
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex data and campaign performance into clear, actionable strategic recommendations
• Strong proficiency with analytics and data visualization platforms (Google Analytics, Tableau, Looker Studio, or Google Data Studio)
• Experience working with AI tools, such as Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT, to improve day to day efficiencies within your and your team’s workloads
• Experience contributing to and leading new business pitches and proposals is a plus
• Excellent organizational, written, and verbal communication skills
• Proficient in MS Office, particularly Excel (V-Lookups, Pivot Tables, financial modeling) and PowerPoint
• Experience with or exposure to organic SEO is a plus
• Experience with generative engine optimization (GEO) and working within LLMs is a plus
• Experience with advanced claims-based analytics (e.g., Crossix DIFA) is a plus

Fingerpaint Group provides equal employment [and affirmative action] opportunities to all applicants and employees. We are proud to recruit qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or citizenship status.