Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Manager

Carbondale, CO (Hybrid)

$60K/yr – $70K/yrMid Level2+ years expFull time

Posted 3 months ago

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Job Summary

Drive full-funnel SEM leadership across Google ads for outdoor brands, with client-facing strategy and budget pacing as core requirements.

  • Must-have: 2–4+ years of hands-on SEM with Google Ads across Search, YouTube, and Performance Max.
  • Standout: Client-facing strategy delivery, budget pacing, and cross-channel incrementality focus.

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Establish and evolve SEM strategies across the Google ecosystem, building full-funnel approaches that connect brand awareness to conversion.
  • Architect campaign and ad group structures across Search, AI Max, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen, and YouTube campaigns tailored to each client’s goals.
  • Deliver integrated paid search and YouTube campaigns that complement Social, Programmatic, and SEO to drive incrementality.
  • Develop branded and non-branded keyword strategies and audience targeting that maximize efficiency and performance.
  • Analyze campaign data and identify trends to generate actionable optimizations.
  • Present strategy, recommendations, and performance reports to clients on a bi-weekly, monthly, and quarterly cadence — delivered via client-ready PowerPoint and reporting dashboards that turn data into clear decisions.
  • Pace and manage SEM budgets to reach allocated monthly spend while maximizing performance.
  • Ensure financial and operational accuracy by monitoring pacing, campaign QA, and maintaining clean account hygiene.
  • Support the growth and development of the broader SEM team and contribute to a culture of continuous learning across the agency.
  • Maintain and build upon Backbone’s relationship with Google’s Premier Partner support team.
  • Stay current on platform roadmaps, AI-powered features, and emerging campaign types.
Backbone Media logo

Backbone Media

At Backbone, we are insiders of the outside world; we bring an expedition mindset and discipline specializations to hone, amplify, and stoke brands in the active lifestyle space and beyond. Backbone is an integrated marketing agency with capabilities in public relations, paid media, strategy, social media, influencer marketing, search marketing (SEO and SEM), analytics, affiliate marketing, and retail marketing. From day one, Backbone was rooted in the idea that you could fuse passion for an outdoor, active lifestyle with a profession advocating for brands you believe in. Today, we’re a team of more than 100 hard-charging runners, skiers, climbers, cyclists, hikers, paddlers, hunters, anglers, dog lovers and travel enthusiasts. We align our employees’ passions with the brands they represent.Our fast-paced offices in Denver and Carbondale have landed us on Outside’s “Best Places to Work” list more years than we can count. But we don’t just throw around buzzwords like teamwork, trust, and transparency. We live and breathe by our true north — from lunch runs, the Powder Clause and happy hours to trail work days and river clean-ups.Check out our website to learn more about us and what we do.

Founded in 1997
Carbondale, Colorado, USA
109 employees (73 in marketing)

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
9.6K
Monthly Google Ads Budget
$38
Traffic Source Mix
Search
33.1%
Direct
47.7%
Referral
6.5%
Social
11.6%
Paid
0.9%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~108

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
71 (65% of company)
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
1