Senior Paid Search Specialist

USA (Remote)

$95K/yr – $130K/yrSenior Level3+ years expSalaried Ft

Posted 2 days ago

Job Summary

Own and optimize the full paid search program across Google and Microsoft, directing PMax effectiveness, brand vs non-brand strategy, attribution and offline conversions, landing page optimization, and expansion into new platforms while aligning with SEO.

  • Lead end-to-end account structure and performance across multiple channels
  • Own keyword programs, attribution gaps, and expansion into new platforms
  • Collaborate with SEO and web teams for landing-page and funnel improvements

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Own the account end to end. Search, Performance Max, Demand Gen and YouTube structure, budgets, bid strategies, geo and device modifiers, the full build. You are the person who knows why the account looks the way it does.
  • Run the keyword and search term program. Brand versus non-brand economics, competitor conquesting, aggressive negative keyword hygiene, and match type strategy in a category where a single loose broad match term can burn a week of budget on "personal loans no credit check."
  • Close the loop to funded revenue. Own offline conversion imports from Salesforce back into Google so Smart Bidding optimizes toward funded deals rather than applications. Diagnose and fix attribution gaps, a meaningful share of our qualified leads have historically arrived without clean campaign attribution, and shrinking that number is explicitly part of this role.
  • Make PMax earn its place. Asset group strategy, audience signals, search theme control, and the reporting work required to see inside a black box. If PMax is cannibalizing brand search, we expect you to prove it and act.
  • Own Microsoft Ads as a real second channel. Bing skews older and higher-income than Google, which maps unusually well to a 45-year-old business owner. We run it lightly today. You will own building it out properly, import discipline, independent budget and bid strategy, and its own read on fund rate rather than a copy-paste of the Google account.
  • Grow the search portfolio. You are accountable for scaling search spend against aggressive growth targets while protecting cost per MQL and fund rate. That means knowing where the next $200K a month can actually go - incremental query space, new campaign types, new platforms - and being honest about where it cannot.
  • Evaluate and launch new search and intent platforms. As paid search fragments - retail and marketplace search, AI answer-engine placements, comparison and aggregator inventory - you will be the person who tests them, sizes them, and either builds or kills them. New intent-based channels land in this role.
  • Drive landing page strategy with the web team. Pre-filled URLs measurably out-perform generic entry points on our site. Take that further: pre-filled ad landing pages, keyword-matched apply experiences, and a mobile apply flow with fewer questions between click and answer.
  • Build the Spanish-language search program. Not translated ad copy — a real parallel account structure with keyword research done in Spanish, matched landing pages, and its own performance targets across TX, CA, FL and AZ.
  • Partner with SEO. Our organic small business loans content is a top traffic source. Coordinates so paid and organic are not bidding against each other or duplicating each other's ground.

Requirements

  • 3–5 years managing Google Ads directly, including hands-on Performance Max and large-scale Search accounts.
  • You have personally managed $500K to $1M + a month in paid search spend, or a comparable annual figure, and you have grown a budget at that scale rather than inheriting and holding it.
  • Demonstrated experience with offline conversion imports or an equivalent server-side conversion setup, this is close to a hard requirement.
  • Strong command of Google Ads Editor, scripts or the API for bulk work; you should not be making 400 changes in the UI.
  • Comfortable defending a decision to pause a campaign that looks profitable on last-click.
  • Google Ads certification is fine; a rebuilt account structure and a spend curve you can walk us through are better.

Preferred

  • Microsoft Ads (Bing) management experience, a significant advantage, since this channel is coming under the role either way.
  • Experience standing up a brand-new paid channel from zero to meaningful spend.
  • Experience with a paid search program in a regulated or lending category.
  • Familiarity with Google Analytics, GTM and a warehouse-based reporting stack.
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Cardiff

Cardiff is small business lender intent on transforming the digital lending vertical for the 21st century. We are a financial services leader with unparalleled industry-specific products and expertise. We maintain thousands of relationships with business owners, equipment dealers and manufacturers across the US who value our integrity, creativity and technology. Our product set includes commercial equipment financing and leasing, credit cards, merchant services, and insurance.

Founded in 2004
San Diego, California, USA
108 employees (7 in marketing)

Salaries

Posted range

$95K/yr – $130K/yr

Taken straight from the job posting.

See all Cardiff salaries

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
5 (5% of company)
Median Tenure
1.3 years
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
2

Funding

Total Funding
$5.7M
Last Raise
$5.7M
Debt Financing, 4 months ago

Funding History

  • Nov 2025
    Debt Financing
  • Nov 2024
    Debt Financing • $5.7M

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
62.3K
Monthly Google Ads Budget
$303K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
32%
Direct
52.5%
Referral
6%
Social
7%
Paid
2.3%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~108
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Senior Paid Search Specialist

Cardiff · USA · Remote