Director, Paid Search

🕒 July 17

🌽 Illinois – Remote

🌽 Illinois – Remote

💵 $154.2k - $192.8k / year

⏰ Full Time

🔴 Lead

📈 Performance Marketing

👻 Ghost score 15%

What it means: how likely this posting is sitting open without active hiring.How to read it: 60% or higher means we think this is a ghost. Lower scores are less of a worry.How we score it: age, reposts, open roles vs team size, how fast jobs close, and whether pay is listed.Fine print: an estimate from public data, not a judgment of the company. Real jobs can score high, so treat it as a hint, not a fact.

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Cars Commerce

WebsiteLinkedInAll Job Openings

1001 - 5000 employees

💼 Consulting

📣 Marketing

📦 Logistics

Consulting • Marketing • Logistics

Cars Commerce is a comprehensive online platform that facilitates the buying, selling, and research of vehicles. It provides a wide range of listings for new and used cars, along with tools and resources for customers to compare different makes and models, read reviews, and obtain financing options. With a focus on enhancing the car shopping experience, Cars Commerce connects sellers with local dealers and offers estimates for vehicle sales, ensuring a streamlined process for prospective buyers and sellers alike.

📋 Description

• Own Cars.com's consumer SEM program end-to-end across Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and emerging AI-driven search surfaces • Set strategy, execution standards, performance roadmap, goals, forecasts, budgets, and KPI frameworks for an 8+ figure annual SEM budget • Own budget allocation and pacing and make data-driven reallocation decisions • Oversee campaign architecture, bidding, keywords, audiences, feeds, ad copy, creative testing, landing-page optimization, account hygiene, and testing • Build and scale feed-based automation, API integrations, Smart Bidding, scripts, signal-based strategies, and AI-agent workflows • Embed AI/ML and generative AI into bidding, query expansion, ad copy generation, and reporting • Partner with Product, Engineering, Design, and Lifecycle to improve landing pages, conversion rates, and onboarding • Anticipate changes in AI-driven search and maintain visibility across traditional and AI-driven search surfaces • Define and maintain SEM measurement frameworks covering attribution, incrementality, MMM, conversion tracking, and reporting automation • Translate performance into executive-ready narratives connecting search to acquisition, revenue, and payback • Set QA standards for ad copy, destination URLs, tracking parameters, budget controls, spend, data integrity, and brand protection • Own agency and Google/Microsoft platform relationships, strategic roadmaps, QBRs, troubleshooting, and improvement plans • Build and lead a team of SEM specialists with clear ownership and operating rhythms

🎯 Requirements

• 10+ years in performance/growth marketing with deep hands-on paid search expertise • Proven track record managing 8–9 figure annual SEM budgets tied to acquisition, revenue, ROI, and payback goals • Expert-level command of Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising • Advanced campaign types, Smart Bidding, scripts, feeds, and enterprise bid management with Search Ads 360 • Experience in marketplace, classifieds, e-commerce, or high-volume B2C lead-generation businesses • Experience building scale through feed-based automation, API integrations, signal-based bidding, scripting, and AI/ML or generative AI in SEM workflows • Demonstrated success growing paid search volume while improving CPL/CPA and ROAS through testing and iteration • Fluency in attribution, incrementality, media mix modeling, large datasets, and querying • Strong focus on account hygiene, testing velocity, QA, and continuous optimization • Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience • Applicants for US-based positions must be authorized to work in the United States • Cars Commerce is unable to sponsor employment visas at this time • Preferred: marketplace/classifieds experience; Google Ads API or scripting; feed-based bidding signals; product/engineering tooling; AI-driven search and SEO alignment; adjacent biddable media

🏖️ Benefits

• Medical, Dental & Vision Healthcare Plans • New Hire Stipend for Home Office Set-Up • Generous PTO • Paid Holidays • Floating Holiday • Volunteer Day • Recharge Day • Bonus and/or equity programs depending on level and role • Comprehensive benefits package for regular full-time positions • Remote-first workplace • Training and development opportunities