Associate Director, Paid Search

Tombras, a 450+ person, full-service, national advertising agency with a digital mindset, is seeking an Associate Director, Paid Search.

Join an industry-leading search marketing team—recognized as a Google Agency Excellence winner and honored with 18 national US Search Awards—that thrives on solving our clients’ biggest business challenges. As Associate Director, Paid Search, you will develop, implement, and continually optimize innovative paid search campaigns for important enterprise brands. This is an opportunity to break the status quo of search marketing by leveraging data and AI in unique ways, collaborating across social, programmatic, and investment teams, and driving holistic media solutions that deliver measurable, incremental impact. We seek someone with an entrepreneurial and analytical mindset who can build strong client relationships, mentor team members, and champion bold new ideas to power award-winning performance.

If you’re passionate about using data and AI to redefine search marketing for leading enterprise brands—and you’re ready to build holistic solutions that drive real business results—we want to hear from you.

Where you'll be working: Knoxville or Atlanta. Relocation assistance may be provided.

What you'll be doing:

• Architect effective Google Ads and Microsoft Ads campaigns across all ad formats and surfaces including Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, App and Gmail.
• Exhibit confident communication skills to effectively present tactical paid search plans and campaign status reports to C-suite level clients on a daily and weekly basis
• Manage paid search bid management using best-in-class match type strategies, campaign settings, demographic targeting, remarketing, custom audience lists, and custom-built automation
• Research keywords, analyze their relevance and perform competitive analysis.
• Recommend landing page strategies and consult on landing page planning and optimizations
• Possess a well-developed analytical ability and a proven track record of extracting tangible insights from large data sets and synthesizing them into actionable plans for monthly meetings and QBRs.
• A/B/n testing a multitude of campaign variables to increase the efficiency of campaign budgets to drive leads/conversion improvements, expand search impression share and drive higher ROI for our clients
• Administer bid management tools to accurately pace daily paid search budgets
• Monitor and analyze campaign performance in platforms like Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Skai and more
• Implement and test strategies designed to increase conversion rates and lower cost-per-lead across multiple clients in multiple verticals
• Ensure billing and budget pacing is handled accurately and in a timely matter
• Work closely across all other media and creative teams at Tombras to build cohesive data-driven media plans with best-in-class approaches to measurement and strategy recommendations for creative effectiveness
• Champion department processes, stay current on search marketing industry trends and best practices—we’re looking for thought leaders in generative AI use cases for both internal and external facing applications.

What you bring:

• 4-6+ years of Paid Search experience within an advertising agency
• Google Ads certifications
• Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving: Ability to approach complex challenges creatively, analyze data insights, and make strategic decisions that go beyond standard campaign optimizations.
• Proactive & Self-Driven Work Ethic: Demonstrates initiative, ownership, and the motivation to seek out new ways to improve workflows and client outcomes.
• Early AI Adoption & Successful AI Implementation: Advanced use of AI, LLMs, and Google's latest in AI automation to enhance productivity, optimize campaigns, automate reporting, develop deep campaign opportunities, generate audience insights, and develop better performing creative across Google Ads surfaces (Search, Shopping, Display, Gmail and YouTube).
• Continuous Learning Mindset: Eagerness to learn new technologies, adapt to emerging industry trends, and consistently iterate on best practices.
• Collaboration & Communication: Capable of working across different teams (social, programmatic, investment) to develop holistic,