Associate Director, SEM (Remote)

Monks · Chicago · Engineering

Posted 2026-10-22

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About the Role

The Associate Director of Paid Search will report to the Paid Search Director of Account Services. In this role, you will lead a team of Senior Managers and Account Managers, overseeing their day-to-day work and their overall professional development. Our Paid Search team members are experts in paid search advertising, responsible for driving KPI improvements and developing cutting-edge strategies tailored to client goals. As a talented digital marketer yourself, you will also directly manage paid search efforts for 1-3 large client relationships: developing strategy, overseeing execution, and communicating directly with the client.

We are looking for someone with a passion for paid search advertising, well versed in other digital acquisition channels, and a people-focused leader who wants to join a fast-growing, fun digital agency that is hyper-focused on client performance and ROI. The ideal candidate is confident in their ability to drive improvements in account performance, but also to manage and develop our awesome talent.

Responsibilities:

Team Management:

Manage and coach a growing team of Paid Search Senior Managers, Account Managers and Analysts

Lead paid search across B2B or B2C Lead Gen as well as DTC ecommerce clients

Responsible for optimization to core KPIs

Planning and execution

Train your team in advanced Google/Bing and other search partner advertising skills including paid search strategy, forecasting, reporting analytics data visualization,  etc.

Focus on personal development through ongoing feedback, goal reviews, and quarterly 1-on-1s with team members.

Provide support and recognition for your team.

Support department and agency-wide thought leadership and training initiatives

Client & Revenue Oversight:

Generate and oversee strong revenue growth from client renewals.

Participate in onboarding, renewal calls, and other important client communications with top Google advertising accounts.

Develop a detailed understanding of clients’ products, industry, marketing goals, and objectives.

Together with the team, create and overlook well performing paid search strategies across Google and Microsoft Ads

Conduct weekly account reviews with your account managers.

Provide optimization assistance and account troubleshooting.

Analyze performance data and KPIs.

About You

The essentials:

Ideal candidate has 5+ years of agency Google advertising experience and has directly managed paid search budgets of $100,000+ in monthly ad spend.

Experience directly managing both B2B and B2C Google advertising efforts.

Passion for crunching numbers, analyzing data, and navigating Excel spreadsheets

You frequently find yourself stepping into leadership roles and want those around you to succeed

You can use strong and persuasive communication when discussing paid search performance with clients and your team

‘Driven’ and ‘Innovative’ are attributes commonly associated with you

Not afraid to get in the weeds, but still also able to identify the larger direction of the team & paid search  industry.

#LI-OG1

#LI-remote

What We Offer

Benefits

Excellent, full coverage medical, dental, and vision insurance - more about our coverage here!

Generous PTO and 15 company-wide holidays

401k with company contribution

Paid parental leave

Work-life balance with an emphasis on personal well-being

Career growth in a disruptor space & entrepreneurial opportunities within the Monks network

A globally diverse & inclusive culture with employee resource groups such as S4 Melanin, Pride.Monks, Cultura.Monks, and more!

Authentic commitment to DEI efforts and sustainable growth. (Why Sir Martin Sorrell signed The Climate Pledge here!)

This role is subject to our Return to Office (RTO) policy. If you reside within a commutable distance of one of our office locations, you will be expected to work from the office a set number of days per week. The specific details, including the number of required office days, will be in accordance with the company’s then-current RTO policy, which is subject to change from time to time.

Monks has provided a compensation range that represents its good faith estimate of what Monks may pay for the position at the time of posting. Monks may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. The salary offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on job-related factors, but not based on a candidate’s sex or any other protected status.

Salary Range:

$105,000—$118,000 USD

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