Paid Media Manager

At Colibri, culture is a critical part of our collective success, and we live our values everyday: Love, Joy,Boldness, Teamwork and Curiosity. These values guide our interactions with each other, our customers,and the community as a whole.We have a rich and storied history. Colibri is one of the pioneers of online professional education,introducing some of the first web-based professional education courses in 2001. Today, the company’sfamily of brands are the leading online professional education platforms in their respective end-markets.We proudly serve >1 million customers annually and employ more than 1,500 mission-alignedprofessionals. To learn more, please visit: www.colibrigroup.com

Position Overview

We're seeking a highly strategic, performance-driven Paid Media Manager to lead paid acquisition strategy across four brands within the VPS ecosystem. This role owns paid media strategy, performance, and optimization across approximately $22 million in annual digital revenue and $3.4 million in annual paid media investment, ensuring every marketing dollar contributes to profitable, sustainable growth.

This is not a campaign management role. We're looking for a performance marketer who has successfully rebuilt underperforming paid media programs, understands the mechanics behind Google Ads performance, and knows how to balance short-term revenue goals with long-term acquisition efficiency.

The ideal candidate is an expert in full-funnel paid media strategy, understanding when to invest in top-of-funnel demand generation versus bottom-of-funnel conversion campaigns and how attribution models should evolve accordingly. They recognize that Google, Microsoft Ads, Meta, SEO, CRO, Lifecycle Marketing, and Analytics work together as a single acquisition ecosystem and make investment decisions based on overall business impact—not channel-specific metrics.

Success in this role requires strategic thinking, analytical rigor, and operational excellence. This individual will diagnose performance issues, identify growth opportunities, communicate clear executive-level recommendations, and partner cross-functionally to maximize customer acquisition, marketing efficiency, and revenue growth.

What You'll Do

Paid Acquisition Strategy & Business Performance

• Develop and execute paid acquisition strategies that drive revenue growth, customer acquisition, and long-term business objectives across four VPS brands.

• Lead the turnaround and continuous optimization of paid media programs, improving efficiency, scalability, and commercial performance.

• Make strategic investment decisions across brands, campaigns, audiences, and channels to maximize incremental revenue and return on marketing investment.

Search Engine Marketing Leadership

• Own Google Ads strategy and performance, leading campaign architecture, optimization, and continuous improvement across Search, Performance Max, Demand Gen, Shopping, and other campaign types.

• Diagnose performance issues using platform data, customer behavior, competitive insights, and attribution, translating analysis into measurable business results.

• Develop search strategies that balance brand protection, customer acquisition, campaign efficiency, and profitability while maximizing qualified traffic and revenue.

Cross-Channel Performance Optimization

• Develop integrated, full-funnel acquisition strategies across Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta, YouTube, and other paid channels, balancing top-, mid-, and bottom-funnel investments while applying appropriate attribution models.

• Optimize performance across paid search, paid social, SEO, CRO, Lifecycle Marketing, and direct traffic, identifying opportunities to improve overall marketing efficiency through coordinated channel strategies.

• Continuously evaluate channel, audience, and campaign performance, shifting investment toward the highest-impact opportunities based on business objectives and customer behavior.

Performance Analysis & Continuous Improvement

• Conduct ongoing account health audits to identify optimization opportunities, diagnose performance issues, and improve campaign efficiency.

• Lead a disciplined testing and optimization program across campaign structure, bidding, audiences, creative, messaging, and landing pages using measurable success criteria.

• Ensure operational excellence through accurate campaign execution, QA, tracking integrity, reporting, and continuous performance improvement.

Budget Stewardship & Commercial Accountability

• Manage approximately $3.4 million in annual paid media investment across multiple brands, balancing revenue growth, profitability, and long-term marketing efficiency.

• Make data-driven investment decisions using incremental revenue, CAC, ROAS, LTV, pacing, and overall business performance to optimize marketing efficiency.

• Proactively identify risks and growth opportunities, adjusting investment strategies as business priorities evolve.

Executive Reporting & Strategic Partnership

• Develop executive reporting and recommendations that translate paid media performance into clear business insights, root causes, and prioritized actions.

• Partner cross-functionally with Product Marketing, SEO, CRO, Lifecycle Marketing, Analytics, Finance, and platform partners to improve acquisition performance and identify new growth opportunities.

AI & Marketing Technology

• Leverage AI-enabled tools to accelerate analysis, reporting, forecasting, testing, and workflow efficiency while applying sound marketing judgment.

• Stay current on evolving advertising platforms, automation capabilities, and emerging AI-driven optimization opportunities.

What You'll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Analytics, or a related field, with 5–8 years of experience managing complex paid acquisition programs with direct responsibility for revenue growth.

• Expert-level experience managing Google Ads (Search, Performance Max, YouTube, Demand Gen, and Shopping), with demonstrated success rebuilding underperforming accounts and driving double-digit revenue growth through optimization rather than increased media spend.

• Deep expertise in full-funnel paid media strategy, including campaign architecture, attribution models, audience segmentation, bidding strategies, landing page optimization, and conversion rate optimization.

• Strong understanding of how paid search, SEO, CRO, Lifecycle Marketing, and Analytics work together to maximize customer acquisition and overall marketing efficiency.

• Proven analytical ability to diagnose root causes, identify growth opportunities, and translate data into strategic business recommendations.

• Experience with GA4, Shopify, attribution and reporting platforms, and AI-enabled marketing tools.

• Excellent communication and executive presentation skills, with the ability to influence cross-functional partners and drive alignment across the organization.

• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, highly accountable environment while managing multiple brands, competing priorities, and significant business responsibility.

What Success Looks Like

• Restore paid media performance by improving revenue, acquisition efficiency, and return on ad spend across VPS brands.

• Build scalable campaign structures that support sustainable long-term growth.

• Establish disciplined optimization, testing, and reporting processes.

• Improve collaboration across Paid Media, Product Marketing, SEO, CRO, Lifecycle Marketing, and Analytics.

• Increase overall marketing efficiency by making investment decisions based on total business impact rather than individual channel performance.