Associate Director, Paid Search and Social

University of Chicago•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director of Paid Search and Social develops, executes, and optimizes paid digital advertising campaigns to strengthen Chicago Booth’s brand presence and engage prospective students, with a focus on lead generation. The role combines paid search and paid social strategy, campaign management, performance analysis, and collaboration across marketing, admissions, analytics, web development, finance, and external agencies. The position oversees paid search agency work, develops paid social campaigns across platforms, and uses analytics, testing, audience segmentation, and landing-page optimization to improve campaign performance and conversions. It also plans and manages annual budgets and media schedules across programs and global regions, tracks leads through the enrollment funnel and CRM, and maintains campaign documentation and financial coordination. This role is an individual contributor in the Communications job family and is currently expected to work at least three days per week in the office. It is not eligible for employer-sponsored employment authorization.

Requirements

A college or university degree in a related field.
Five to seven years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Proven experience in digital advertising and PPC campaign management.
Strong analytical skills and proficiency with Google Analytics, Search Ads 360, and other reporting tools.
Proficiency in Adobe Analytics.
Understanding of A/B testing, audience segmentation, and conversion rate optimization.
Familiarity with CRM platforms, including Slate.
Demonstrated success managing social media advertising platforms and executing effective campaigns.
Ability to develop, execute, and manage multi-channel marketing campaigns.
In-depth understanding of bid strategies, quality score, ad copywriting best practices, and landing-page optimization.
Strong verbal, written, presentation, and organizational skills.
Ability to work independently with little supervision, identify improvement opportunities, recommend effective changes, and achieve objectives.
Strategic planning, critical thinking, analytical, and persuasion skills.
Ability to manage multiple detailed tasks and projects simultaneously, meet strict deadlines, and handle frequent interruptions.
Professional demeanor, tact, discretion, and a customer-service-oriented approach.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree.

Responsibilities

Refine and optimize paid advertising campaigns to maximize lead quality and conversion rates.
Develop and implement a paid social media strategy to increase brand awareness and generate high-quality leads.
Build, manage, and execute campaigns across social platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
Oversee an external paid search agency by setting priorities, evaluating recommendations, reviewing implementation, and ensuring accountability for performance.
Develop, monitor, and optimize ad performance and landing pages using A/B testing, audience segmentation, and performance analytics.
Analyze campaign data, prepare reports, and recommend actions to measure effectiveness, adjust strategy, and maximize ROI.
Collaborate with content, creative, and brand teams on ad creatives and messaging to improve user experience and conversions.
Work with data analytics, brand, and admissions teams on paid-campaign targeting, including global paid search, audience-based targeting, and paid-social retargeting.
Collaborate with web development teams to improve website conversion paths and user experience.
Develop annual paid-media plans, forecasts, budget allocations, and pacing recommendations aligned with program and fiscal-year objectives.
Coordinate with admissions to integrate digital marketing activities with the CRM, including Slate.
Track lead progression and analyze conversion rates across the enrollment funnel.
Stay current with industry trends, ad formats, and platform updates to improve digital marketing strategies.
Implement remarketing strategies to nurture leads and improve customer acquisition.
Monitor paid-media spending and budget pacing, and coordinate with Finance, Accounting, agencies, and advertising platforms on invoices, reconciliation, and continuity of advertising accounts.
Document campaign structures, platform requirements, workflows, and key decisions to support consistent execution and cross-team collaboration.
Develop and manage annual paid-media plans across program portfolios and global regions, aligning timing, channel mix, and budgets with enrollment and marketing priorities.
Develop and disseminate information about the organization’s programs, accomplishments, or point of view.
Solve moderate to complex problems related to writing, preparing, or delivering information from or about the unit.
Develop and execute strategies to improve communications effectiveness and create metrics to evaluate effectiveness.
Perform other related work as needed.