*Skilled worker visa sponsorship will be considered for this role*

About Merkle | DWA

Founded as an independent media agency in 1996, Merkle | DWA is headquartered in San Francisco, with ten additional offices in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific, employing >250 employees globally.

In December 2017 we were acquired by Merkle, part of dentsu. The move expanded the B2B offering at Merkle. dentsu announced the creation of Merkle B2B in September 2020, a group of world class B2B agencies under the dentsu umbrella offering end-to-end B2B experiences to global brands. As the media strategy and execution arm of Merkle B2B, Merkle | DWA is an integral part of this new company.

Merkle | DWA’s integration with Detsu’s B2B agencies offers employees the opportunity to collaborate with data, analytics, creative, and research professionals across the organization and for some of the world’s most renowned B2B brands, including Intel, Cisco, and Intuit.

We are looking for a Paid Search Director to lead & develop a paid search team of approximately 7 people and develop our paid search strategy across our key performance clients.

As a Paid Search Director, you are responsible for leading a group of 7 Search experts. You are an expert in all things paid search and can bring innovative performance solutions to our clients. Your responsibilities include building and growing strong senior-level client relationships, providing strategic direction to the team, maintaining the financial health of all performance accounts, scoping projects and developing staff. Together with the Head of Performance, you will move the performance specialism forward and in line with our agency vision, both internally across the wider network and externally with clients & industry peers.

Life as a Paid Search Director at Merkle | DWA

• Lead quarterly business review meetings as well as other senior-level client meetings and presentations
• Manage, train, and develop the team of Senior Account Managers. Managers and Executives
• Monitor account profitability and ensure accurate billing and forecasting to ensure the financial health of accounts
• Participate in establishing business plan objectives with the Head of Performance and determine process & best practice guidelines
• Actively generate case studies to showcase Merkle |DWA’s work
• Interview applicants for available positions and recommend selection, promotion, discipline and related personnel actions
• Own the relationship with our senior client stakeholders aiming for high client satisfaction and retention. Truly understand our clients brand and the B2B industry
• Own the collaborative relationship with other agencies and platform partners
• Work with the Head of Performance to recognise new service and growth opportunities
• Accountable for thought leadership activity both with the client and internally, putting forward new topics of interest and championing creative strategic thinking
• Ensure effective communication across internal teams and across the client & platform partners

A few of the benefits

Whether it’s the joy of working with people at the top of their game or the Merkle social calendar, people love working here – and we hope you will too

• Career development through Merkle University and other tools; with access to courses, textbooks and mentorship
• Private Medical Insurance, Company Pension, life insurance and other corporate benefits
• A selection of other benefits including ability to buy additional holiday, season ticket loan and 2 volunteer days

What we are looking for in you

• Extensive experience managing performance campaigns across multiple paid search platforms, with a focus on Google Ads & Search Ads 360 as well as Bing
• Ability to think strategically and identify and resolve problems in a client-centric environment
• Ability to nurture and retain client relationships & understand how performance can feed into wider business goals
• Strong managerial experience, including experience developing and mentoring a team
• Experience working with financial data and budgets
• Ability to collaborate effectively with other agency capabilities to meet common goals
• Experience of collaborating with senior level stakeholders both internally and externally
• B2B experience is a plus

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

At Merkle, a dentsu company, we believe that creating diverse and balanced teams is not just a moral imperative, it is a business imperative. To help our clients reach millions of different people every day, we need our people to reflect the society that we represent.

We aim to create an inclusive culture where all talent thrives, and we champion meaningful progress in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for our people, clients and partners.

DEI is firmly embedded into our shared values - the 8 Ways to Never Before - and our Leadership Framework, which applies to all of our people. And our Global DEI Principles reflect our pledge to be an organisation that promotes wellbeing and inclusivity for everyone - regardless of ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, gender (incl. gender identity and gender expression), age, neurodiversity or physical ability. 

We are proud of what makes us different and encourage applicants from all different backgrounds to apply to join us. We are always happy to discuss all flexible and agile approached to working and should you have any reasonable adjustment needs arising from a disability or medical condition to fully participate in the recruitment process, please discuss this with our recruitment teams.

Merkle does not discriminate against job applicants on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Experience stipulated in this job description serves as a guide only and all applications will be considered on their merits, irrespective of experience.

As part of our Diversity and Inclusion agenda, and as an Equal Opportunities employer, if you require reasonable adjustments during the selection process please engage directly with your Recruiter.