Director, Paid Search – YouTube

Rain the Growth Agency

Director of Paid Search & YouTube at Rain, managing paid search strategies and team leadership. Leading focused strategies across YouTube and search-adjacent media, enhancing client performance.

Posted 7/22/2026full-timeRemote • 🇺🇸 United StatesLeadWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in paid search strategy, YouTube activation, and performance marketing, with a strong focus on data-driven decision-making and cross-channel integration. Proven ability to lead teams, mentor talent, and drive measurable business outcomes through effective campaign management and optimization.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Paid Search Strategy DevelopmentGoogle Ads ProficiencyYouTube Campaign ManagementPerformance Marketing MindsetTeam Leadership and Mentoring

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Paid Search ManagementAlgorithmic BiddingMeasurement and ReportingData AnalysisCampaign OptimizationAudience StrategyCreative ConsiderationsBudget AllocationKeyword StrategyTrafficking

Soft Skills

Collaborative SpiritCreative Problem-SolvingAttention to DetailEffective CommunicationMentoring and Development

Tools & Technologies

Google AdsMicrosoft AdsSearch Ads 360Shopping Feed PlatformsReporting ToolsMarinKenshooAdobeYouTube SelectCommerce Platforms

Certifications & Qualifications

Google Ads CertificationMicrosoft Ads Certification

Industry Keywords

Paid SearchYouTube AdvertisingE-commerceDigital MarketingAdvertising AgencyCross-Channel MediaPerformance MetricsClient Stakeholder ManagementAd TechAutomation

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Serve as Rains senior subject matter expert on the evolving paid search, YouTube, and search-adjacent media landscape, bringing a clear point of view on automation, AI-powered search experiences, algorithmic bidding, commerce media, product feeds, measurement changes, audience signals, and emerging opportunities.
Develop paid search strategies rooted in client business objectives, not just keyword coverage or platform tactics; with the ability to connect media investment to growth, efficiency, customer acquisition, revenue, lead quality, brand health, and measurable business impact.
Define the role paid search and YouTube play within integrated omnichannel media plans, ensuring search is connected to broader channel strategy across social, programmatic, retail media, CTV, affiliate, shopping, and full-funnel media ecosystems.
Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of paid search specialists, building a culture of curiosity, accountability, continuous learning, QA discipline, and pride in both strategic thinking and executional craft.
Contribute to Rains thought leadership, new business efforts, and paid search product development, including pitches, POVs, playbooks, case studies, vendor relationships, platform partnerships, and articulation of Rains differentiated approach to paid search and YouTube.
Build trusted relationships with senior marketing leaders and client stakeholders, acting as a strategic advisor who can translate complex search, shopping, and YouTube dynamics into clear, confident recommendations.
Lead executive-level presentations with clarity, credibility, and conviction, including performance readouts, strategic roadmaps, testing plans, growth opportunities, search landscape POVs, and difficult conversations when performance, investment, or direction needs to change.
Move the conversation beyond media metrics to business outcomes, helping clients understand how paid search contributes to CAC, LTV, incrementality, revenue growth, lead quality, audience development, demand capture, and long-term brand value.
Operate effectively across multiple accounts and cross-functional teams, partnering with Client Service, Analytics, Creative, Integrated Planning, Media Investment, AdOps, and Project Management to ensure strong communication, sound recommendations, and disciplined execution.
Actively be in the work and close enough to execution to diagnose, guide, and improve performance, including campaign structure, bidding, budgeting, keyword strategy, query analysis, audience signals, shopping feeds, creative assets, landing page considerations, measurement, and reporting.
Set and uphold best-in-class activation standards across the paid search team, ensuring every account has disciplined QA, smart testing frameworks, clean trafficking, clear optimization priorities, strong performance narratives, and consistent adherence to internal processes.
Apply a performance marketing mindset to daily and weekly campaign management, monitoring pacing, KPIs, budget allocation, search demand shifts, algorithmic learning periods, and optimization opportunities with an eye toward both short-term efficiency and long-term business growth.
Develop and maintain strong command of the tools that power paid search excellence, including Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Search Ads 360, Apple Search Ads, shopping and product feed platforms, reporting tools, and relevant third-party search management technologies.
Bring strategic leadership to YouTube planning and activation, including campaign planning, audience strategy, creative considerations, tracking, trafficking, optimization, and the ability to identify where YouTube can support both brand and performance goals.
Understand the growing intersection of search, commerce, and retail behavior, including shopping feeds, product data quality, Amazon Ads, affiliate considerations, commerce platforms such as Shopify and Squarespace, and the impact these inputs can have on paid search performance.
Partner closely with creative, analytics, and planning teams to improve the full performance system, recognizing that paid search outcomes are shaped by more than bids and keywords; they are influenced by messaging, landing pages, offers, audience demand, measurement design, and cross-channel media pressure.
Challenge conventional thinking when needed, helping clients and internal teams understand how paid search is evolving as AI, automation, marketplace behavior, YouTube, and retail media reshape how consumers discover, compare, and convert.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelors degree in advertising, marketing, business, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
7-9 years of paid search experience, with a healthy mix of hands-on know-how and managerial acumen.
Advertising agency experience is required, with demonstrated ability to lead across multiple accounts simultaneously.
Managerial experience required, with an active interest in mentoring, developing, and delegating effectively across a team.
Deep experience with Google Ads and Microsoft Ads; certifications are strongly preferred.
Experience with Search Ads 360 and third-party search management platforms such as Marin, Kenshoo, or Adobe is a plus.
3+ years of YouTube experience is a plus; experience with YouTube Select is a major plus.
Experience with shopping feeds, product companies, commerce platforms, Amazon Ads, affiliate programs, or direct-to-consumer brands is strongly valued.
Proficiency in measurement, trafficking, reporting, and the development of campaign performance insights through evaluating data.
Ability to review performance data sets, identify critical storylines, and communicate accordingly internally and externally.
Effective application of a performance marketing mindset, with the ability to analyze data, diagnose performance variables, and develop strategic approaches for continual optimization.
A strong interest in ad tech, digital trends, search innovation, AI-driven media, automation, commerce, and the changing consumer discovery landscape.
Foundational understanding of how search intent, automation, creative, landing page experience, feed quality, measurement, and cross-channel signals work together to drive business outcomes.
Strong project management skills, high attention to detail, and commitment to maintaining the highest levels of quality assurance.
A collaborative spirit, creative problem-solving mindset, and willingness to go above and beyond for client needs when the work requires it.
Highly proficient in Microsoft Office, with strong Excel and PowerPoint skills.
Appreciation of our agency Core Values.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
Quarterly profit-sharing program
401(K) plan with employer match (and immediate eligibility)
4-6 weeks PTO
12 paid holidays
12-18 weeks fully-paid Family and Medical Leave
Monthly Work-From-Home allowance