Senior Director, Paid Search

Darkroom is the leading next-generation growth marketing firm engineering the brands of tomorrow. Founded in 2017, we set out to redefine what a modern agency could be, by replacing the inertia of legacy advertising behemoths with a model built for speed, intelligence, and measurable impact.

At our core, Darkroom is a human services company powered by Shadow, a universal AI commerce layer that integrates executive-level strategy with proprietary agentic technology. This fusion enables our teams to deliver outsized returns by enhancing creative output, operational efficiency, and revenue generation across every stage of the customer journey.

Our track record speaks for itself: billions in attributable revenue driven across e-commerce marketplaces, media networks, DTC ecosystems, and social commerce platforms. Every engagement feeds into our proprietary data infrastructure, enabling a continuous feedback loop that accelerates growth, improves margins, and compounds results across our client portfolio.

What began as a boutique design studio has evolved into one of the fastest-growing private companies in America (Inc. 5000) and among the most effective performance media agencies of the 2020s (Varos). Our founders were recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 for advancing the intersection of technology, marketing, and advertising, cementing Darkroom’s role as a defining player in the future of media innovation.

About the Role

We are hiring for our Paid Media team, looking for a Senior Director, Paid Search: the head of Darkroom’s Paid Search practice. This is an executive leadership role. You’ll own the strategy, performance, and commercial health of the practice across Google, YouTube, Microsoft Advertising, and the emerging AI search ecosystem (including platforms like Perplexity, OpenAI, Koah, and Kontext as their ad products launch), lead a team of Associate Directors, Paid Search Managers, and Specialists, and be accountable for the outcomes paid search delivers across Darkroom’s client portfolio.

The ideal candidate is a recognized expert in search buying behavior who has already built and run a paid search organization. You’ve scaled Google ad accounts well beyond $1M USD per month, led teams that include people managers, and served as a trusted strategic advisor to CMOs and founders. You’re curious about where AI search is heading and want to be the person who defines how Darkroom shows up there. You think in systems, not campaigns, and you know how to build a team that runs those systems well.

You’ll report to the Managing Director of Paid Media and sit on the Paid Media leadership team, partnering with Darkroom leadership on practice growth, margin, hiring, and the evolution of our service offering. You’ll collaborate closely with Paid Social, Programmatic, Creative, Analytics, Growth Strategy, and Shadow, and will be responsible for building the next generation of paid search leaders at Darkroom.

This is a fast-paced, high-accountability environment for leaders who want to shape how a practice operates and grows. You’ll have the scope to define what best-in-class paid search looks like at Darkroom, at a moment when search itself is changing faster than it has in a decade.

Darkroom is a career incubator for ambitious talent looking to operate at the intersection of business, design, and innovation.

What you’ll do:

• Own the multi-year vision, strategy, and performance of Darkroom’s Paid Search practice, setting the direction across traditional search, Shopping, YouTube, and AI search.

• Sit on the Paid Media leadership team and partner with the Managing Director on practice OKRs, annual planning, budgeting, and headcount.

• Own the practice’s commercial health, including revenue, margin, client retention, account growth, and team utilization, and report on it to Darkroom leadership.

• Shape Darkroom’s paid search service offering, defining scopes, pricing inputs, and new service lines, including how Darkroom packages AI search as it matures.

• Lead Paid Search’s role in new business, partnering with the Growth team on pitches, audits, and proposals, and joining final-round pitches for key prospects.

• Build, lead, and grow a team of 6+ across Associate Directors, Paid Search Managers, and Specialists, with Associate Directors and Specialists reporting directly to you.

• Develop the practice’s leadership bench, coaching your Associate Directors into strong people managers, growing Specialists into future leaders, and building succession plans for every leadership seat.

• Own the practice’s org design and hiring plan in partnership with Recruiting, from leveling and role definition to final hiring decisions on leadership roles.

• Set career paths, leveling expectations, and the performance review process for the practice, and ensure every team member has an individualized growth plan.

• Build a culture of accountability, craft, and candor where high performers want to stay and grow.

• Serve as executive sponsor for Darkroom’s largest and most strategic Paid Search relationships, leading executive business reviews and annual planning with CMOs, founders, and leadership teams.

• Act as the final escalation point for high-stakes client and performance issues, and own retention strategy for at-risk accounts across the practice.

• Own key platform partner relationships with Google and Microsoft, securing beta access, support, and early insight for Darkroom clients.

• Lead Darkroom’s AI search build-out, tracking and piloting new ad products as they launch, defining how the team tests them, and making Darkroom the go-to voice for clients on where search is heading.

• Represent Darkroom’s paid search point of view externally through industry events, content, and partner programs.

• Partner with Shadow’s product team to shape the AI and agentic tooling the practice runs on, and drive adoption so the team becomes more efficient and more effective at scale.

• Set the standards for campaign architecture, bidding strategy, optimization frameworks, and testing methodology across a portfolio of 15+ accounts with aggregate monthly spend of $3M to $10M+.

• Own the practice’s Shopping and Performance Max standards, including feed quality and Merchant Center best practices.

• Define the creative standard for the practice, including ad copy, landing page alignment, and short-form video for YouTube, and make sure it’s applied consistently across every account.

• Lead the practice’s measurement approach in partnership with Analytics, including attribution, incrementality testing, brand search cannibalization testing, and media mix modeling, and set the KPI framework (CPA, CAC, iROAS, nCAC, MER, aMER, CTR, and CPM) every account is held to.

• Turn learnings from across the portfolio into repeatable playbooks, and stay close enough to the work to audit accounts, spot issues early, and lead by example.

What you’ll need to be successful:

• 10+ years of paid media advertising experience, with at least 8+ years specializing in Paid Search and Google in particular.

• 5+ years leading paid search teams, including 3+ years managing managers, with experience leading a team of 6+ in a fast-paced agency or in-house environment.

• Proven experience building or scaling a paid search practice or department, including org design, hiring, process, and service delivery standards.

• Experience owning or directly influencing a practice or department P&L, including revenue, margin, utilization, and pricing.

• Track record of overseeing paid search portfolios at $3M+ in aggregate monthly spend, and of personally scaling Google ad accounts beyond $1M USD/month while maintaining or improving efficiency.

• Executive presence with CMOs, founders, and internal leadership: ability to build trust, present strategic recommendations with confidence, and navigate complex stakeholder dynamics.

• Expert-level command of Google Ads, including Shopping, Performance Max, and YouTube, and deep familiarity with Microsoft Advertising and the emerging AI search ad ecosystem.

• Mastery of the e-commerce marketing funnel, from offer to ad to landing page to conversion.

• Mastery of e-commerce performance metrics (CPA, CAC, iROAS, nCAC, MER, aMER, CTR, CPM) and modern measurement approaches, including incrementality and brand search cannibalization testing.

• Strong background in portfolio-level budget forecasting, spend projection modeling, and data-derived decision-making.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; able to distill complex data into compelling insights for teams, clients, and Darkroom leadership.

This role requires travel to our client's office in San Jose, CA, 1–2 times per month, with each visit lasting approximately 3–5 days.

Darkroom is not a typical agency. We are looking for A players who want to build something great. We move fast, think deeply, and expect every team member to bring insight and rigor to everything they touch. We hold a high bar for performance, creativity, and ownership — but we also support each other relentlessly. No egos, no red tape — just world-class talent building something remarkable.

We believe in autonomy with accountability, truth over comfort, and outcomes over optics.

• Unlimited PTO + US holidays: Rebooting is part of the work. Take the time you need to stay sharp.

• Remote-First Culture: Many roles are fully remote. Employees based in or near our New York or Lisbon HQs are expected to work hybrid with weekly in-office time. Hub locations include Brazil and Spain.

• Health & Wellness: Company-sponsored medical, dental, and vision coverage.

• Finances, growth, and retirement: Darkroom offers a robust 401(k) program with company match and profit-sharing opportunities to help you save and grow as the company grows.

• Parental Leave: Flexible parental leave to support new parents during this important transition.

• Growth: Our interdisciplinary model gives every Darkroomer exposure far beyond their core role. Grow your skills, expand your influence, and stay at the forefront of the industry.

The base salary range for this role is $190,000 per year. This range represents the anticipated minimum and maximum for this position and applies to candidates based in New York, including New York City, in compliance with the New York State Pay Transparency Law and the New York City Salary Transparency Law. Actual compensation within this range will be determined based on experience, skills, and qualifications. This role is also eligible for performance-based compensation. A summary of benefits is listed above.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Darkroom is an equal opportunity workplace—we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national orientation, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.