---
title: 'Manager, Paid Search at MERGE'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/manager-paid-search-merge-atlanta-7drzws7xntca'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-28'
---

# Manager, Paid Search at MERGE

- **Company:** MERGE
- **Location:** Atlanta, GA / Boston, MA / Chicago, IL / Denver, CO / Kansas City, MO / New York, NY / Raleigh, NC / St Louis, MO
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-07
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-28
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/mergeworld/jobs/8257356

## Job description

At MERGE, we are Built Different. We are a marketing and technology agency purpose-built for the intersection of health and wellness—where human impact matters most. By weaving storytelling through technology, we move beyond traditional engagement to Whole Human Marketing. This approach recognizes that humans are multidimensional and complex, and uses AI to ensure every brand interaction feels natural, contextual, and relevant.

This commitment to human-first innovation is what brings us together and propels us forward. We are united by our North Star: to unite people and brands to empower healthier, happier lives.

Emerge to the Top of Your Career

At MERGE, we strive to create a superior work experience where talented and ambitious people grow. An experience that encourages people to think higher and feel deeper. An experience where people engage their minds and hearts to do the best work of their careers.

As our Manager, Paid Search, you will…

Support MERGE's practice in creating, optimizing, and executing top-tier client paid search campaigns. As a hands-on player and coach, you will guide and mentor our paid search specialists while overseeing keyword research, campaign builds, client recommendations, QA processes, and performance reporting. Bring your passion, natural curiosity, and collaborative spirit to drive real impact for our clients while keeping a strong focus on agility, technical ability, and humble leadership.

## What You’ll Do

Strategy & Campaign Execution

- Lead Discovery & Audits: Lead the discovery process to understand overall client and PPC goals, conducting thorough audits to pinpoint structural opportunities and refine campaign tactics.
- Optimize Landing Pages & Tracking: Ensure analytics tracking implementation is accurate, seamless, and easy to manage while identifying key optimization opportunities on landing pages.
- Develop Testing & Keyword Plans: Build and recommend keyword strategies, negative keyword maintenance, and ongoing testing plans (such as search query reports and keyword overlap analyses).
- Drive Performance: Continuously analyze program performance against core KPIs (ROAS, CTR, CPA, conversion rates) to keep campaigns sharp, agile, and effective.

Client & Partner Relations

- Deliver Clear Insights: Lead client status and reporting calls to present actionable insights, performance results, and proactive optimization strategies.
- Manage Platform Partnerships: Collaborate closely with major search engines and media partners, including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, to leverage the best tools and opportunities.
- Resolve Billing Smoothly: Act as the primary contact for resolving billing discrepancies in close partnership with our client strategy and billing reconciliation teams.

Quality Assurance & Team Growth

- Maintain High QA Standards: Lead rigorous QA checks for trafficked approved plans across engines (keywords, ad copy, extensions) and launch parameters (dayparting, bids, budgets, and targeting).
- Mentor & Teach with Humility: Train and empower paid search specialists, sharing your expertise generously while acting as a trusted subject matter expert for our broader media strategy teams.
- Shape Practice & Industry Viewpoints: Actively contribute to overall account strategy—including annual budget planning, KPI setting, and partner selection—and share insightful POVs on industry trends both internally and externally.

## Who You Are

- Experienced Marketer: You bring 3 to 5 years of professional paid search campaign management experience, ideally backed by a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Advertising, or equivalent hands-on experience.
- Pharma & Life Sciences Specialist: You have essential, proven experience working on Life Science and Pharma accounts, navigating their unique campaign needs with care and expertise.
- Platform & Tool Expert: You possess true mastery of search engines and management platforms (such as Fluency, Search Ads 360, Skai, Marin, Optmyzr, Smartly.io, or Adalysis), alongside strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Google Workspace.
- Agile Problem Solver: You blend critical thinking with a solution-oriented mindset, pivoting quickly when performance data or market conditions change.
- Humble Collaborator & Mentor: You enjoy lifting up others, communicating complex insights clearly, and managing multiple high-priority projects under tight deadlines with composure and team spirit.

## #LI-VM1

## #LI-HYBRID

Our Hybrid Philosophy

For this role, we prioritize hybrid candidates in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Kansas City, MO; Raleigh, NC; and St. Louis, MO, but may consider candidates near other MERGE hubs based on the role and team’s needs. If fully remote is listed as an option, we are also open to U.S.-based candidates who would work remotely.

Hybrid work is our default approach. We value time together for collaboration, relationship building, and key moments. Managers and team leaders determine in-person expectations based on what best supports their team, clients, and business needs. Some teams and roles require more regular in-person presence than others.

MERGE has hubs in Chicago, New York City, Boston, Kansas City, Raleigh, Denver, Atlanta, and St. Louis. Regardless of work arrangement, team members may be required to travel to a MERGE hub for meetings, team gatherings, events, or other business needs.

Total Rewards

At MERGE, we’re committed to fostering an environment where our team members can thrive in both their careers and personal lives, ensuring they feel supported and empowered to succeed.

MERGE believes in transparency and equity. In accordance with state regulations, we’re proud to include salary ranges in our job postings to ensure fair compensation practices.

The salary range for this role is $78,000-$114,000, based on the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, location, and other relevant factors. The salary pay range is subject to change and may be modified at any time.

MERGE is proud to invest in benefits that include meaningful Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, 401K, Lifestyle Spending Account, Employer Paid Life & Disability Insurance, Flexible Time off & Holidays plus many other benefits and rewards.

Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United States. And here’s how we live our values at MERGE

- Ability. Mastering our craft
- Agility. Delivering with a growth mindset
- Humility. Collaborating for shared success

MERGE is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

MERGE welcomes and celebrates diversity regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status or people with abilities. We believe that the more diverse we are, the more creative our work will be!

## About MERGE

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: MERGE is a marketing and technology agency built for the intersection of health and wellness, using storytelling through technology to help brands connect more meaningfully with the people they serve.
- **Entity Type**: Private (no disclosed funding rounds; operates as an independent agency)
- **Headquarters**: Chicago, Illinois, United States
- **Founded**: 2018
- **Founders**: Not publicly available

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Marketing and technology agency (full-service), with a deep specialization in healthcare (pharma, medtech, health insurance, health providers) and consumer brands.
- **Target Customers**: B2B – enterprise brands in life sciences, payer/provider organizations, and large consumer goods companies.
- **Mission or Purpose Statement**: "Uniting people and brands for healthier, happier lives" by turning complexity into clarity through data-driven storytelling, AI-powered personalization, and bold creativity.

## Products & Services
- **Humanity Suite**: An AI-powered operating model designed to bridge technology and human empathy, providing tools for dynamic engagement, personalization, and data integration across the customer journey. (Launched in 2026)
- **Core Agency Services**:
  - **Strategy**: Brand strategy, consumer insights, journey mapping.
  - **Creative**: Copywriting, design, storytelling.
  - **Public Relations**: Communications and reputation management.
  - **Experience**: UX/UI, digital experience design.
  - **Performance Marketing**: Paid search, paid social, precision activation, media planning.
  - **Media**: Integrated media planning and buying.
  - **Platforms**: Workfront implementation, DAM systems, data engineering (API integration, Workfront Fusion).
- **AIgency™**: A framework blending AI innovation with human creativity, specifically for health and life sciences.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue of **$124M** (as of latest LinkedIn data) / Total Funding: Not disclosed (bootstrapped or organic growth)
- **Notable Clients & Partners**:
  - **Clients**: Abbott, Blue Cross Blue Shield, GE Healthcare, Supernus, American Express, T-Mobile, Coach, Meta, Kroger, Kraft Heinz.
  - **Platform Partners**: Workfront (Adobe), DAM systems.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount of 604 employees (+1.6% year-over year, +14 people) [LinkedIn]
  - Recognized as **Agency of the Year** by Modern Healthcare and Ad Age’s 2025 Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards.
  - Launched **Humanity Suite** in 2026 as a strategic AI-powered operating model.
  - Named a **Best Place to Work** by Built In (Atlanta and Colorado markets) in 2026, highlighting a culture that blends AI innovation with employee wellness.
  - Offices in 8 US cities (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Raleigh) and presence in 11 countries.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep Healthcare Specialization**: Decades of experience in pharma, medtech, and health insurance – a complex, highly regulated sector where trust and compliance are critical.
- **AI-Human Integration**: The "AIgency™" model combines AI-powered efficiency with human empathy, explicitly tailored for health brands.
- **Full-Service Capabilities**: From strategy and creative to performance marketing and platform implementation (Workfront, DAM), creating a one-stop shop for large clients.
- **Long-Standing Client Relationships**: Work with marquee brands like Meta, American Express, and GE Healthcare, indicating high retention and trust.
- **Diverse, Inclusive Culture**: 41% of staff are caregivers; employees speak 25+ languages at home; strong LGBTQIA+ inclusivity, making it attractive for top talent.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI Transformation**: Investing heavily in its proprietary Humanity Suite and AIgency model to redefine agency services for the AI era.
- **Health-Centric Growth**: Doubling down on health and life sciences, as evidenced by its Agency of the Year recognition and dedicated health/life sciences account teams.
- **Operational Efficiency**: Delivering measurable ROI for clients (e.g., 35% time savings in marketing ops for a national grocery retailer, $4M annual savings with a DAM system for a CPG company).
- **Talent & Culture**: Growing remote and hybrid roles while maintaining offices in key US markets; emphasizing "whole person" wellness and innovation.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Built on "ability, agility, and humility" – a strong emphasis on collaboration and personal growth. Recognized as a Best Place to Work by Built In (2026).
- **Remote/Hybrid Policy**: Multiple roles listed as remote (e.g., API Integration Specialist, VP roles in brand strategy); many positions are hybrid or office-based in major cities. The company operates across 8 US offices.
- **Notable Perks & Engineering Culture**: 41% of employees are caregivers, suggesting family-friendly policies. Strong focus on diversity (25+ languages spoken, LGBTQIA+ support). Opportunities to work on cutting-edge AI and data integration projects for top-tier brands.
- **Growth Potential**: 57 open job postings (as of search date) across marketing, account management, creative, data engineering, and performance – indicating active hiring and investment in new capabilities.

## Sources
1. [mergeworld.com](https://www.mergeworld.com/)
2. [mergeworld.com](https://www.mergeworld.com/about)
3. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/mergeworld)
4. [greenhouse.io](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/mergeworld)
5. [mergeworld.com](https://www.mergeworld.com/about/agency-updates/2026/merge-launches-humanity-suite-a-new-operating-model-for-the-ai-empowered-agency)
6. [mergeworld.com](https://www.mergeworld.com/about/agency-updates/2025/merge-wins-modern-healthcare-x-ad-age-healthcare-marketing-impact-award-agency-of-the-year)
7. [mergeworld.com](https://www.mergeworld.com/about/agency-updates/2026/the-aigency-is-a-best-place-to-work)
8. [mergeworld.com](https://www.mergeworld.com/work/kroger)
9. [mergeworld.com](https://www.mergeworld.com/work/kraft-heinz)

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