The posting
Paid Search Manager - Lead Generation
Location: Austin, TX (Hybrid. In office Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
Reports To: Director of Paid Ads
Team: Search Engine Marketing
The Opportunity
Paid search moves fast, and execution is what turns strategy into results.
As SEM Manager, you will manage day to day paid search and paid social performance for a portfolio of B2B client accounts, building campaigns, optimizing spend, and translating platform data into clear, actionable next steps. Your focus is generating qualified leads that move through a sales pipeline, not just clicks or impressions.
This role is built for someone who has a strong command of the platforms and is ready to take on more ownership over account health, client communication, and performance outcomes. You will work closely with a Senior SEM Manager and a rockstar analytics team, learning how lead quality and pipeline signals connect to revenue while building the judgment to make bigger calls over time.
This is a hands-on execution role with a clear growth path toward greater strategic ownership.
About Intellibright
Intellibright is a performance driven digital marketing agency built around accountability and close client partnerships. Our proprietary revenue analytics connect marketing activity directly to pipeline, sales, and revenue.
Recognized by Inc. 5000 and the Financial Times 500 as one of the fastest growing companies in the Americas five years running, Intellibright is a profitable, self funded agency headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Search at Intellibright does not operate in isolation. SEM is tightly integrated with SEO, CRO, Analytics, Web, and Digital Strategy so paid demand converts, compounds, and scales.
What You Will Own
- Day to day management of Paid Search and Paid Social campaigns across an assigned portfolio of B2B lead generation clients
- Campaign build, structure, and ongoing optimization tied to defined KPIs, with lead quality and MQL to SQL conversion as core measures of success
- Keyword, intent, and query level management across branded, non branded, and local demand, with a focus on high intent B2B search behavior
- Budget pacing and bid management within approved allocations
- Regular monitoring of account health, flagging risks and opportunities to your Senior SEM Manager
- Implementation of platform automation and AI bidding strategies within established guardrails
- Coordination with client CRM and sales handoff processes to track leads from click through pipeline stage
- Clear, accurate client facing reporting that connects campaign activity to lead volume, lead quality, and pipeline contribution
- Partnership with Analytics to pull insights and apply them to active optimizations
- Coordination with CRO, landing page, and website teams on campaign supported experiences, including lead form and gated content performance
- Responsiveness to performance shifts, with escalation when trends require senior review
How You Work
- You execute against clearly defined KPIs
- You know when to flag a trend versus when to act on it yourself
- You balance platform automation with hands on account management
- You think beyond clicks to intent, quality leads, and revenue
- You understand that a lower volume of the right leads beats a high volume of the wrong ones
- You communicate tradeoffs clearly to your manager and to clients
- You take ownership of the accounts in your portfolio
- You are eager to build toward greater strategic responsibility
Requirements
What We Are Looking For
- 3 to 5 years of hands on paid search experience, ideally including B2B lead generation accounts
- Solid working knowledge of Google Ads and Microsoft Ads, paid social experience a plus
- Ability to manage campaigns against KPIs tied to lead quality, cost per lead, and efficiency, not just volume
- Familiarity with longer B2B sales cycles and how paid media supports pipeline rather than immediate transactions
- Comfort working with CRM platforms such as HubSpot or Salesforce to track lead flow and campaign attribution
- Experience managing meaningful budgets with attention to pacing and performance
- Working understanding of AI, automation, and auction dynamics
- Comfort pulling insights from analytics tools and applying them to optimizations
- Clear written and verbal communication for client facing reporting
- Agency or multi client experience preferred
- Strong attention to detail and follow through
Benefits
Compensation and Benefits
- Base Salary: $54,000 to $76,000 depending on experience
- 5 percent performance based bonus opportunity
- 100 percent company paid healthcare premiums including medical, dental, vision, and life
- 401(k) with up to 5 percent company match
- 28 days combined PTO and holidays plus two additional remote work weeks annually
Culture and Expectations
- Hybrid role with required in office presence Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
- Fast moving environment with high expectations and clear ownership
- Collaborative teams that value clarity, accountability, and results
- 16 plus years of profitable, self funded growth
Why This Role Matters
This role exists to keep client accounts running with precision day to day, so performance signals get caught early and opportunities do not sit unaddressed.
If you want to build real paid search expertise inside a performance driven agency and grow into bigger responsibility over time, this is where you belong.
