Performance Marketing Manager

The role

This role is a hands-on and strategic paid media lead. You will build roadmaps, launch and optimize campaigns, and partner with analytics, business, creative, and engineering teams to drive customer acquisition across multiple financial services verticals.

What you will do

• Own paid marketing strategy, execution, and performance across multiple verticals
• Build campaign structures across SEM, youtube, display, Open AI, and other platforms
• Set objectives, bidding strategy, audience approach, budget allocation, and conversion events
• Manage campaigns end-to-end including setup, QA, pacing, troubleshooting, and optimization
• Build testing plans for new verticals, bidding strategies, and creative angles
• Use AI tools to enhance and accelerate traditional marketing functions
• Monitor marketing performance and diagnose CTR, CVR, and Revenue issues
• Make budget and pacing calls based on performance trends
• Own recurring performance reporting and translate performance into business impact
• Partner with data, analytics, and engineering teams to define measurement needs

Required qualifications

• 5+ years of paid search experience, ideally in lead generation
• Proven track record of utilizing AI tools (such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) to accelerate marketing functions
• Forward-thinking vision regarding how and where to market in the age of AI and video
• Demonstrated experience in video marketing and driving performance through short-form video content
• Bachelor's degree in marketing, business, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Proven track record scaling paid search (7 figures in monthly spend preferred)
• Experience managing toward lead gen, revenue, ROAS, CPA/CAC, or funnel-based goals
• Ability to build paid media strategy from the ground up
• Strong analytical skills
• Experience troubleshooting tracking, attribution, or reporting discrepancies
• Experience writing creative briefs and giving feedback to creative teams
• Strong project management skills

Nice to have

• Experience and success outside of Google or Bing
• Experience in financial services (insurance, lending, wealth, banking, investing, mortgage, home equity, or other regulated categories)
• Experience with lead gen funnels, prequalification/quiz flows, marketplace models, or affiliate/partner revenue models
• Experience optimizing toward backend events
• Experience with server-side tracking and conversion signal quality
• Experience with UGC creative, creator partnerships, or video production workflows
• Comfort working with legal, compliance, or brand review processes in regulated industries

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision health care plans
• Rejuvenation Policy – Flexible Vacation Time Off + 11 holidays + holiday company shutdown
• New Parent Leave
• Mental health support
• Paid sabbatical after 5 years
• Health and Dependent Care FSA and HSA Plan with monthly NerdWallet contribution
• Monthly Wellness Stipend, Cell Phone Stipend, and Wifi Stipend
• Work from home equipment stipend and co-working space subsidy
• Employee Resource Groups
• Hackathons and team events
• Company-wide events like NerdLove and annual Charity Auction
• 8 hours of volunteer time off per quarter with company match

About the company

NerdWallet's mission is to bring clarity to all of life’s financial decisions. They build a team in an inclusive, flexible, and candid culture.