Paid Media Specialist

Agency Marketing Chicago, Illinois


Description

Impact is hiring a Paid Media Specialist to join our nationally ranked Best and Brightest workplace! 
 
Impact is a leading national managed services provider, specializing in: IT & Cloud, Cybersecurity, Digital Transformation & AI, Integrated Marketing, and Print & Document Management. Our partnerships are defined by thoughtful business strategy, solutions architecture, technology deployment, and ongoing support –with a driving focus to bring enterprise-level resources to the SMB and midmarket. We are committed to customer-centric excellence, delivering tailored solutions that enhance client value and drive sustainable growth. Join our team of experts and be part of an innovative culture that puts customers at the heart of everything we do.
 
Founded in 1999, Impact proudly remains privately-held and locally-owned, employing 800+ experts across 20+ US locations. Recognized for rapid growth and innovation, Impact has seen over a 20% annual growth rate, and championed a vibrant, employee-focused culture.
 
Overview
 
The Paid Media Specialist is a core member of the Digital Experience (DX) team within Impact’s Managed Marketing division. This role owns paid advertising strategy and execution across all platforms — Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, LinkedIn, Meta, streaming/OTT, and emerging channels — managing campaign architecture, audience targeting, budget allocation, optimization, and performance reporting for mid-market B2B clients.  
 
Every aspect of this role is AI-augmented. You will work inside Impact’s agentic-AI operating system, where AI agents support competitive research, audience analysis, data assembly, performance diagnostics, and reporting. Your job is to direct these agents, apply your media expertise to their output, and continuously refine the AI-augmented workflows that make your work faster and sharper. We are actively building new AI capabilities into every part of this role — from assessment diagnostics to ongoing campaign management and optimization — and the right person will help shape what that looks like.  
 
We’re looking for a jack-of-all-trades paid media professional who is genuinely excited about working with AI, not just comfortable with it. You should see AI as a force multiplier for your expertise and want to be part of defining how human and AI collaboration works in performance media. 
  

Responsibilities
 

  • Own end-to-end paid media strategy and execution across Google Ads (Search, Display, Performance Max), Microsoft Advertising, LinkedIn, Meta, and streaming/OTT platforms — using AI-augmented workflows to accelerate research, audience analysis, competitive intelligence, and campaign setup while applying your strategic judgment to ensure performance.
  • Build, launch, and optimize campaigns across the full funnel, managing bid strategies, audience targeting, ad creative direction, A/B testing, and daily budget optimization to hit client KPIs.
  • Support client assessments by producing performance audits (by funnel stage), competitive spend/positioning analysis, cost benchmarks (CPM, CPC, CPL, cost per conversion), and tactical proposals (campaign architecture, budget recommendations, and performance forecasts).
  • Own budget allocation and pacing across platforms and campaigns, monitoring spend vs. targets and adjusting to maximize return.
  • Deliver performance reporting and insights including key metrics, attribution learnings, efficiency trends, and ROI narratives that tie paid media to business outcomes; contribute to QBRs and ongoing client communication.
  • Manage paid media execution across multiple engagements by coordinating timelines, creative needs, landing page requirements, and tracking implementation with cross-functional partners.
  • Collaborate across the DX team and Marketing Strategists to ensure paid media operates as an integrated system—connecting targeting, retargeting, and conversion paths across channels.
  • Improve AI-augmented processes by refining prompts, workflows, and feedback loops to increase output quality, reduce manual effort, and help shape how AI supports paid media strategy as new capabilities are built. 
 
Qualifications & Experience

  • 3+ years of paid media experience across multiple platforms; agency/consultancy experience supporting B2B clients preferred.
  • Hands-on platform experience with Google Ads (Search, Display, Performance Max), Microsoft Advertising, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, and Meta Ads Manager; programmatic and streaming/OTT experience a plus.
  • Strong fundamentals in targeting, bidding, testing, conversion tracking, and attribution.
  • Analytics and reporting capability using Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and platform-native reporting; able to translate data into clear, client-ready performance narratives.
  • Strong budget management and prioritization across multiple concurrent client accounts.
  • Comfort working AI-augmented—directing AI agents, improving outputs, and experimenting to build new workflows in ambiguous environments.
  • Collaborative, low-ego communicator able to work effectively with technical and non-technical audiences. 
 

What Drives Impact

Our purpose is people. We empower them to innovate, grow, and succeed. That's how we change the world – one person, one company, one community at a time. 
  
Behaviors define what our values look like in action. Leaders are expected to model them; teams are expected to live them:
  • Innovation: We embrace change because innovation lives outside the comfort zone.   
  • Passion: We are driven by purpose, fueled by passion, and obsessed with making an impact.  
  • Honesty: We are fiercely transparent and consistently honest.  
  • Fun: We fuel work with fun, knowing life's too short for boring.   
  • Low Ego: We champion ideas over titles, because brilliance knows no rank.   
  • One Team: We win as a team, we lose as a team, we are one team.   

Compensation

The typical base salary for this role is $70,000-$80,000. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skillset, experience and training, licensures and/or certifications, and other organizational needs.  
 
Impact may offer applicable incentive compensation plans depending on role and/or department.  
 
Full compensation details can be discussed with an Impact Talent Acquisition team member at the start of the interview process.  
 
Benefits
    • Up to 20 days of PTO  
    • Up to 7 Paid Sick Days 
    • 12+ paid holidays   
    • Paid Parental Leave  
    • Comprehensive Health, Disability Life, Dental and Vision Plans  
    • 401(K) & retirement plans with complimentary financial advisory services 
    • Tenure incentives at 5- (Tiffany & Co. Gift Card), 10- (Rolex), and 20- ($20,000 check) year marks
    • Continued education reimbursement   
    • On-going training & development opportunities  
     
    Work Authorization & Immigration Sponsorship
     
    Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States at the time of application. Immigration sponsorship may be considered in limited circumstances based on business need, cost, workforce planning, and applicable government requirements. Impact does not guarantee sponsorship for any visa category and may decline certain petitions based on associated costs or regulatory requirements. 


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