What You’ll Do, as our Manager, Paid Search

Support MERGE's practice in creating, optimizing, and executing best-in-class client paid search campaigns. As a hands-on Paid Search Media Manager, you will provide the strategic direction for keyword research, campaign building, and testing roadmaps. We are looking for a curious, data-driven marketer who understands the evolving AI landscape and can proactively identify opportunities to improve performance and goals delivery. You will bring passion and strong interpersonal skills to drive success, ensuring every dollar spent contributes to client growth.

Campaign Creation & Launch

• Campaign Ownership: You will act as a Paid Search subject matter expert, fostering accounts growth while ensuring that output meets agency standards.
• Structure & Creation: Build and launch (or guide executional-focused team members on what is needed) comprehensive campaigns across search, Performance Max, Demand Gen and more, ensuring best-practice account structure, compelling ad copy, tailored keyword lists, and client-specific targeting strategies.
• QA & Oversight: Lead the Quality Assurance (QA) process for all trafficked plans (keywords, ad copy, extensions) and launch components (dayparting, bids, budgets, targeting).
• Collaboration: Act as the primary Paid Search liaison for the broader media strategy teams, ensuring search is integrated seamlessly into the holistic media mix.

Strategy, Execution & AI

• Strategy & Discovery: Lead the client discovery process to establish PPC objectives and develop the strategy for tactic, budget, goals, etc. Provide thoughtful leadership to ensure these goals are met.
• Campaign Architecture: Develop and recommend keyword lists, targeting strategies, and testing plans (e.g., ad copy A/B testing, landing page reviews).
• AI Landscape: Apply a working knowledge of the current AI landscape (e.g., Performance Max, Broad Match/Smart Bidding, Generative AI) to keep client accounts modernized and efficient.
• Platform Mastery: Work closely with media partners (Google, Microsoft) to implement best practices across Search, PMax, Demand Gen, Video, and Call campaigns.

Analytics, Reporting & Financials

• Budgeting: Accurately forecast and pace monthly budgets to ensure spending aligns with client targets and is the most optimal use of funds aligning with goals.
• Performance Analysis: Monitor daily and analyze program KPIs (ROAS, CTR, CPA, CVR) to drive continuous improvement.
• Optimization Roadmap & AB Testing: Develop a comprehensive, long-term optimization roadmap for the account, utilizing a data driven, test-and-learn approach.
• Client Reporting: Provide in-depth reporting on program performance. You will lead client status calls, presenting insights and strategic recommendations.
• Tracking & Tech: Ensure analytics tracking implementation is accurate, robust, and easy to manage.
• Auditing: Conduct deep-dive PPC audits to identify structural weaknesses in legacy accounts and uncover new opportunities.

What You’ll Bring

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Advertising, and/or equivalent work experience.
• Experience: 3 to 5 years of professional paid search campaign management experience.
• Industry Focus: Healthcare, Health Insurance or pharma lead generation experience is a strong plus.
• Platform Depth: Deep knowledge of all Google and Microsoft advertising products (Search, PMax, AI Max, Demand Gen, Video, etc.).
• Data-driven decision-maker who relies on evidence and performance metrics to guide strategy.
• Learning Mentality: A desire to keep learning and being informed on everything search, digital & AI
• Communication: Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills. You must be able to explain complex search data to clients clearly.
• Critical Thinking: A problem-solving orientation with the ability to think critically about business goals.

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.

#LI-DP1

#LI-HYBRID

We're seeking an analytical Associate Director of Paid Search to lead the strategy and implementation for a key client in the insurance vertical. As the dedicated subject matter expert, you will architect the paid search roadmap and ensure flawless execution. This role involves aligning search strategy with client objectives and overall digital strategy, collaborating with a cross-functional team (Account, Creative, Media, and Measurement), and leading platform approach, content distribution, and community management across Google, Microsoft, and other ecosystems.

Key Responsibilities

Data-Driven Strategy & Execution

• Strategy: Design and implement comprehensive Paid Search strategies, translating complex client goals into actionable SEM tactics.
• Analytics: Conduct rigorous analytics to extract customer insights, model attribution, and report channel performance, explaining the "why."
• AI & Future-Proofing: Lead the client's strategy through the AI evolution of search (SGE, Copilot). Aggressively test and govern AI-driven products (PMax, Demand Gen, Broad Match), ensuring automation uses the right data for incremental growth.
• Optimization: Lead a proactive testing roadmap (A/B, multivariate) and use statistical evidence for optimization decisions. Monitor industry activity for opportunities.

Financial Stewardship: Manage high-volume budgets precisely. Accountable for forecasting, pacing, and ensuring spend contributes to client ROI.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Integrated Planning: Collaborate with stakeholders (internal Account/Creative and external client teams) to align Paid Search with broader integrated campaigns.
• Platform Management: Oversee daily management of Paid Search platforms (Google, Microsoft) and vendor relationships to ensure optimal strategy.
• Team Guidance: Foster a collaborative environment. Collaborate on streamlining processes on the insurance vertical, guide junior members on strategy, reporting insights and optimizations, ensuring high-quality output. Provide thought leadership across the Paid Search team. 

Insights & Innovation

• Competitive Intelligence: Conduct deep competitor analysis to maintain client advantage.
• Trend Application: Monitor Paid Search tools/automation trends, applying them to boost client performance.

Qualifications

The "Data" Requirement

• Analytical Mindset: Must guide complex reporting and identify optimization opportunities in large datasets.
• Excel Mastery: High proficiency with Microsoft Excel (financial modeling, complex formulas, pivot tables) is required.
• AI Fluency: Understand Generative AI/LLMs and manage the shift from keyword-based to intent-based/predictive modeling.

Tech Stack: Conversant in Paid Search analytics, emerging formats, and enterprise automation tools (e.g., Fluency, SA360, Kenshoo/Skai, Marin).

Professional Experience

• Experience: 6–8 years of Paid Search strategy and execution experience.
• Management: Proven experience managing high-budget campaigns
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Advertising, or equivalent work experience.
• Industry: Experience on health insurance client or healthcare industry is a plus.

Leadership & Soft Skills

• Strategic Thinker: A big-picture thinker with a proven ability to drive execution. You can see the forest and the trees.
• Communication: Excellent verbal, writing, and presentation skills. You can defend your data and strategy to stakeholders.
• Problem-Solving: Expert problem-solving and issue-resolution skills. You are a self-starter who can work independently in a dynamic environment.
• Collaboration: A positive outlook, excited about supporting teammates to drive success as a collective.

Thought Leadership: An innovative leader who participates in developmental POVs for the Paid Search team and organization at large.

#LI-JK1

#LI-HYBRID

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 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.

Overview:

Are you a proven education professional with a track record of exceeding performance metrics and a passion for transforming how people learn? Nerdy is seeking experienced Educational Sales Representatives who combine educational expertise with consultative sales skills to help thousands of families achieve their academic goals.

As an Educational Sales Representative, you'll leverage your educational background to guide prospective students and families toward personalized learning solutions. This is a SALES position that requires a consultative approach when selling to clients. Success in this role comes from:

• Conducting meaningful needs assessment conversations with families
• Applying your education/teaching/training experience to recommend personalized learning solutions for each prospective client/student.
• Building trust through consultative conversations
• Demonstrating subject matter expertise in educational products and services

Location: Fully Remote Position

Upcoming Start Dates/Training: 

• Paid Training Schedule (Virtual | 6 weeks total):
  • For the May 11th cohort, training for all 6 weeks will be Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Central Time (with a 1-hour unpaid lunch taken at the same time each day).
• Post-Training Schedule:
  After successful completion of training, your permanent schedule will be one of the options below (Central Time). Exact assignment will be reviewed during the interview process.
  • Sun, Mon, Fri, Sat | 7:00 AM–6:00 PM CT (with lunch & regular breaks)
    Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Sat | 11:00 AM–8:00 PM CT (with lunch & regular breaks)
    Sun, Mon, Thu, Fri, Sat | Split shift: 8:00 AM–12:00 PM + 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM CT
    Sun, Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat | Split shift: 8:00 AM–12:00 PM + 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM CT

Availability Requirement: You must be able to work all training hours and the permanent split-shift schedule after training.

About Nerdy:

At Nerdy (NYSE: NRDY) -  the company behind Varsity Tutors - we’re redrawing the blueprint of learning. Our Live + AI™ platform fuses real-time human expertise with proprietary generative-AI systems, setting a new bar for measurable academic impact at global scale. 

We recruit the kind of technologists and operators you’d bet on as solo founders - people who turn ambiguous problems into shipping code, iterate faster than markets move, and compound their advantage with every data point. In an era where great employees can deliver 10-times the leverage of the merely good, we back those who play to win.

Fortune favors the bold. Join us.

How we compete:

• AI-Native at every level
  From the CEO to day-one hires, everyone builds and ships with generative AI. If you’re not wielding AI, you’re not done.
• Entrepreneurial velocity
  Move at founder speed, prototype in hours, and measure in real user outcomes. Slow teams die.
• Free-market rigor
  Ideas rise or fall on merit and results - no committees, no politics, no cap on upside.
• Full-stack ownership
  You design, build, and run what you ship; accountability is a feature, not a bug.
• Reward for contribution
  Pay rises with impact, not years. Outstanding results earn outsized rewards. We evaluate both what you achieve and how you achieve it: living our leadership principles and using AI effectively are formally measured and rewarded.
• Relentless exploration
  Push the frontier of generative AI in live learning and - because only the paranoid survive - questioning every legacy assumption along the way.
• Is Apolitical
  You stay focused on mission-aligned outcomes, not distractions or unrelated causes.

If you’re a technically minded builder who thrives on open competition, personal responsibility, and the chance to redefine how the world learns - while continually stretching the limits of what generative AI can do - come do the most ambitious and rewarding work of your career here. Learn more at nerdy.com.

Nerdy’s shareholder letters below explain our latest products and strategy:

• Q4-2025 Shareholder Letter
• Q3-2025 Shareholder Letter
• Q2-2025 Shareholder Letter

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree preferred
• 3+ years teaching, training, or educational sales experience strongly preferred
• Demonstrated success in metrics-driven environments
• Ability to work a FULL-TIME schedule, including evenings and weekends
• Strong technical aptitude and ability to learn new systems quickly
• Stable, distraction-free remote work environment
• Reliable high-speed internet connection
• Understand and appreciate that Nerdy is an apolitical company and that we can have the largest impact if we are united in our focus on helping people learn and not divided or distracted by advancing unrelated causes 

Our most successful Educational Sales Representatives typically bring:

• Educational experience and expertise (particularly from teaching and working directly with students and parents)
• Proven track record of exceeding metrics and performance goals
• Career progression showing increased responsibility and leadership
• Experience in needs assessment and solution-based selling
• Commitment to continuous learning and professional development

Career Growth & Development:

This role offers clear pathways for advancement based on performance:

• Structured promotion track from Educational Sales Representative to Senior Sales Representative
• Merit-based advancement opportunities into training, management, and other business areas
• Comprehensive paid training program focusing on educational consulting and sales excellence
• Mentorship and leadership development opportunities

Unlock Your Full Potential at Nerdy:

At Nerdy, we’re not just transforming how people learn—we’re transforming your life. Our benefits package is built with a forward-thinking, “focus on you” mindset, so you can be your healthiest, happiest, and yes, most super-human self. Here’s a snapshot of what we offer:

• Competitive Compensation: $41,600 ($20/hour) base salary plus $12,000 annual variable compensation target (after training). Also, performance-based advancement opportunities with increased earning potential.
• Comprehensive Healthcare: Choose from top-tier medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans designed to keep you and your family covered.
• Retirement Made Simple: Benefit from our 401(k) plan with an immediate company match—no vesting delays!
• Family First: Generous maternity, paternity, and adoption leave ensure you have the support you need at life’s big moments.
• Equipment: Company-provided MacBook and headphones, as well as the latest technology and software programs to help make you successful.
• Continuous Learning: Get an all-inclusive learning membership for you and your household—including 1-on-1 tutoring hours, unlimited on-demand classes, and access to our full suite of learning products and services.

Supercharge with AI: Gain exclusive access to cutting-edge AI tools that boost your productivity, making you feel almost super-human (cape not included).

Overview:

Are you a high-performing sales professional with a proven track record of crushing quota and a passion for helping people unlock their potential? Nerdy is seeking experienced Sales Representatives who combine consultative selling expertise with competitive drive to help thousands of families invest in their academic success.

As a Sales Representative, you’ll own the full sales cycle—from initial outreach through close—guiding prospective students and families toward personalized learning solutions. This is a SALES position that demands a consultative approach and relentless execution. Success in this role comes from:

• Conducting high-volume, high-quality discovery calls with prospective families
• Applying consultative selling techniques to uncover needs and recommend tailored learning solutions
• Building trust and urgency through value-driven conversations
• Consistently meeting and exceeding daily, weekly, and monthly sales targets

Location: Fully Remote Position

Upcoming Start Dates/Training: 

• Paid Training Schedule (Virtual | 6 weeks total):
• Weeks 1–3: Monday–Friday 8:00 AM–5:00 PM CT
• Weeks 4–6: Monday–Friday 8:00 AM–12:00 PM + 4:00 PM–8:00 PM CT (split shift with a mid-day break)
• Post-Training Schedule: After successful completion of training, your permanent schedule will remain on a split shift (8:00 AM–12:00 PM + 4:00 PM–8:00 PM CT). Exact days will be reviewed during the interview process. 

Availability Requirement: You must be able to work all training hours and the permanent split-shift schedule after training.

About Nerdy:

At Nerdy (NYSE: NRDY) -  the company behind Varsity Tutors - we’re redrawing the blueprint of learning. Our Live + AI™ platform fuses real-time human expertise with proprietary generative-AI systems, setting a new bar for measurable academic impact at global scale. 

We recruit the kind of technologists and operators you’d bet on as solo founders - people who turn ambiguous problems into shipping code, iterate faster than markets move, and compound their advantage with every data point. In an era where great employees can deliver 10-times the leverage of the merely good, we back those who play to win.

Fortune favors the bold. Join us.

How we compete:

• AI-Native at every level
  From the CEO to day-one hires, everyone builds and ships with generative AI. If you’re not wielding AI, you’re not done.
• Entrepreneurial velocity
  Move at founder speed, prototype in hours, and measure in real user outcomes. Slow teams die.
• Free-market rigor
  Ideas rise or fall on merit and results - no committees, no politics, no cap on upside.
• Full-stack ownership
  You design, build, and run what you ship; accountability is a feature, not a bug.
• Reward for contribution
  Pay rises with impact, not years. Outstanding results earn outsized rewards. We evaluate both what you achieve and how you achieve it: living our leadership principles and using AI effectively are formally measured and rewarded.
• Relentless exploration
  Push the frontier of generative AI in live learning and - because only the paranoid survive - questioning every legacy assumption along the way.
• Is Apolitical
  You stay focused on mission-aligned outcomes, not distractions or unrelated causes.

If you’re a technically minded builder who thrives on open competition, personal responsibility, and the chance to redefine how the world learns - while continually stretching the limits of what generative AI can do - come do the most ambitious and rewarding work of your career here. Learn more at nerdy.com.

Nerdy’s shareholder letters below explain our latest products and strategy:

• Q4-2025 Shareholder Letter
• Q3-2025 Shareholder Letter
• Q2-2025 Shareholder Letter

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• 3+ years of sales, business development, or account management experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success in quota-carrying roles with a track record of meeting or exceeding targets.
• Experience in consultative, solution-based, or needs-based selling environments
• Ability to work a FULL-TIME schedule, including evenings and weekends
• Strong technical aptitude and ability to learn new systems and CRM tools quickly
• Stable, distraction-free remote work environment with reliable high-speed internet

Our Most Successful Sales Representatives Typically Bring

• Proven history of exceeding sales quotas and revenue targets in B2C or high-volume sales environments.
• Experience in phone-based or inside sales with strong conversion metrics.
• Career progression showing increased responsibility, larger books of business, or leadership roles.
• Expertise in needs assessment, objection handling, and closing techniques.
• Background in industries such as edtech, SaaS, insurance, financial services, real estate, home services, or other consultative B2C sales.
• Comfort with CRM platforms, pipeline management, and data-driven performance tracking.
• Commitment to continuous learning and professional development.

Career Growth & Development:

This role offers clear pathways for advancement based on performance:

• Structured promotion track from Sales Representative to Senior Sales Representative and other career progression opportunities (training, management, operations).
• Merit-based advancement opportunities into training, management, and other business areas.
• Comprehensive paid training program focusing on educational consulting and sales excellence.
• Mentorship and leadership development opportunities.

Unlock Your Full Potential at Nerdy:

At Nerdy, we’re not just transforming how people learn—we’re transforming your life. Our benefits package is built with a forward-thinking, “focus on you” mindset, so you can be your healthiest, happiest, and yes, most super-human self. Here’s a snapshot of what we offer:

• Competitive Compensation: $41,600 ($20/hour) base salary plus $12,000 annual variable compensation target (after training). Also, performance-based advancement opportunities with increased earning potential.
• Comprehensive Healthcare: Choose from top-tier medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans designed to keep you and your family covered.
• Retirement Made Simple: Benefit from our 401(k) plan with an immediate company match—no vesting delays!
• Family First: Generous maternity, paternity, and adoption leave ensure you have the support you need at life’s big moments.
• Equipment: Company-provided MacBook and headphones, as well as the latest technology and software programs to help make you successful.
• Continuous Learning: Get an all-inclusive learning membership for you and your household—including 1-on-1 tutoring hours, unlimited on-demand classes, and access to our full suite of learning products and services.
• Supercharge with AI: Gain exclusive access to cutting-edge AI tools that boost your productivity, making you feel almost super-human (cape not included).