Senior Director - Search Engine Marketing and Digital Advertising

About the Role: TransPerfect, the world’s largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business, is seeking a results-driven, resourceful, and visionary Senior Director – Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Digital Advertising to lead the creation of an in-house SEM and digital advertising function within the MarComm department. Structured like an internal performance marketing agency, this team will combine existing and net new resources to deliver scalable, measurable, and efficient search and performance strategies across all divisions of the TransPerfect Global Group. Your primary mission – as the leader of this team – will be to deliver high performance in the areas of brand awareness and qualified lead generation through effective strategy and execution. This role works closely with stakeholders across leadership, corporate marketing, sales, production, and vendors, always providing best-in-class service levels – faster, smarter, and more cost-effectively than any agency could deliver, all while being held accountable at the same level that a third-party agency would be.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategy & Leadership
  • Build and lead TransPerfect’s in-house SEM team as a strategic center of excellence.
  • Define the internal agency model, including intake process, SLAs, workflow, and campaign reporting standards.
  • Serve as senior strategist and internal thought leader on paid search and digital advertising best practices, platform trends, and measurement models.
  • Lead quarterly performance reviews and SEM opportunity briefings across business units.
  • Develop high-trust, high-transparency relationships with key executive stakeholders and vertical/divisional leaders.
• Campaign Development & Execution
  • Full campaign setup, brief intake, team mobilization.
  • Own end-to-end campaign lifecycle from intake and planning to launch, optimization, and reporting.
  • Translate internal marketing briefs into paid search strategies with aligned messaging, targeting, and budget pacing.
  • Manage bidding strategies, keyword planning, and targeting refinement to ensure ROI across campaigns.
  • Oversee creation and testing of ad copy, variants, extensions, and new ad formats and experimentation.
• Performance Management & Optimization
  • Monitor and optimize campaigns in real time, ensuring efficient spend and strong performance on key KPIs (ROAS, CTR, CPA, conversions).
  • Deliver clear, actionable reports and insights to internal stakeholders on a monthly and quarterly basis.
  • Highlight key wins and major highlights in real-time.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align paid search efforts with broader campaign goals and messaging.
• Innovation & Proactive Program Growth
  • Launch “always-on” programs for core services or products that run independent of formal briefs.
  • Conduct quarterly SEM opportunity reviews based on search trends, competitor activity, and historical data.
  • Lead a "test and learn" agenda, piloting new ad types, platforms, and strategies with measurable insights shared across the team.
  • Identify content and keyword gaps to inform future campaign and SEO initiatives.
• Cross-Team Partnership & Enablement
  • Act as the strategic SEM partner to internal vertical and product marketing teams.
  • Host regular internal SEM sessions to provide consultative support, brainstorm new ideas, and field quick-turn requests.
  • Educate stakeholders on SEM capabilities and foster a culture of performance-driven marketing.

Requirements:

• 8+ years in SEM or performance marketing roles, with at least 3 years managing paid search strategy at scale.
• Demonstrated experience building or running high-volume SEM campaigns for B2B and B2C brands.
• Past experience building from zero, not just stepping in to existing roles and programs and optimizing – a hybrid builder/optimizer.
• Strong understanding of Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Google Analytics, and conversion tracking tools.
• Additional knowledge of paid channels including LinkedIn, Meta, etc.
• Extensive knowledge of top-of-funnel digital advertising strategies, including platforms and tactics used for brand awareness, audience expansion, and demand generation (e.g. YouTube, paid social).
• Ability to translate brand or campaign goals into effective upper-funnel media plans with clear KPIs and targeting strategies.
• Understanding of how to apply digital advertising strategies to support new market entry initiatives—leveraging paid media to build awareness, validate audience potential, and generate early demand in new geographies or verticals.
• Proven leadership experience in building teams that run with agency-style operations.
• Exceptional data literacy and analytical thinking—comfortable owning dashboards and reporting frameworks.
• Strong communicator and collaborator with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Hands-on, proactive, and organized—you know how to lead, but understand that this is a player-coach role where you are required to roll up your sleeves.
• Experience in localization, SaaS, professional services, managed services, consulting, or complex B2B global marketing environments.
• Familiarity with managing SEM campaigns in multilingual markets.
• Working knowledge of SEO, CRO, or paid social to support integrated performance campaigns.

Why TransPerfect? This role is an opportunity to lead SEM transformation at one of the world’s largest providers of language and content solutions. You’ll have the autonomy and support to build something from the ground up, work across business lines, and drive measurable impact at a global scale—all while eliminating external agency reliance and leveling up our internal SEM capability. As a privately held company, TransPerfect is an ideal workplace for entrepreneurial, opportunistic, growth-minded individuals who aren’t afraid to take risks and can succeed in a non-standard environment.