[Hiring] Advertising Manager @Sonoran Desert Institute

Role Description

Please note this remote position is limited to candidates currently residing in Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, or Texas.

Looking for an opportunity where you can lead multi-channel ad strategy with a focus on performance and growth. We’re Sonoran Desert Institute and we are seeking an experienced Advertising Manager to join our amazing team.

The Advertising Manager will manage the strategy, investment, and performance outcomes of SDI’s paid digital acquisition programs. They will:

• Drive qualified B2C leads across SDI’s program pipeline by setting paid social, paid search, influencer, traditional, and digital ad strategy.
• Oversee significant budget investment and lead agency execution with clear accountability to ROI and conversion goals.
• Directly build and maintain a subset of our Google and Meta platform ad campaigns to A/B test against vendor outputs and make key decisions based on outcomes.
• Manage budget, lead mix, vendors/vendor contracting, and more.
• Operate as the owner of paid media performance, translating enrollment goals into channel-level investment decisions, forecasting outcomes, and driving continuous optimization across platforms.
• Collaborate with other members of the Marketing team, including creative and technical marketing team members.
• Develop a deep understanding of our CRM, student lifecycle statuses and nuances, and attribution and tracking models.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, communications, or related field.
• Five years or more of paid media and performance marketing experience.
• Hands-on experience with Google Ads and Meta platforms.
• Proven success managing campaigns with measurable ROI.
• Experience managing budgets and agency relationships.
• Familiarity with CRM systems and marketing analytics tools.
• Experience in higher education or regulated industries is a plus.
• Strong analytical and performance marketing expertise.
• Ability to translate data into actionable insights.
• Clear and confident communication with cross-functional teams.
• High ownership mindset with a focus on outcomes.
• Organized, proactive, and results-driven.
• Ability to collaborate across departments and levels throughout an organization.

Requirements

• Establish clear performance expectations for agency partners; monitor results and drive ongoing optimization and accountability.
• Track, analyze, and report on core KPIs (lead volume, CPL, CPA, conversion rates, and ROI), delivering actionable insights to stakeholders.
• Ensure accurate tracking, attribution, and tagging across platforms; partner with marketing and technology teams to improve data integrity and reporting.
• Collaborate with creative, social, and technical teams to develop and iterate high-performing ad creative and messaging aligned to audience and channel strategy.
• Align paid media efforts with broader marketing initiatives, product launches, and enrollment cycles.
• Identify underperforming campaigns or channels and proactively recommend and implement strategic pivots.
• Develop and maintain forecasting models, pacing reports, and variance analyses to ensure alignment with enrollment targets.
• Contribute to the evolution of internal processes, workflows, and best practices as paid media capabilities scale.
• Stay current on platform changes, industry trends, and emerging opportunities to continuously enhance performance.

Benefits

• Highly competitive compensation.
• Award winning culture.
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
• Comprehensive benefits package with 100% company-paid medical option for employee.
• 401(k) with generous company match.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Pet Insurance.
• Company-paid Life insurance.
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick, and Volunteer time off!).
• 14 Paid holidays.
• Referral program.
• Education Tuition Benefit program.
• Career development opportunities with a growing company.
• A team who is dedicated to your success!