Performance Marketing Senior Specialist

About the Marketing Department:

The Marketing team drives brand awareness, customer engagement, and trip bookings through strategic campaigns, compelling content, and data-driven insights. They manage digital and traditional marketing channels, optimize customer outreach, and enhance the brand’s presence to inspire travelers and grow the business. 

The department is comprised of several teams, which include the below:  

• Direct Mail & CRM: Engages past and prospective guests through targeted email campaigns and personalized direct mail, leveraging data to drive bookings and loyalty. 
• PR & Partnership: Builds brand awareness and credibility through media outreach, strategic partnerships, and influencer collaborations to expand Backroads’ reach. 
• Website Management: Oversees the website’s content, functionality, and user experience to ensure seamless navigation, accurate information, and optimized conversion. 
• Brand, Content, Community: Responsible for the creative design, content and social media presence for the Backroads brand.

By joining the Marketing team at Backroads, you’ll be part of a group that values building innovative people processes and fostering a positive, inclusive employee experience. 

About the Role:

The Performance Marketing Senior Specialist is a key member of the Performance Marketing team at Backroads. In this role, you will be responsible for developing and executing strategies to drive high-quality traffic and maximize return on investment (ROI) through paid digital advertising. This includes managing pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, optimizing bidding strategies, making creative recommendations, analyzing performance data, and continuously refining tactics to improve efficiency and support business growth objectives. You will be a great fit for this position if you have at least four years of digital advertising experience in an established brand, are results-oriented, data-driven, eager to learn, and always looking for innovative solutions to stay ahead.

What you'll be doing:

• Develop, manage, and optimize paid search campaigns across diverse platforms like Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta, and Display, including budget allocation, A/B testing, ad optimization, and bid strategies.  
• Conduct thorough keyword research to determine which terms target in paid advertising campaigns, considering user intent and search volume. 
• Track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, cost per lead (CPL), and cost per booking (CPB), using multiple data sources and a consolidated dashboard to measure campaign effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.
• Understand tracking protocols and ensure that all parameters are consistent and accurate; flag and resolve errors with urgency. 
• Monitor industry and competitor performance marketing strategies and identify opportunities to reach our target guest audience.  
• Work collaboratively within and outside of marketing to share your expertise and recommendations for paid digital advertising in support of business goals. 
• Keep abreast of the latest technologies and best practices to maintain optimal performance. 
• Other duties as necessary

What you'll need to be successful:  

• 4+ years of experience working in Performance Marketing, having strong skills in full-funnel SEM, Meta and Display advertising.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in PPC ad platforms (Google Ads, Microsoft Ads), Meta, Criteo, and web analytics platforms (GA4, Power BI). Knowledge of Salesforce, PowerBI, Jira and HTML a plus. Proficiency in Microsoft Office.
• Data Analysis: Ability to interpret complex data to identify trends and make informed decisions; Ability to think creatively while being analytical.
• Marketing Strategy: Understanding of overall marketing goals and how search marketing aligns with broader marketing initiatives.  Proven experience in managing successful PPC campaigns.
• Communication Skills: Effective written and verbal communication to collaborate with cross-functional teams and present findings to stakeholders. Able to distill technical content into simple and easy-to-understand messaging.
• Project Management: Skilled at planning, project management, time management, and decision-making. Able to manage multiple projects at once, resolving competing priorities, working swiftly under pressure, and meeting project deadlines.
• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, digital marketing, or related field.
• Familiarity with travel industries and target audiences.

Work Environment: 

• Berkeley, CA 
• On-site, 4 days in in office

Interview Process:

• Recruiter Screen (30 min)
• Hiring Manager Interview (30 min)
• Panel Interview (in-person 90 min)