Paid Search Specialist — CybersecurityAI 18425

Position : Paid Search Specialist Cybersecurity/AI

Company/Client : Adaptive Security

Work Hours (Client) : 9am-5pm PST Monday-Friday

Pay Range : 1400-1800USD/month(varies based on skill set and experience level)

Location of Search : South Africa Philippines Latin America or Eastern Europe

Work Location : REMOTE

Type of Contract : Independent Contractor

Company/Client Overview:

Our client is a fast-growing cybersecurity company hiring an experienced Paid Search Specialist to build and lead a high-performance paid acquisition function from the ground up.

This is not a generalist PPC role. The primary goal is to design execute and continuously optimize paid search programs that drive qualified pipeline from enterprise buyers: CISOs IT leaders security architects and practitioners across Google Ads Microsoft Ads and emerging AI-driven ad platforms. You will help with the full paid search lifecycle from keyword strategy and audience segmentation to ad copy landing page alignment and revenue attribution.

Duties and Responsibilities:
Strategy & Campaign Architecture

• Develop and own the overarching paid search strategy aligned to pipeline and revenue targets not just traffic or impression share
• Architect full-funnel campaign structures across branded non-branded competitive and RLSA (Remarketing Lists for Search Ads) segments
• Build and manage campaigns across Google Search Google Performance Max Microsoft/Bing Ads and YouTube (TrueView for Action)
• Map keyword targeting to buyer journey stages awareness consideration and decision with distinct messaging and landing page strategies for each
• Identify and pursue whitespace opportunities in the cybersecurity/AI paid search landscape through competitive intelligence and SERP analysis

Keyword Research & Targeting

• Conduct deep keyword research using tools such as Google Keyword Planner Ahrefs Semrush and SpyFu to identify high-intent commercially relevant terms
• Build and maintain comprehensive negative keyword lists to eliminate wasted spend and improve signal quality
• Segment keyword sets by intent tier (informational navigational transactional) and audience persona
• Monitor and adapt to keyword trends specific to the cybersecurity and AI sectors including emerging threat categories product categories

Ad Copy & Creative

• Write compelling persona-specific ad copy tailored to enterprise security buyers emphasizing technical credibility urgency and ROI
• Develop and manage A/B and multivariate ad copy tests with statistical rigor iterating based on CTR Quality Score and conversion rate data
• Collaborate with design and content teams to ensure landing page messaging is tightly aligned with paid search ad copy and keyword intent
• Leverage ad extensions (sitelinks callouts structured snippets lead forms) to maximize SERP real estate and improve click quality

Bid Management & Budget Optimization

• Own budget allocation across campaigns ad groups and channels making data-driven decisions to maximize return on ad spend (ROAS) and cost per pipeline (CPP)
• Manage automated and manual bidding strategies (Target CPA Target ROAS Enhanced CPC Max Conversions) and adjust based on performance signals
• Conduct regular search term report analysis to refine match types identify new keyword opportunities and eliminate inefficient spend
• Monitor auction insights and competitive positioning to inform bid adjustments and strategic pivots

Analytics Attribution & Reporting

• Implement and maintain conversion tracking across Google Ads Microsoft Ads and CRM platforms (Salesforce HubSpot) to ensure accurate pipeline attribution
• Build and maintain dashboards in Google Looker Studio HubSpot or equivalent tools that tie paid search activity to MQL SQL and closed-won revenue
• Deliver weekly performance reports and monthly strategic reviews to marketing leadership with clear insight into what is working what is not and recommended next actions
• Partner with marketing ops and revenue ops teams to ensure UTM taxonomy lead scoring and attribution models are aligned across the funnel

Testing & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain a structured ongoing testing roadmap covering ad copy keyword match types bidding strategies landing pages and audience segments
• Document test hypotheses results and learnings to build an institutional knowledge base
• Stay current on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads product updates betas and best practices particularly as AI-driven features (Smart Bidding Demand Gen Performance Max) evolve

Minimum Requirements:

Language requirement: Excellent English Communication Skills

Education: Bachelors Degree (ideally)

Experience: 5 years of related experience

Industry: technology/cybersecurity industry

• 5 years of hands-on paid search management experience with a proven track record of driving measurable pipeline and revenue outcomes.
• Deep expertise in Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising including Search Display YouTube and Performance Max campaign types
• Experience marketing B2B SaaS cybersecurity or enterprise technology products strongly preferred; familiarity with cybersecurity buyer personas (CISOs SecOps IT

Directors) is a significant advantage

• Strong command of keyword research match type strategy Quality Score optimization and auction dynamics
• Proficiency with Google Analytics 4 Google Tag Manager and CRM-based attribution (Salesforce or HubSpot)
• Experience with paid search tools including Semrush Ahrefs SpyFu or similar competitive intelligence platforms
• Demonstrated ability to manage and optimize six-figure monthly budgets with accountability to pipeline and ROAS targets
• Exceptional analytical and data interpretation skills you make decisions from data not intuition alone
• Strong written communication skills with the ability to craft ad copy that resonates with technical enterprise audiences
• Ability to work independently in a remote environment manage multiple campaigns simultaneously and communicate proactively with stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications

• Google Ads certification (Search Performance Max Measurement)
• Experience running paid campaigns alongside an organic/SEO content strategy with an understanding of how paid and organic search interact
• Familiarity with intent data platforms (6sense Bombora Demandbase) and how they can inform paid search audience segmentation
• Experience with ABM (Account-Based Marketing) frameworks and running paid search in support of targeted account lists
• Background in or understanding of AI-driven ad products and how emerging platforms (Perplexity Ads AI Overviews) are reshaping paid search discovery

Required Experience:

IC