About the RoleWe're looking for an Associate Director of Paid Search who lives and breathes the commerce side of search - someone who sees a product feed not as plumbing but as the single highest-leverage asset in a retail or DTC media program.
This is a hands-on leadership role. You'll own the strategy and execution of large Shopping and Performance Max programs, obsess over feed quality and structure, and connect paid search to the broader buying experience - from query to PDP to conversion. You'll lead a small group of search/shopping specialists while staying close enough to the platforms to spot what others miss.
Responsibilities:- Own paid search strategy across Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising for a portfolio of commerce-driven clients, with Shopping, Performance Max, and standard search working as one system.
- Treat feed optimization as a core discipline: audit, restructure, and continuously improve product feeds (titles, attributes, GTINs, custom labels, supplemental feeds) to maximize coverage, relevance, and ROAS.
- Participate in new business pitches.
- Architect campaign and feed segmentation strategies that give buyers control inside increasingly automated, AI-driven products.
- Partner with clients and internal teams on the full shopping experience - landing pages, PDP quality, merchant feed health, promotions, and conversion tracking - so media spend lands on a page that converts.
- Set the measurement frame: ROAS, new-customer acquisition, margin-aware bidding, incrementality, and feed-level performance diagnostics.
- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of search and feed specialists; raise the bar on QA, hygiene, and documentation.
- Stay ahead of platform changes - Performance Max evolution, AI Max, retail media adjacencies, and the shift toward signal- and feed-driven buying - and translate it into client roadmaps.
- Act as a senior point of contact for clients: present strategy, defend recommendations with data, and build trust.
About YouThe essentials:- 7+ years in paid search / performance media, with deep, demonstrable experience in Shopping and feed-driven campaigns at meaningful spend.
- Genuine feed fluency - you've worked directly with Merchant Center, feed management tools (e.g., Feedonomics, Versafeed, Productsup, or similar), and know how feed structure drives auction outcomes.
- Strong command of Google Ads (Shopping, Performance Max, search) and ideally Microsoft Advertising and retail media platforms.
- A commerce mindset: comfort with margin, AOV, LTV, and the mechanics of how a feed connects to a storefront.
- Experience leading people and owning client relationships at a senior level, ideally in an agency or managed-service environment.
- Excellent communication and the ability to make complex feed/search strategy legible to non-specialist stakeholders.
Not a must, but a plus:- Experience with large catalogs (retail, marketplace, multi-region) and supplemental feed strategies.
- Familiarity with retail media networks (Amazon, Walmart Connect, Instacart) as part of an integrated commerce program.
- Scripting/automation exposure (Google Ads scripts) to scale feed and account management.
- Analytical rigor - comfortable in GA4, BigQuery, Looker Studio, or similar, and able to turn data into a clear point of view.
This role is subject to our Return to Office (RTO) policy. If you reside within a commutable distance of one of our office locations, you will be expected to work from the office a set number of days per week. The specific details, including the number of required office days, will be in accordance with the company's then-current RTO policy, which is subject to change from time to time.
Monks has provided a compensation range that represents its good faith estimate of what Monks may pay for the position at the time of posting. Monks may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. The salary offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on job-related factors, but not based on a candidate's sex or any other protected status.
Salary Range
$137,000-$165,000 CAD
