About the Role
GEICO's MOAT (Home, Renters, other Property), and Specialty lines extend the relationship with customers well beyond auto, and paid search is one of the most direct ways to reach people shopping for them. Demand can be seasonal, intent is specific to the product and the person, availability and appetite can vary by state, and many of the best prospects are existing GEICO customers who may not yet know GEICO offers more. A search program that treats each of these lines like auto will leave growth and efficiency on the table.
As Director, Paid Search - MOAT & Specialty, you will own paid search strategy and execution, including emerging AI paid search experiences, for these lines of business. You will report to the Senior Director, Search & Partner Marketing, lead a team of in-house practitioners and agency partners, manage the search budget across a diverse set of products, and be accountable for quote volume, conversion quality, and efficient acquisition cost. You will work closely with product and line of business leaders, underwriting, data science, and analytics.
This role is for a hands-on leader who can inspect an account structure or bid strategy in the morning and explain its impact on the business to product leadership in the afternoon. You'll have real room to build: a search approach that fits the distinct economics of each line, and a measurement and testing engine to match.
Key Responsibilities
Strategy & Leadership
• Set the paid search strategy and roadmap for the MOAT & Specialty lines, aligned to each line's growth, profitability, and LTV objectives
• Lead and develop a team of in-house practitioners and agency partners, building a high-performing, accountable, and collaborative team
• Prioritize search investment across a diverse product portfolio, weighing each line's economics, seasonality, and strategic importance
• Serve as the paid search lead for these lines of business, and align closely with the Senior Director, Search & Partner Marketing so the approach fits the broader search and partner portfolio
• Evaluate and pilot new search capabilities, including AI-driven search ad experiences, and recommend where these lines should invest
Campaign Management & Budget
• Own the paid search budget for these lines, allocating across products, states, and campaigns, and monitor pacing and forecasts against quote and sales goals
• Flex investment with seasonal demand and with changes in underwriting appetite, state availability, and weather or market events that affect the ability to sell
• Oversee account structure, keyword and audience strategy, bidding, ad copy, and landing page alignment, tailored to the specific intent behind each product
• Capture demand from existing GEICO customers and auto shoppers where cross-sell and bundling opportunities exist, in coordination with the teams that own those relationships
• Ensure ad content and landing experiences are accurate, on-brand, and compliant in a regulated category
Optimization, Testing & Measurement
• Optimize toward quality outcomes, such as completed quotes and sales, rather than lead volume alone, and ensure bidding reflects the value of each product
• Build a test-and-learn program across ad copy, landing pages, bidding strategies, audiences, and match types, and document what the team learns
• Craft the measurement plan, including CPA, LTV, and incrementality, and account for the different conversion volumes and cycle lengths across products
• Use platform-native AI and automation, such as AI-powered bidding and campaign types, with guardrails that keep results aligned to each line's goals
Cross-Functional Partnership
• Partner with product and line of business leaders, and with underwriting, to align targeting, availability, and growth priorities
• Partner closely with data science and analytics on attribution, forecasting, and the value of cross-sell and bundled customers
• Collaborate with site, UX, creative, and compliance teams on landing pages, ad content, and quote flows
• Coordinate with the organic search and site conversion teams so paid and organic presence work together
• Manage relationships with search platforms and agency partners, including Google and Microsoft
• Represent paid search for these lines with senior leadership - presenting performance reads, points of view, and strategic recommendations
You May Be a Good Fit If You
• Have managed paid search for multiple products with different economics, and can show how you prioritized investment among them
• Have led a team that includes both in-house practitioners and agency partners, and can point to people you've developed
• Are hands-on enough to inspect an account structure or bid strategy in detail, and can step back and explain its impact to an executive
• Have managed search through seasonality and supply constraints, and know how to adjust quickly when demand or availability shifts
• Have run a test-and-learn program and can show how its results changed what the team did next
• Know when to escalate, take feedback without losing your point of view, and hold yourself and your team accountable for the number
• Make the complex simple - you help partners in product, underwriting, and the business act on what you've learned
• Use AI tools - Claude, Copilot, and platform-native AI - to work faster and make better decisions, and you help your team do the same
• Want to grow search for lines of business where there's real room to make a visible difference
Ideal Experience
• Experience: 10+ years in digital marketing, including significant hands-on paid search experience and time leading search teams
• Service company context: Background in a conversion-driven service business - financial services, insurance, SaaS, or banking - where the company's success depends on acquiring and retaining customers. Experience in CPG or physical product marketing is not a substitute for this context.
• People leadership: Experience leading practitioners and managing a hybrid model of in-house teams and agency partners
• Paid search expertise: Deep, hands-on knowledge of Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising, including bid strategies, automation, AI-driven campaign types, and how they change targeting and control
• Multi-product experience: Experience managing search across several products or lines with different seasonality, margins, and availability, and allocating budget among them
• Data & technology: Well-versed in SEM bid management platforms, conversion tracking, and web analytics; strong understanding of the data privacy landscape
• Measurement: Experience with attribution beyond last click, incrementality testing, and forecasting for products with seasonal or uneven demand
• Executive communication: Demonstrated ability to present to senior leadership, manage up on performance reads, and incorporate feedback to sharpen strategy
• AI fluency: Hands-on comfort with AI tools (e.g., Claude, Copilot) and a working view of how AI-driven search is changing ad formats, targeting, and buyer research
• Operating range: Ability to manage multiple priorities and resources in a fast-paced, growth-oriented organization
Strong Candidates May Also Have
• Insurance or other regulated financial services paid search experience
• Experience with home, powersports, recreational, or other specialty insurance or consumer lines with seasonal demand
• Experience driving cross-sell and bundling from an existing customer base through search
• Experience managing search where product availability varies by state or region
• Experience with AI search ad formats and the early work of measuring them
• Experience leading an in-housing effort or restructuring an agency model
Note: This is a Hybrid role based out of the following Office Locations:
Chicago
Bethesda
Manhattan
#LI-MK1
Annual Salary
$140,425.00 - $229,600.00
The above annual salary range is a general guideline. Multiple factors are taken into consideration to arrive at the final hourly rate/ annual salary to be offered to the selected candidate. Factors include, but are not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the role, the selected candidate's work experience, education and training, the work location as well as market and business considerations.
At this time, GEICO will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization for this position.
