Upstart

Senior Performance Marketing Manager, Paid Social

Upstart$138K — $192K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Business Services
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 7+ years of experience in performance marketing with hands-on management of paid social and video campaigns.
  • Proven track record of scaling paid social acquisition with clear CAC, CPA, and ROI goals.
  • Expertise in campaign structure, bidding, budgeting, audience management, and performance optimization.
  • Experience collaborating with media agencies to develop strategies and evaluate performance outcomes.
  • Demonstrated ability to create and analyze a paid media creative strategy, including messaging and performance evaluation.
  • Strong analytics skillset to interpret data, design experiments, and make strategic decisions in uncertain contexts.
  • Proficient in utilizing geographic targeting and audience segmentation to enhance acquisition efficiency.

Responsibilities

  • Own and optimize paid social and video acquisition strategies for Personal Loans.
  • Collaborate with media agency on channel strategy and performance management.
  • Utilize performance data for media investments and campaign efficiency improvements.
  • Develop and execute creative strategies in partnership with internal and agency teams.
  • Refine audience strategies through prospecting and retargeting techniques.
  • Drive geographic targeting experiments to identify growth opportunities.
  • Design structured tests on various factors to guide investment decisions.
  • Partner cross-functionally to enhance the full acquisition funnel.

Benefits

  • Competitive base pay with bonus and equity opportunities.
  • 401(k) with company match for retirement savings.
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan with stock purchase discounts.
  • Comprehensive health coverage including medical, dental, and vision.
  • Paid family leave and support for caregiving responsibilities.
  • Access to mental health support and wellness resources.
  • Annual allowances for wellness and productivity resources.
Full Job Description
The Team:

Upstart's Digital Marketing team drives scalable, data-driven customer acquisition across our lending products via performance marketing channels. We design, execute, and optimize digital media strategies that connect consumers to credit at the moments that matter most. Through rigorous experimentation, channel optimization, and disciplined CAC management, the team plays a critical role in fueling Upstart's growth while maintaining strong unit economics for the business.

As the Senior Performance Marketing Manager, Paid Social, you will own the strategy, execution, and growth of paid social acquisition for Upstart's Personal Loans business. You will be a hands-on media buyer responsible for building profitable scale across social platforms, partnering closely with our media agency while maintaining direct ownership of performance, testing, and optimization.

This role sits at the intersection of media buying, creative strategy, audience development, and marketing analytics. You will translate business goals into channel strategy, identify opportunities to improve conversion and efficiency, and work cross-functionally to develop the creative, targeting, and measurement capabilities needed to grow Personal Loans profitably.

This role offers exceptional ownership and visibility, with the chance to make a material impact on one of Upstart's newest and most strategic product lines while laying the foundation for long-term growth.

How you'll make an impact
  • Own and optimize paid social and video acquisition for Personal Loans, managing campaign strategy, setup, bidding, budgets, pacing, and performance across key platforms.
  • Work closely with our media agency to establish channel strategy, manage execution, evaluate recommendations, and hold the partnership accountable to volume, CAC, and profitability goals.
  • Be hands-on in the platform, using performance data to make media investments, optimization decisions, and improve campaign efficiency.
  • Develop and execute a creative strategy in partnership with Creative and agency teams, including testing frameworks, messaging hypotheses, formats, production priorities, and creative performance analysis.
  • Build and refine audience strategies across prospecting, retargeting, customer lists, lookalikes, and other first- and third-party audience solutions.
  • Drive geo-list targeting and geographic experimentation with our analytics team to identify incremental growth opportunities, improve channel economics, and bring paid social toward profitability.
  • Design and analyze structured tests across audiences, creative, bidding, placements, geographies, and funnel experiences, using incrementality and down-funnel performance to guide investment decisions.
  • Partner with Analytics, Product Marketing, Creative, Lifecycle, and Growth Product teams to improve the full acquisition funnel from impression through funded loan.
  • Manage and forecast significant media budgets, balancing growth, customer volume, and contribution economics while adapting quickly to changing performance trends.

Minimum Qualifications
  • 7+ years of experience in performance marketing or digital media buying, with significant hands-on experience managing paid social and video campaigns.
  • Proven experience owning and scaling paid social acquisition programs against CAC, CPA, ROI, revenue, or profitability goals.
  • Demonstrated expertise in paid social platforms, including campaign structure, bidding, budgeting, audience management, creative testing, and performance optimization.
  • Experience partnering with external media agencies, including setting strategy, reviewing performance, challenging recommendations, and managing executional accountability.
  • Experience developing or executing a paid media creative strategy, including messaging, format, testing, and performance analysis.
  • Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret channel and funnel data, design experiments, and make investment decisions in ambiguous environments.
  • Experience using geographic targeting, geo experiments, customer lists, or other audience segmentation approaches to improve acquisition efficiency and measure incrementality.

Preferred Qualifications
    • Experience operating in highly regulated or longer consideration cycle vertical (e.g., financial services, fintech, lending, insurance, marketplaces).
    - Experience launching and scaling new channels or products from zero to one, with comfort operating in ambiguity and building an acquisition funnel from scratch.
    - Experience working closely with product and engineering teams to improve landing pages, funnels, and on-site conversion through testing and iteration.


Position location This role is available in the following locations: Remote

Time zone requirements The team operates on the East/West coast time zones.

Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions' cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

#LI-REMOTE

#LI-MidSenior

At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location-with our "digital first" philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).

United States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range

$138,600-$192,000 USD

What you'll love

At Upstart, our benefits are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here's what you can expect:
  • Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
  • Retirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada)
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only)
  • Comprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada.
  • Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only)
  • Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security
  • Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements
  • Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country)
  • Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources
  • Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only)
  • Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you
  • Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from
  • Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
  • Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City (opening Summer 2026!)

For roles based in Canada, please note that we are not currently able to hire in Quebec.

About Upstart

Upstart is a lending platform that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the borrowing process. The company was founded in 2012 by ex-Googlers and has since originated over $10 billion in loans. Upstart's platform uses non-traditional variables such as education and employment history to determine creditworthiness, which allows for more accurate risk assessment and better loan terms for borrowers. The company went public in December 2020 and is listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol UPST.
Learn more about Upstart
Size
100 employees
Market Cap
$1 billion
Industry
Net Income
$11 million
Founded
2012
Revenue
$205.3 million
NASDAQ

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