Paid Search & Social Strategist

Location: Hybrid 3 Days In-Office Portland, ME

Employment Type: Contract to Full-time Hire

Description

Campfire Consulting is a media strategy agency built on purpose, transparency, and performance. As a certified B Corp and 1% for the Planet member, we partner with brands and organizations that care deeply about how their message shows up in the world and how their media dollars move both their business and our culture forward.

We’re looking for a Paid Search & Social Strategist who loves the mechanics of paid media buying, but also understands the bigger picture: how intent, messaging, budgets, platforms, and data connect across the full media ecosystem. You’ll be in-platform daily, turning strategy into action and performance into insight the team can stand behind. Though you’ll be working within both search and social platforms, we’re looking for someone with the bulk of their experience in search who is prepared to speak as an authority on paid search optimization and best practices.

You’ll report into our managing director and collaborate closely with our paid media account strategists and head of strategy. This is a role for someone who sweats the details, asks good questions, and takes pride in making campaigns better week after week—not just bigger.

This role includes a 3-month contract period, during which you’ll be paid on an hourly basis and will not be eligible for benefits. Should we mutually agree to continue working together following that period, you will transition to a full-time hire with benefits included.

What You’ll Do

• Build, execute, manage, and optimize paid search campaigns across Google Ads and peripheral search platforms as needed
• Build, execute, manage, and optimize social campaigns across major platforms such as Meta, TikTok, and Reddit 
• Analyze performance data regularly and translate it into clear insights, hypotheses, and next steps
• Support ongoing media spend actualization and optimization
• Act as a “boots-on-the-ground” search expert, proactively flagging opportunities, risks, and performance shifts
• Collaborate with media strategists and account leads to ensure search and social approach aligns with broader channel strategy
• Support reporting and performance storytelling—helping explain what’s happening and why it matters
• Participate in regular check-ins with leadership to review monthly and quarterly trends across accounts
• Assist with onboarding and mentoring newer team members as the search team grows
• Support projects beyond your core accounts when needed—we operate as one team, not silos

How We Measure Success

• Thoughtful optimizations that improve efficiency and clarity
• Strong communication with strategists and account leads
• Fewer surprises, earlier insights, and better forecasting
• Campaigns that perform well and are easy to explain to clients
• A consistent bias toward learning, testing, and improvement—not shortcuts

What We’re Looking For

• 4 years of experience in a paid search, SEM, biddable media, or marketing analyst role in an advertising agency
• Hands-on experience managing Google Ads, and social for primary platforms (Meta & TikTok Ads)
• Comfort working in GA4, executing complex tagging/event tracking, and connecting platform performance to on-site behavior
• Strong working knowledge of Excel and Google Sheets for analysis, pacing, and reporting
• A genuine curiosity about performance. You don’t just look at numbers you interrogate them
• Interest in media trends, business, and how people actually search and make decisions
• Google Ads and/or Microsoft Advertising certifications are a plus
• Previous exposure to SEO or content strategy is helpful, but not required as campfire does not offer organic search services.

How You Show Up

• Meticulous and organized. You notice the things others miss and you’re comfortable digging into large swaths of data
• Thoughtful and collaborative. You enjoy working alongside strategists, not in isolation
• Calm under pressure. You can make smart calls in deadline-driven situations
• Self-motivated, but not a lone wolf. You ask questions, share learnings, and contribute to the team’s growth
• Grounded and professional, with a bias toward doing the work right

Benefits

We believe in taking care of our people so they can take care of the work. 

If we mutually agree to move forward following the initial, 3-month contract period, you will transition to an FTE with benefits including:

• Hybrid work environment with three days in our Portland, ME office (T-TH) with remote or in-office Mondays/Fridays
• Flexible PTO and company holidays, including a paid week off between Christmas and New Year’s
• Health insurance (medical, dental, vision)
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid volunteer time to support causes you care about
• Profit-sharing opportunities based on agency performance
• Parental leave and flexible schedules for caregivers
• A culture that values people first—not just performance metrics

Salary range

$60,000 - $70,000 per year