Performance Manager Jobs in Chicago, IL

ThinkMarkets is a global financial technology company specializing in multi-asset trading solutions. Through our flagship ThinkTrader platform, we provide clients worldwide with access to thousands of financial instruments across global markets, supported by advanced trading technology and infrastructure.

Backed by ThinkMarkets' market expertise and infrastructure, ThinkCapital is our prop trading evaluation business, providing aspiring traders with access to a broad range of trading products within a simulated trading environment.

Our mission is to simplify the trading journey by combining smart technology with trusted support, giving traders the tools, education and opportunities to develop their skills and elevate their trading potential.

About the Role

We are looking for a data-driven, commercially minded Performance Marketing Manager to drive paid customer acquisition and revenue growth for ThinkCapital across multiple digital channels and markets.

This is a hands-on execution role. You will directly build, manage and optimize campaigns, test creative and audiences, manage budgets and improve the customer journey from initial awareness through to paid trading challenge purchases and repeat purchases.

The ideal candidate brings performance marketing experience alongside an understanding of prop trading evaluation programs, trader audiences and the factors that influence purchase decisions. Previous experience marketing a prop trading evaluation business is strongly preferred.

Key Responsibilities:

Paid Media & Customer Acquisition

• Build, launch and optimize paid acquisition campaigns across Google Ads and Meta Ads, with direct responsibility for campaign setup, budget management, bidding and targeting.
• Test and develop additional acquisition channels, such as YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, Snapchat, Quora and programmatic advertising, based on audience relevance and commercial performance.
• Manage campaigns across multiple markets, including prospecting, retargeting, audience segmentation and lookalike strategies.
• Develop acquisition campaigns around trading challenges, evaluation programs and promotional offers, tailoring messaging to different trader audiences.
• Work closely with Creative and Marketing teams to develop and test campaign creative, ad copy and messaging.
• Identify opportunities to scale successful campaigns while maintaining acquisition efficiency.

Performance & Conversion Optimization

• Track and optimize key metrics, including cost per acquisition, customer acquisition cost, return on ad spend, conversion rates, challenge purchases and customer lifetime value.
• Analyze the acquisition funnel from ad click and landing page visit through registration, checkout and paid challenge purchase.
• Run structured A/B tests across creative, audiences, ad copy, offers and landing pages.
• Identify conversion barriers and work with Product, Creative and Technology teams to improve the purchase journey.
• Analyze first-time and repeat purchases to inform acquisition strategy and budget allocation.
• Build clear performance reports and dashboards, translating data into actionable recommendations.

Tracking, Attribution & Analytics

• Own campaign measurement requirements and validate conversion tracking across GA4, Google Tag Manager, advertising pixels and Conversion APIs.
• Monitor key customer journey events to ensure campaigns are measured accurately.
• Identify tracking gaps and investigate discrepancies between advertising platforms, analytics tools and purchase data.
• Work with Analytics, Product and Technology teams on tracking implementation, troubleshooting and attribution improvements.
• Use attribution and customer journey insights to guide channel investment and campaign optimization.

Trader Audience & Product Understanding

• Develop an understanding of ThinkCapital's evaluation products, challenge features, rules and customer journey.
• Translate product features and benefits into clear, accurate and compelling acquisition messaging.
• Use insights from trader communities, customer feedback and competitor activity to improve campaigns and creative.
• Coordinate with relevant internal teams to ensure advertising accurately reflects the product and meets applicable platform requirements.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, Analytics or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Hands-on experience running and optimizing Google Ads and Meta Ads campaigns.
• Understanding of paid acquisition, conversion funnels and key metrics such as CPA and ROAS.
• Familiarity with GA4, Google Tag Manager and campaign reporting tools.
• Ability to analyze campaign data and identify opportunities to improve performance.
• Interest in prop trading and a willingness to learn about trader audiences and evaluation products.
• Experience in prop trading, fintech or trading-related marketing is a plus.