Search Engine Marketing Jobs in Illinois

Company Description

Spark Foundry is a global media agency that exists to bring HEAT - Higher Engagement, Affinity, and Transactions - to brands. By combining flawless media fundamentals with aggressive innovation, Spark inspires consumers to pay more attention, to care more about our clients’ brands, and to buy more products and services from them. Balancing the nimble spirit of a startup with the powerhouse soul of Publicis Media, Spark Foundry delivers the best of both worlds to a client roster that spans some of the world’s best and most beloved brands and companies. We combine boutique-caliber insights and service with the buying clout and first-look access of a global leader, bringing the heat to challenger brands that want to act like giants, and to giant brands that want to act like challengers. With a bottom-up culture that celebrates diversity and aims for all voices to be heard, Spark has become a magnet for the industry’s best talent, with one of the best retention rates in the industry. And by applying a whole-person approach to professional and personal development, Spark develops a workforce that is well prepared for today’s challenges, and also poised to create meaningful careers in the years to come. Because we know that heat arises at the intersection of complementary forces, our professionals come from myriad disciplines and backgrounds: data, analytics, and insights, content and creative production, communications and strategy, finance and marketing, and sociology, psychology, and other liberal arts disciplines.

Overview

The role of the Senior Search Analyst is to be the day-to-day steward of search media for assigned brands responsible for monitoring and maintaining search campaign development, activation and innovation. The Senior Search Analyst is required to develop and maintain a strong knowledge of their clients’ business and apply their search understanding accordingly to help deliver against the clients’ needs/objectives. The Senior Search Analyst will work closely with their manager in the development and communication of all search recommendations.

Responsibilities

- Gather and analyze keyword research necessary to build a new campaign
- Responsible for gathering necessary data for plan development
- Group keywords into ad groups and develop relevant ad copy and extensions with little direction from Manager
- Responsible for presenting recommendation, soliciting and applying client feedback to keyword and copy proposal prior to client signoff
- Upon campaign approval, responsible for building flowchart and loading authorized buys in Prisma
- Generate paperwork necessary for purchase authorization and ensure vendor counter signature is received
- Primary party responsible for trafficking approved plan into search engines
- Primary party responsible for QA of all campaign components prior to launch
- Monitor and maintain campaign budgets, pacing and bid adjustments
- Proactively advocate for campaign adjustments based on performance trends
- Active monitoring and management of performance and competitive landscape
- Development and implementation of optimizations and/or testing plans (e.g. search query reports, negative keyword maintenance, keyword overlap, testing implementation)
- Pulling and analyzing data to inform campaign reporting and develop strategic insights with clear actionable items
- Build clear, concise and cohesive quantitative analyses inclusive of strong data visualization
- Active participation in client status and reporting calls, including presentation of reporting
- Responsible for granular maintenance of monthly billing cycle, including invoice tracking, buy actualization in Prisma, and compiling draft billing for manager approval
- Responsible for resolving all billing discrepancies in partnership with client strategy and billing reconciliation team
- Responsible for learning all relevant tools for reporting, analytics and competitive analysis - bid management platforms, Benchtools, Google Trends
- Mastery of all core search metric calculations and relationships (e.g. CPC, CPA, CTR, SOV, weighted averages)
- Serve as subject matter experts and be a resource for training and ad hoc questions
- Develop strong working relationship with client teams and partner agencies (where applicable) by helping to create a seamless communications process
- Establish professional, productive rapport with sales representatives/media vendors
- Demonstrate creativity and agility when problem solving
- Work closely with manager to establish priorities and manage workload
- Timely delivery of all work
- Successful completion of training programs and requisite certifications

Qualifications

- 1-2 years of experience in paid search campaign development/management/optimization with the use of leading platforms, including Google, Bing, Oath, Etc.
- Strong analytical thinking and mathematical skills and an ability to manage data
- Experience with PPC and digital display advertising and traditional media elements
- Resourceful, curious, and motivated individual with an ability to work independently, as well as in a team setting
- Strong organizational and communication skills
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite with intermediate-to-advanced understanding of Excel

Technology Systems Utilized

- Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint
- Search Ads 360 / DoubleClick for Search Experience
- Google Ads/Microsoft Ads UI and Editor Tools
- Google Trends, Google Auction Insights

Budget Responsibility

- Monitor and maintain campaign budgets, pacing, and bid adjustments

Additional Information

Our Publicis Groupe motto “Viva La Différence” means we’re better together, and we believe that our differences make us stronger. It means we honor and celebrate all identities, across all facets of intersectionality, and it underpins all that we do as an organization. We are focused on fostering belonging and creating equitable & inclusive experiences for all talent. Publicis Groupe provides robust and inclusive benefit programs and policies to support the evolving and diverse needs of our talent and enable every person to grow and thrive. Our benefits package includes medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401K, as well as parental and family care leave, family forming assistance, tuition reimbursement, and flexible time off. If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact USMSTACompliance@publicis.com.

Compensation Range: $59,850 - $82,740 annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. Temporary roles may also qualify for participation in our 401(k) plan after eligibility criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 01/01/2026.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

25-1437 #DNI