The Challenge
Sallie Mae is transforming student financial guidance at scale. You'll own paid media strategy across SEM, social, and programmatic to drive acquisition and conversion for millions of students making critical education decisions.
Your Mission
Audit and optimize current paid search (Google Ads, Bing) and paid social (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube) performance; identify quick wins for ROAS and CPA improvement
Establish baseline metrics across all paid channels; define standardized reporting and attribution model for full-funnel performance tracking
Lead first A/B testing roadmap in collaboration with CRO and UX teams; launch 3-5 high-impact landing page and ad creative experiments
Build relationships with agency partners and internal stakeholders (analytics, creative, product); establish weekly cadence for optimization reviews
Scale top-performing paid channels by 25-40% while maintaining or improving ROAS targets; achieve sustainable CAC reduction across funnel
Execute comprehensive programmatic display strategy; integrate DSP learnings with search and social for cohesive full-funnel messaging
Implement advanced audience segmentation and retargeting strategy across Meta, LinkedIn, and YouTube to improve conversion rates by 15%+
Own quarterly performance marketing roadmap; present data-driven recommendations to leadership on budget allocation and channel mix optimization
KPIs You'll Own
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
Revenue generated per dollar spent across all paid channels; primary efficiency metric for paid media performance.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
Average cost to acquire a customer or conversion; tracked by channel and campaign to optimize spend allocation.
Conversion Rate
Percentage of ad clicks or landing page visitors converting; improved through CRO and landing page optimization.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Percentage of impressions resulting in clicks; indicates ad relevance and creative performance across channels.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
Average bid cost for paid search and social; managed through bid strategy and audience targeting optimization.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Total revenue expected from student customers; guides sustainable acquisition spend and channel prioritization.
Tools & Stack
Your Team
Your Manager
Not specified; likely VP of Growth or Director of Digital Marketing
Current Team
Analytics team, Creative team, UX/Product team, Agency partners
New role or backfill not specified; appears to be growth expansion
The Package
Salary
$110K-$140K base
Remote
On-site in Newton, MA; no remote flexibility mentioned
Benefits & Perks
Company Intelligence
Sallie Mae is a leading education finance company transforming how students plan, pay for, and complete higher education. With a mission to power student confidence at pivotal moments, they offer financial guidance, loan products, and education planning tools.
Customers
Millions of students and their families navigating higher education
Culture
Impact-driven, diverse, empowering authenticity; obsessed with relationships and continuous learning; asks 'why not?' when tackling challenges
Is This Role For You?
- You've managed $500K+ in paid media spend across multiple channels (SEM, social, display) with proven ROAS and efficiency improvements
- You're fluent in Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, and programmatic DSP platforms; comfortable with A/B testing and data-driven optimization
- You thrive in fast-paced environments where you own strategy AND execution; you're equally comfortable building strategy and hands-on campaign management
- You're obsessed with metrics and can connect paid performance to business outcomes (CAC, CLV, conversion funnels); you speak analytics fluently
- You're energized by the mission: helping students navigate critical life decisions through financial education and guidance
- You're looking for remote work or hybrid flexibility; this role is on-site in Newton, MA with no flexibility mentioned
- You prefer brand or awareness marketing over performance and ROI accountability; this is a metrics-obsessed, results-driven role
- You haven't managed budget or led team optimization; this is a hands-on manager role requiring prior paid media ownership experience
Interview Process
Screening call
Hiring manager conversation on paid media background, channel experience, and Sallie Mae mission fit
Case study or performance review
Walk through past campaign performance; discuss ROAS, CPA, and optimization decisions with real examples
Cross-functional interviews
Conversations with analytics, creative, and UX teams to assess collaboration and partnership approach
Leadership interview
Final round with VP or Director to discuss strategy, vision, and organization fit
Interested in this role?
Apply now and hear back within days, not weeks.
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About Growth Marketing Roles
Growth marketers drive user acquisition, activation, and retention through data-driven experimentation. They sit at the intersection of product, data, and marketing — running A/B tests, building funnels, and scaling what works.