Sr. SEM Manager - Observability & Monitoring

Sr. Search Engine Marketing Manager – Observability

At Solar Winds, we’re a people-first company. Our purpose is to enrich the lives of the people we serve—including our employees, customers, shareholders, partners, and communities. Join us in our mission to help customers accelerate business transformation with simple, powerful, and secure solutions.

The ideal candidate thrives in an innovative, fast-paced environment and is collaborative, accountable, ready, and empathetic. We’re looking for individuals who believe they can accomplish more as a team and create lasting growth for themselves and others. We hire based on attitude, competency, and commitment. Solarians are ready to advance our world-class solutions in a fast-paced environment and accept the challenge to lead with purpose.

If you’re looking to build your career with an exceptional team, you’ve come to the right place. Join Solar Winds and grow with us!

Your Role:
Solar Winds is seeking a strategic, data-driven Sr. SEM Manager to own global search engine marketing (SEM) for our Observability business unit—Solar Winds’ largest business unit. This is a senior, strategy-owning role: you will set the vision and roadmap for how paid search drives customer acquisition, lead generation, and pipeline growth across the SMB, mid-market, and enterprise segments, while also staying hands-on with campaign structure, bidding, and optimization across Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising.

You’ll partner closely with Global Performance Marketing Strategy, Product Marketing, Regional Leads, Analytics, Finance/Rev Ops, and Sales to ensure SEM investment translates into measurable pipeline and revenue impact.

Your Impact:
Strategy & Budget Ownership:

• Own the global SEM strategy for Observability, setting the vision for how paid search drives customer acquisition, lead generation, and pipeline growth across Solar Winds ICPs.
• Develop and execute short- and long-term SEM growth plans, balancing efficiency (LTV:CAC) with scale.
• Manage annual and quarterly budget planning, pacing, and forecasting for paid search investment across Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising.
• Design and implement a comprehensive SEM strategy aligned with Solar Winds’ business goals, ensuring optimal budget utilization.

Campaign Management & Optimization:

• Oversee campaign structure, keyword strategy, bidding models, and creative optimization across Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising, including hands-on ad copy creation, bid management, and A/B testing.
• Develop campaigns targeting Top-, Middle-, and Bottom-of-Funnel (TOFU/MOFU/BOFU) audiences, structuring for high-intent keywords at MOFU/BOFU while leveraging SEO-driven terms for TOFU, with a focus on pipeline growth and customer acquisition.
• Implement testing frameworks (ad copy, landing pages, audiences, match types) to continuously improve CTR, CVR, and pipeline conversion.
• Drive adoption of value-based bidding (VBB) and audience-first approaches (RLSA, Customer Match, CRM-based targeting), including retargeting and audience segmentation using tools like 6sense and Linked In.
• Ensure strong campaign hygiene, naming conventions, and tracking governance (UTMs, conversion imports, offline events).
• Work closely with our Private Equity counterparts to ensure we are hitting weekly, monthly and quarterly goals.

Performance Analysis & Attribution:

• Track and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) such as CTR, CVR, CPL, and Cost Per Solutioning Dollar to ensure campaigns deliver strong returns.
• Use advanced analytics tools like Google Analytics 4, Adobe Analytics, and Tableau to provide actionable insights and regular reporting.
• Partner with Analytics and Data teams to ensure end-to-end visibility into ROI, pipeline contribution, and…