Senior Director Demand Generation

Role Description

The Senior Director, Demand Generation is a pivotal, senior revenue leader responsible for setting strategy and driving measurable results across Paylocity’s full demand generation and revenue marketing function. This role owns the end-to-end pipeline and revenue engine—from first signal to closed deal—and is held directly accountable for marketing-sourced and marketing-influenced revenue that meets or exceeds annual plan.

As a leader of leaders with direct oversight of the Director, Demand Generation and the Senior Growth Marketing Manager, this role will shape how Paylocity competes and wins in an AI-defined marketplace. This leader must be a practitioner of modern, AI-first demand generation—commanding fluency in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and AI-powered buyer engagement—and must be equipped to adapt strategy rapidly as buyer discovery channels evolve away from traditional search toward AI-native interfaces.

This role holds stewardship of a large, multi-million-dollar marketing budget across paid media, acquisition programs, digital channels, and third-party investments. Budget allocation decisions are expected to be data-driven, dynamic, and tied directly to pipeline and revenue performance. The Sr. Director will operate with urgency, rigor, and commercial precision—optimizing spend in real time to ensure Paylocity’s demand generation investments deliver maximum return in a competitive and constantly shifting market.

This position reports to the AVP, Revenue Growth, who oversees the full revenue funnel spanning Demand Generation, Sales Development, and Solutions Consulting. It will partner closely with Sales, SDR, Solutions Consulting, and Marketing Operations to build a best-in-class, AI-centered revenue marketing function that positions Paylocity for durable, scalable growth.

Responsibilities

• Revenue & Pipeline Ownership
  • Own revenue and pipeline targets with full accountability for marketing-sourced revenue that meet or exceed monthly and annual plans; proactively reforecast and reallocate investment in response to market shifts, performance signals, and business priorities.
  • Define and manage a multi-million-dollar demand generation budget across paid media, digital acquisition, online events, and third-party programs, driving pipeline volume and quality with optimal ROI and ROAS across all business segments.
  • Establish clear revenue contribution metrics, attribution frameworks, and reporting cadences that give Sales and executive leadership real-time visibility into marketing’s impact on revenue outcomes.
  • Lead rigorous performance analysis and scenario planning across the full funnel—from impression to closed/won—to anticipate pipeline gaps, identify revenue risk, and adapt plans with speed and precision.
• AI-First Strategy & Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
  • Lead Paylocity’s strategy for AI Search Optimization, including Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)—ensuring Paylocity earns prominent, authoritative presence in AI-generated responses across platforms including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, and Gemini.
  • Drive AI-native strategies that optimize brand visibility in zero-click and conversational search environments, building structured data, topical authority, and source credibility that AI systems surface to B2B buyers.
  • Oversee the evolution of organic search strategy from traditional SEO toward an integrated GEO/AEO model, tracking AI-attributed traffic, citation share, and brand mention velocity in generative responses.
  • Keep Paylocity at the forefront of AI visibility by benchmarking against top-performing B2B SaaS companies and rapidly integrating emerging capabilities that improve reach, relevance, and revenue impact.
• Demand Generation Strategy & Execution
  • Set the digital marketing strategy and execution plan across the full prospect journey, including paid search, paid social, programmatic, retargeting, video, connected TV, organic, AI search, website, email, and lifecycle marketing channels.
  • Achieve monthly lead generation and funnel conversion targets to drive revenue targets for inside sales and field across our SMB, mid-market and enterprise.
  • Design and activate signal-based, buyer-intent-driven advertising programs that leverage first-party data, intent signals (G2, 6sense), and buying committee insights to intercept in-market accounts at the moment of highest purchase propensity.
  • Build well-orchestrated, full-funnel nurture and acquisition journeys—from awareness through pipeline conversion—tailored to top, mid, and bottom-of-funnel stages and informed by real-time behavioral data.
  • Support digital marketing execution of quarterly demand generation plans in partnership with content, events, and field marketing teams, driving advertising programs around strategic market moments that amplify pipeline creation and revenue impact.
  • Lead the strategy for data-driven digital campaigns that bring Paylocity’s brand, differentiated messaging, and proof points to life across digital channels and resonate powerfully with HR and business decision-maker audiences.
  • Continuously monitor market trends, buyer behavior shifts, dark funnel signals, and competitive dynamics to adapt programs and maintain Paylocity’s relevance and competitive advantage.
• Funnel Optimization & Revenue Operations Alignment
  • Drive funnel optimization across all stages—lead capture, scoring, qualification, and nurture—in close partnership with Marketing Operations, SDR, and Sales leadership to maximize conversion velocity and quality.
  • Establish shared pipeline and revenue metrics with Sales and SDR leadership, ensuring demand generation programs are tightly aligned to segment-level revenue targets and quota attainment expectations.
  • Influence website conversion strategy to ensure digital experiences are optimized to convert AI-era buyers who arrive with higher intent and less tolerance for friction.
• Technology, Budget & Operational Excellence
  • Influence the strategic roadmap and governance for the demand generation technology stack, including martech evaluation and AI tool adoption, ensuring investments drive measurable performance gains.
  • Recommend improvements to marketing automation, personalization engines, and analytics infrastructure to elevate targeting precision, campaign performance, and operational efficiency.
  • Provide executive-level reporting on budget utilization, channel performance, revenue attribution, and forecast accuracy on a regular cadence to AVP, Revenue Growth and C-suite stakeholders.
• Team Leadership & Organizational Development
  • Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing team of senior marketing leaders—including the Director, Demand Generation, Senior Growth Marketing Manager, and Senior Manager SEO and AI Optimization—setting strategic direction, building bench strength, and fostering a culture of data-driven experimentation and continuous improvement.
  • Attract and retain top marketing talent; develop individual growth plans and succession pipelines that strengthen Paylocity’s long-term organizational capability in AI-era demand generation.
  • Operate effectively through ambiguity and change—building agile team structures and operating rhythms that allow rapid pivoting in response to market dynamics, competitive threats, or business model evolution.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive, senior leadership experience in demand generation within B2B SaaS, with demonstrated success driving revenue results that meet or exceed plan in a high growth environment.
• Proven track record owning and managing large, multi-million-dollar demand generation budgets with measurable ROI, including dynamic reallocation across channels in response to real-time performance.
• Prior experience leading demand generation through periods of rapid growth, significant market disruption, or AI-driven channel transformation—with the agility to maintain and exceed revenue targets in evolving conditions.
• Demonstrated success as a leader of leaders, building and developing high-performing senior marketing teams, agencies, and cross-functional partners aligned to shared revenue outcomes.
• Ownership of AI Search Optimization, including direct command of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and strategies for building brand visibility in AI-native discovery environments.
• Comprehensive digital marketing expertise spanning paid media, SEO/GEO/AEO, website conversion optimization, email/lifecycle marketing, and AI-powered personalization.
• Experience evaluating, adopting, and scaling emerging AI platforms, agentic workflows, and martech capabilities to improve demand generation effectiveness, operational efficiency, and revenue outcomes.
• Track record of launching breakthrough digital campaigns with a strong focus on pipeline creation, revenue contribution, and high-quality execution.
• Exceptional ability to operate as a revenue leader—not just a marketing leader—with direct accountability for pipeline creation, conversion, and bookings contribution in partnership with Sales and SDR organizations.
• Strong business judgment and financial acumen: able to model budget scenarios, forecast pipeline contribution, and make data-driven investment decisions.
• People-focused leader with extensive experience managing and developing senior marketing talent, creative and collaborative teams, and agency partners.
• Outstanding cross-functional collaboration and executive influence skills, with proven success aligning Sales, SDR, Product, and Marketing teams around shared revenue goals.
• Strong executive presence with exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Prior experience in change management, unifying functional areas, building net-new teams, and leading organizations through periods of significant transformation.

Requirements

• BS/BA degree in Marketing, Business, or related field required; MBA highly preferred.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
• 401(k) match.
• Perks that support you, your family, and your finances.
• Career development opportunities.