Senior Paid Media Strategist (Chicago)

Role: Senior Paid Media Strategist

Location: Chicago, IL

About Us

Bottle Rocket Media is an award-winning video production and marketing agency in Chicago specializing in video production, motion graphics, SEO, and video marketing. We partner with brands and businesses, ranging from startups to large corporations to creative agencies, to make an impact through video and comprehensive SEO & marketing initiatives.

About You

We love the world of video and marketing and hope you do, too. There will always be on-the-job training on our processes and standards, but we cannot teach someone to be positive, kind, self-motivated, hard-working, enthusiastic, fun, and organized. If you have these personality traits, read on.

How to Apply

If you meet the requirements below and are excited about working with the BRM team, we would love to hear from you! Please apply by emailing your resume to View email address on apply.placed-app.com. 

What Success Looks Like for a Senior Paid Media Strategist at Bottle Rocket Media

As a Senior Paid Media Strategist, you'll play a key role in developing and executing paid media strategies across multiple accounts and platforms while managing ad spend and performance-driven campaigns. You'll work closely with performance data, balance strategic thinking with day-to-day execution, and take real ownership of the results you drive for clients. Success in this role means managing BRM's and our clients' ad spend with precision, insight, and accountability across every major platform.

Strategy & Execution

• Campaign strategy reflects a clear understanding of the client's business goals, audience, and customer journey.
• Campaigns are structured intentionally for each platform, with clear objectives, targeting, and performance metrics.
• Multiple accounts are managed with consistency, accuracy, and strong attention to detail.

Budget & Performance Management

• Monthly ad spend is managed responsibly through proactive pacing, budget allocation, and bidding decisions.
• Campaign performance is evaluated against KPIs such as ROAS, CPA, CTR, and conversion rate.
• Performance reporting connects campaign results to broader client business goals.

Creative Collaboration

• Collaboration with the Marketing team to develop concepts, copy, and assets that support campaign goals.
• Creative feedback is grounded in performance data and audience behavior.
• Ad creative is tailored to each platform's native format and placement.

Insights & Optimization

• Data is used to understand how campaigns are performing and why.
• Recommendations are specific, actionable, and tied to clear performance opportunities.
• Optimization decisions can be explained and supported with data.

Organization & Collaboration

• Communication with clients and internal teams is clear, timely, and solution-oriented.
• Manage priorities, deadlines, and follow-ups proactively across multiple accounts.
• Accounts are kept organized and audit-ready, with consistent naming conventions, tracking, and settings.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Plan, launch, and manage paid advertising campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Reddit, TikTok, Google, YouTube, and other platforms as needed.
• Oversee a combined monthly ad budget of $200K+ and manage multiple client accounts, focusing on pacing and allocation to support campaign goals.
• Develop paid media plans based on each client's business objectives, target audience, and funnel stage.
• Build and maintain campaign structures, including audience targeting, bidding strategies, budgets, placements, and other platform settings.
• Collaborate with the Marketing team to brief and develop ad creative, copy, and supporting assets.
• Lead A/B and multivariate testing across creative, audiences, messaging, and other campaign variables.
• Monitor campaign performance and make timely adjustments based on results, budget needs, and campaign priorities.
• Track and analyze KPIs, including ROAS, CPA, CTR, conversion rate, and reach, and use the findings to evaluate campaign effectiveness.
• Create comprehensive, visually engaging performance reports that clearly communicate results, key takeaways, and recommendations to clients and internal stakeholders.
• Use ad platforms, Google Analytics, and other measurement tools to maintain accurate campaign tracking and attribution.
• Coordinate with account managers and producers to align paid media campaigns with broader client marketing and content initiatives.
• Stay informed on platform updates, advertising policies, emerging channels, and industry trends that may affect campaign strategy.
• Identify opportunities to expand or improve paid media efforts through new platforms, tactics, audiences, or testing strategies.

Qualifications and Skills

• 5+ years of hands-on experience managing paid social and search campaigns, ideally in an agency setting.
• Proven experience managing significant monthly ad budgets across multiple clients or brands.
• Hands-on expertise in Facebook/Instagram Ads Manager, Google Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, and TikTok Ads Manager, with familiarity with X and Reddit ad platforms.
• Proven track record of using performance data to make strategic campaign adjustments and inform creative recommendations.
• Sharp analytical skills with the ability to translate data into actionable insights.
• Strong communication skills and ability to present performance results confidently to clients and internal teams.
• Self-motivated, detail-oriented, and accountable, with ownership of outcomes.
• Open to learning, staying current on platform changes, and continuously improving strategy.

Salary Range:

$70,000 - $80,000, based on experience