Airwallex is hiring: Associate Director, Performance Marketing, SEM in San Franc

About Airwallex Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 150,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 1,800 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$6.2 billion and backed by world‑leading investors including Visa, Airtree, Blackbird, Sequoia, DST Global, Greenoaks, Salesforce Ventures, Lone Pine, and Square Peg, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us. Attributes We Value We hire successful builders with founder‑like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role‑related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end‑to‑end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next. About the team The Marketing team at Airwallex drives brand awareness and customer engagement through innovative and strategic campaigns. We work to communicate the value of our financial solutions, attract new customers, and strengthen relationships with existing ones. By leveraging data‑driven insights and creative strategies, we ensure Airwallex stands out in a competitive market. Our team is passionate about telling the Airwallex story and supporting the company's growth and success. What you’ll do We’re looking for a strategic, analytical, and deeply experienced SEM leader to own and scale our global paid search program. As the Associate Director, Performance Marketing (SEM), you’ll lead the strategy, investment, and execution of search engine marketing across Google and Microsoft Ads. You’ll manage a multi‑million‑dollar budget, define our SEM growth roadmap, and partner closely with product marketing, regional marketing, and analytics to drive measurable business outcomes — from lead generation to revenue contribution. This role is ideal for someone who can operate both strategically and tactically: designing frameworks for growth, mentoring regional and channel specialists, and ensuring our paid search programs deliver sustainable ROI across multiple regions and audiences. This role is based in San Francisco. Responsibilities: Own the global SEM strategy, setting the vision for how paid search drives customer acquisition, lead generation, and pipeline growth across segments (SMB, mid‑market, enterprise). Develop and execute short‑and long‑term SEM growth plans, balancing efficiency (LTV:CAC) with scale. Partner with Global Performance Marketing Strategy, Product Marketing, and Regional Leads to localize SEM campaigns for each market’s commercial priorities. Manage annual and quarterly budget planning, pacing, and forecasting for paid search investments. Serve as the SEM thought leader, identifying innovation opportunities in automation, AI bidding, audience layering, and creative testing. Oversee campaign structure, keyword strategy, bidding models, and creative optimization across Google and Microsoft Ads. Implement testing frameworks (ad copy, landing pages, audiences, match types) to continuously improve CTR, CVR, and pipeline conversion. Partner with Analytics and Data teams to ensure end‑to‑end visibility into ROI, pipeline contribution, and attribution across campaigns. Drive adoption of value‑based bidding (VBB) and audience‑first approaches (RLSA, Customer Match, CRM‑based targeting). Ensure strong campaign hygiene, naming conventions, and tracking governance (UTMs, conversion imports, offline events). Collaborate with Product Marketing and Content to align messaging, creative, and offers with product value propositions. Partner with Lifecycle and Growth Product teams to build cohesive acquisition‑to‑activation journeys. Work with Finance and RevOps on pacing, forecasting, and ROI analysis to guide data‑driven budget allocation. Align with Sales and Regional Marketing to ensure SEM efforts support pipeline coverage and demand generation goals. Manage and mentor SEM managers or specialists, fostering a culture of experimentation, precision, and data‑driven decision‑making. Develop playbooks and best practices for global and regional SEM teams. Partner with agency and platform reps to stay ahead of algorithm updates, betas, and emerging trends. Drive operational excellence through consistent QA, documentation, and performance review cadences. Candidates should bring deep expertise in SEM platforms, analytics, and marketing data systems. Who you are We're looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory. Minimum qualifications: 8+ years of experience in SEM or performance marketing, with proven success driving measurable growth and ROI. Strong expertise managing large‑scale multi‑region paid search programs (Google + Microsoft). Experience optimizing for B2B SaaS or fintech pipelines with full‑funnel visibility (from lead to closed‑won). Hands‑on familiarity with Marketo, Looker, SQL, Salesforce, and offline conversion tracking workflows. Demonstrated analytical strength — comfortable with bid modeling, forecasting, and performance attribution. Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills. Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Economics, Data Analytics, or related field (MBA a plus). Preferred qualifications: Experience building global SEM frameworks that scale across markets. Knowledge of multi‑touch attribution (MTA), MMM, or incrementality testing. Exposure to AI‑driven ad copy generation or creative automation systems. Familiarity with SEO/SEM alignment strategies to maximize paid‑organic synergy. Strong relationship with platform partners (Google, Microsoft) for co‑marketing and innovation programs. Multi‑lingual and particularly Mandarin or Cantonese. Equal opportunity Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary. If you are approached by someone claiming to represent Airwallex, please verify with our team. #J-18808-Ljbffr In Summary: As the Associate Director, Performance Marketing (SEM) you’ll lead the strategy, investment, and execution of search engine marketing across Google and Microsoft Ads . You'll manage a multi‑million‑dollar budget, define our SEM growth roadmap, and partner closely with product marketing, regional marketing, and analytics to drive measurable business outcomes . En Español: Airwallex es la única plataforma de pagos y financieros unificada para empresas globales. Alimentada por nuestra combinación exclusiva de infraestructura e software propietarios, empoderamos a más de 150.000 empresas en todo el mundo incluyendo Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN y muchas otras con soluciones completamente integradas para gestionar desde cuentas comerciales, pagos, gestión de gastos y tesorería hasta finanzas embebidas a escala mundial. Con orgullo fundada en Melbourne, contamos con un equipo de más de 1.800 personas más brillantes e innovadoras en 26 oficinas alrededor del mundo. Valorizado en US$6.200 millones y respaldados por inversores líderes mundiales como Visabird, Airtree, Black Zero Payments, Sequoia, DSTaks, Greenoforce, Global Ventures, Lone Pine y Square Pegue. Utilizarás la IA para trabajar más inteligentemente y resolver problemas más rápido. Aquí, abordarás problemas complejos de alta visibilidad con compañeros excepcionales y crecerás tu carrera mientras construimos el futuro de la banca global. Si eso te parece, vamos a construir lo siguiente. Sobre el equipo El equipo de marketing de Airwallex impulsa la concienciación sobre la marca y el compromiso del cliente a través de campañas innovadoras y estratégicas. Trabajamos para comunicar el valor de nuestras soluciones financieras, atraer nuevos clientes y fortalecer las relaciones con los existentes. Al aprovecharse de ideas basadas en datos y estrategias creativas, nos aseguramos de que Air Wallex se destaque en un mercado competitivo. Nuestro equipo está apasionado por contar la historia de Air wallex y apoyar el crecimiento y éxito de la compañía. Lo que vas a hacer Buscamos un líder estratégico, analítico y profundamente experimentado para liderar nuestra estrategia mundial de búsqueda. Como director asociado de marketing, SEEM e ejecutivo de Google Ads, Microsoft Marketing Performance (SEEM), desarrollará su propia estrategia de inversión y llevará a cabo nuestro programa de diseño. Gestionará un presupuesto multimillonario, definirá nuestra hoja de ruta para el crecimiento del SEM y se asociará estrechamente con la estrategia global de marketing de productos, comercialización regional y análisis para impulsar los resultados comerciales mensurables desde la generación de leads hasta la contribución a ingresos. Este papel es ideal para alguien que pueda operar tanto estratégicamente como tácticamente: diseñar marcos de crecimiento, asesorar a especialistas regionales y de canales y garantizar que nuestros programas de búsqueda pagados proporcionen ROI sostenibles en varias regiones y audiencias. Esta función está basada en San Francisco. Responsabilidades de ventas del cliente: poseer una estrategia mundial de SEM, establecer la visión sobre cómo las búsquedas pagadas conducen a la adquisición de clientes, la generacion de leads y al crecimiento a través de segmentos (SMB, mercado-, empresa). Las calificaciones preferidas son excelentes para tener, pero no son obligatorias. Calificaciones mínimas: 8+ años de experiencia en SEM o marketing de conversiones fuera del mercado, con un éxito comprobado que impulsa el crecimiento mensurable y ROI. Fuerte experiencia administrando programas de búsqueda pagados multirregionales a gran escala (Google + Microsoft). No tenemos en cuenta el color, la religión, raza, origen nacional, orientación sexual, ascendencia, ciudadanía, sexo, estatus matrimonial o familiar, discapacidad, género u otro estado legalmente protegido al tomar nuestras decisiones de contratación. Si usted tiene una discapacidad o necesidad especial que requiere alojamiento, por favor háganoslo saber. Airwallex no acepta currículos no solicitados de empresas/reclutadores de búsqueda.