Senior Paid Campaigns Specialist (Commerce & Affiliate Media)

The Opportunity:

We are seeking an elite, data-obsessed Senior Paid Campaigns Specialist to lead, scale, and optimize our paid media arbitrage engine across global markets within our Commerce / Paid Media Division. In this role, your primary objective is commercial monetization: deploying paid media budgets profitably to drive high-margin affiliate marketing arbitrage.

This is not a traditional "brand awareness" media-buying role. It is built for a highly analytical, full-stack performance marketer who operates like a trader. You will manage substantial ad spend across Meta Ads, Google/YouTube, ChatGPT ads, and native platforms (Taboola) while leveraging modern business intelligence tools and advanced Excel modeling to diagnose category-level economics.

Beyond campaign execution, you will act as a senior stakeholder, running data-driven alignment meetings with Editorial, SEO, and Product teams to optimize commerce content monetization and drive enterprise ROI. This is a 100% remote role, operating during core Eastern Standard Time (EST) hours.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the Arbitrage Engine: Plan, launch, scale, and optimize paid marketing campaigns across Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads/YouTube, ChatGPT ads, and emerging networks, focused strictly on profitable affiliate and e-commerce monetization.
• Bid & Budget Architecture: Manage complex budget allocations, automated bid strategies, and dynamic scaling plans to maintain positive unit economics (CPA, EPC, ROAS) at scale.
• Continuous Testing: Design rigorous A/B testing frameworks across ad creatives, messaging, landing pages, audience segments, and platform placements to systematically lower acquisition costs.
• AI-Driven Creative Production: Leverage the modern AI creative stack to produce, iterate, and deploy high-converting ad variants, continuously expanding the volume and variety of creative testing.
• Amazon Ecosystem Mastery: Leverage deep hands-on expertise with Amazon Associates, Amazon Creator portals, and Storefront attribution models to optimize traffic flow and maximize category-level commission rates.
• Affiliate Network Integration: Work across major affiliate networks and Online Performance Marketing (OPM) portals—including Impact, Partnerize, Rakuten, CJ Affiliate, and Skimlinks—to track link performance, monitor sub-ID data, and identify top-converting merchant partners.
• Advanced Excel Modeling: Perform rigorous financial analysis in Excel—building practical financial models, pivot tables, and dynamic formulas to dissect campaign unit economics and attribute affiliate revenues.
• BI & Performance Reporting: Leverage intuitive reporting tools like Looker and Tableau to track daily campaign performance, visualize trends, and maintain a clear, accurate view of profitability across channels.
• Web & Funnel Analytics: Deep-dive into web analytics (GA4, internal BI tools) to understand full-funnel user behavior and conversion paths beyond platform-reported click metrics.
• Attribution & Tracking: Oversee pixel implementation, server-side event mapping, conversion tracking, and multi-touch attribution frameworks alongside our engineering teams.
• Drive Business Alignment: Run weekly and monthly data alignment meetings with Editorial, SEO, and Product teams to optimize content monetization and enhance user conversion funnels.
• Executive Storytelling: Move away from generic data dumps; build actionable, dynamic reports and executive pitch decks (Google Slides / PowerPoint) that translate complex data narratives for non-technical stakeholders.
• Internal AI Champion: Mentor and upskill colleagues on practical generative AI workflows and prompt engineering to accelerate day-to-day marketing efficiency and creative iteration.

Job Qualifications:

• Platform Mastery: Demonstrable, advanced mastery of Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads Interface/Editor (YouTube), ChatGPT ads, and native advertising networks (Taboola).
• Advanced Excel Mastery: Strong quantitative skills with proven proficiency in Excel (financial modeling, nested formulas, dynamic pivot tables, scenario analysis).
• Affiliate & Amazon Economics: Deep understanding of affiliate marketing dynamics—specifically EPC (Earnings Per Click), conversion rates (CVR), revenue per visit (RPV), revenue-share models, Amazon Associates/Creator portals, and third-party tracking networks (Impact, Partnerize, Rakuten, CJ).
• AI Workflow Integration: Direct, practical experience using LLMs (Claude, Gemini, OpenAI) and prompt engineering to automate marketing workflows and accelerate creative/campaign analysis.
• Communication: Exceptional written and spoken English, with a proven ability to present complex data to C-suite and cross-functional leaders asynchronously and in live meetings.
• Special Working Conditions: Must be available to work EST hours and provide live monitoring/bid adjustments during peak high-traffic shopping events (e.g., Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Prime Day) to ensure system and tracking integrity.

About CNET

Our portfolio unites the most trusted brands in tech, shopping, savings, and lifestyle to help people and businesses thrive. The CNET Group stands as the leader in tech media, offering expert editorial, insights, communities, and solutions that reach 81 million unique visitors each month. Complementing this, Ziff Davis Shopping serves as the most trusted purchase companion, delivering exceptional user and partner experiences. We connect brands to large, contextually-aligned audiences and help users find the best offers, cash back rewards, seasonal deals, and expert content for all their shopping needs. Together, we provide a comprehensive destination for expert guidance, from critical tech decisions to everyday purchase solutions.

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ: ZD) is a vertically focused digital media and internet company whose portfolio includes leading brands in technology, shopping, gaming and entertainment, connectivity, health, cybersecurity, and martech. Today, Ziff Davis is focused on seven key verticals – Technology, Connectivity, Shopping, Entertainment, Health & Wellness, Cybersecurity and Marketing Technology. Its brands include IGN, Mashable, RetailMeNot, PCMag, Humble Bundle, Spiceworks, Ookla (Speedtest), RootMetrics, Everyday Health, BabyCenter, Moz, iContact and Vipre Security.

Our Benefits

Ziff Davis offers competitive salaries in addition to robust, health and wellness-focused benefits, including comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, as well as life and disability benefits. Our employees enjoy Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), a 401(k) with company match, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

We are committed to work-life balance with Flexible Time Off, Volunteer Time Off, and paid holidays. We offer family building and caregiving support and generous Family Care and Parental leave, when you need it. We also provide Fitness Reimbursement and access to wellness programs, ensuring our team stays healthy both physically and mentally.

At Ziff Davis, we remain dedicated to creating an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to succeed. We offer Employee Resource Groups, company-sponsored events, and regular opportunities for professional growth through educational support, mentorship programs, and career development resources. Our employees are recognized and celebrated through employee engagement programs and recognition awards.

If you're seeking a collaborative work environment where you can see the direct impact of your performance and thrive both personally and professionally, then Ziff Davis Shopping is the place for you.

Compensation Range

Ziff Davis provides a range for the base pay. Factors that may be used to determine your actual pay may include your specific job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and geographic location. The salary compensation for this role is $80,000 - $95,000 USD. Individual pay within the compensation range for this business unit-specific role is determined based on a variety of factors, including experience, scope of the role, capabilities to perform the role, education and training, as well as business and company performance.

Ziff Davis is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  At Ziff Davis, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) has always been about fairness, equal​ opportunity, and belonging.​ DEI enables us to attract and retain the best talent, regardless of background or circumstances, while​ enabling our thousands of employees worldwide to thrive​.