Paid Media Lead

About the Role

DS is seeking a Paid Media Lead to join our digital team in Montreal. This is a client-facing, consultative role: you will be the trusted paid media advisor to our non-profit and social impact clients, guiding them from strategy to results, while helping shape the growth of DS’s paid media practice.

The ideal candidate understands how non-profits, charities and cause-driven organizations work, from fundraising and donor acquisition to advocacy, awareness and public engagement campaigns, and knows how to turn those goals into high-performing paid media programs. You are as comfortable leading a client meeting or presenting results to an executive director as you are building and optimizing campaigns yourself. You bring a data-driven mindset, keep a close eye on platform changes and best practices, and coach the strategists around you to deliver exceptional work.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the lead paid media consultant for a portfolio of non-profit and social impact clients, building trusted relationships with client teams and senior stakeholders.
• Lead client meetings and presentations, translating organizational goals (fundraising, donor acquisition and retention, advocacy, volunteer recruitment, awareness) into clear paid media strategies and recommendations.
• Lead digital advertising campaigns from start to finish, owning strategy, planning, execution, optimization and reporting across paid social, paid search, programmatic and email marketing.
• Be accountable for reaching our clients' digital marketing objectives, leading the team to drive conversions such as donations, sign-ups and petition signatures while maximizing the impact of every dollar invested.
• Collaborate with account managers and with internal and client stakeholders on day-to-day communications to achieve positive outcomes for clients.
• Train, coach and advise digital strategists on building and optimizing paid campaigns.
• Manage client projects in close collaboration with the digital, creative and data teams.
• Act as a key resource on technical campaign information, strategic insights and industry best practices, including advertising policies for social issues, elections and politics.
• Own KPI reporting and strategic insights for clients, ensuring reports are accurate and representative of performance and that site analytics are properly tracked (Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, etc.).
• Prepare campaign proposals, media plans and memos for major campaigns, and contribute to new business pitches.
• Help innovate by designing and running tests and analyzing trends and insights to adapt strategies and maximize return on investment for our clients.
• Stay on top of the latest trends in digital advertising, including new tools, platforms and sector-specific practices (e.g., Google Ad Grants, Meta fundraising tools).

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of experience in digital marketing, with a proven track record of driving results through online advertising channels. Agency or consulting experience is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience working with non-profits, charities, foundations, or other social impact organizations (in-house or agency side), with a solid understanding of fundraising, donor journeys and cause-based campaigns.
• Proven client-facing experience: comfortable leading meetings, presenting strategies and results, navigating difficult conversations and building long-term relationships with senior stakeholders.
• Hands-on experience creating and optimizing campaigns on key social, search, programmatic, CRM and other platforms (including Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Snapchat, Mailchimp, LinkedIn and other premium display partners).
• Strong strategic thinking and the ability to turn data into clear, actionable recommendations for non-specialist audiences.
• Strong leadership, communication and project management skills, with a proven ability to work with both internal and client teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in both English and French.
• Thrive in a fast-paced environment with the ability to pivot, multitask and problem-solve.
• Entrepreneurial, self-motivated and results-driven, with a high level of initiative and a strong ability to prioritize.
• Familiarity with Google Ad Grants, and with advertising policies and authorization requirements for social issues, elections or politics, is an asset.
• Eligible to work in Canada.