Director of Performance Marketing (Remote, Portland)

Full‑time, remote (USA, Canada, or South Africa)

About the Role

Blacksmith Agency runs PPC and SEO for clients across multifamily, B2B and technical verticals. As Director of Performance Marketing you lead that department. The PPC strategist and the SEO strategist report to you and are the specialists in their channels. Currently nobody owns this function, which is why the seat is open. This is a management seat, not a senior individual‑contributor role. You will not be building campaigns, and on technical SEO your strategist will know more than you do. You carry channel strategy and budget allocation as accounts scale, while the strategists execute and you ensure the department delivers.

What You Own

• Set and enforce the quality bar, development plans, performance reviews, and escalation procedures for the PPC and SEO strategists; define audit standards, pre‑delivery checks, and reporting guidelines.
• Overall client results across the function, including honesty of reporting and auditing of attribution and GA4 accuracy.
• Escalation handling for at‑risk accounts: diagnose issues, direct the strategist to fix them, and join the client call.
• Channel strategy and budget allocation as accounts scale.
• Define what the sales team can credibly promise before a deal is closed.
• Develop the hiring plan for the department and conduct first‑round interviews for new team members within roughly a quarter.

What You Need

• Experience managing strategists or specialists, including conducting reviews, guiding development, and making performance‑management decisions.
• 7+ years of experience across paid media and SEO; ownership of a single channel does not satisfy this requirement.
• Deep knowledge of Google Ads, GA4, Search Console, Meta, and Microsoft Ads sufficient to evaluate work quality beyond surface‑level reports.
• One concrete account turnaround you can discuss, including pre‑ and post‑metrics and the reasoning behind the improvement.
• Comfort acting as the client‑facing owner when an account underperforms; the escalation call goes to you, not the strategist.
• Agency experience handling multiple accounts simultaneously.
• Do not apply if you have never had direct reports, never performed performance‑management, have only ever run a single channel, or have only in‑house brand experience.
• If your goal is to continue building campaigns yourself, this role is not a fit.

Process

Three conversations lead to a decision: a 30‑minute screen with the recruiter, a first round with the founder to whom the seat reports, and a final interview. No take‑home project and no panel interview.

How to Apply

Complete the four fields at the provided link, then take a short 6‑minute Predictive Index assessment. Use the same email throughout. No cover letter is required.