Senior Search Marketing Manager, KAYAK
$105-115k
+ Bonus
More information about location
3+ days a week in office (Cambridge, MA)
Travel search engine
Job no longer available
Travel search engine
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
$105-115k
+ Bonus
More information about location
3+ days a week in office (Cambridge, MA)
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help millions of travelers around the globe make confident travel decisions.
Role
Who you are
- This role requires a highly analytical expert who balances hands-on technical execution with the ability to influence our global growth strategy
- Hands-on experience managing large-scale, high-budget campaigns across top search engines. Experience in the travel industry or a high-volume e-commerce environment is a plus
- Fluency in both written and spoken English. Proficiency in another language relevant to our international markets is a plus
- Strong knowledge of the search landscape, including attribution and tracking, with a proven ability to use advanced automation, scripting, and bidding technologies
- Advanced proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets; experience with SQL and data visualization tools is a plus to facilitate deep-dive performance modeling
- A high-ownership mindset with the motivation to lead complex projects from initial concept to final delivery, ensuring cross-functional alignment and measurable impact
- Ability to translate complex datasets into strategic recommendations for global teams and senior leadership
- Experience mentoring junior team members and contributing to a culture of technical excellence and continuous experimentation
What the job involves
- KAYAK is looking for a Senior Search Marketing Manager to join our Performance Marketing team in our amazing Cambridge Office (US)
- In this role you will own and drive the growth of our travel brands across North America on SEM, manage substantial advertising budgets and lead innovative projects that have a global impact on our international strategy
- Joining one of the most advanced digital marketing teams in the world, you will be responsible for one of our most crucial channels, ensuring we meet ambitious growth targets through data-driven execution
- As a Senior Search Engine Marketing Manager (SEM Manager), you will be a strategic driver of our SEM programs, exercising high autonomy to scale our brands across major search engines
- You will lead high-stakes, cross-functional initiatives, partnering closely with Commercial, Analytics, and Engineering teams, to pioneer best practices and help shape the roadmap for our internal marketing platforms
- Define global guidelines and contribute to the development of our suite of in-house marketing technologies
- Monitor industry shifts and emerging technologies, including AI and LLM-driven search, to design and execute rigorous testing frameworks that enhance the user journey
- Lead high-impact projects from ideation to delivery, managing competing priorities and coordinating across multiple teams to ensure results are delivered
- Communicate clearly with global teams, sharing optimization insights across the broader performance marketing team
- Use advanced analytical skills to turn deep-dive performance data into clear, actionable recommendations for senior leadership and global teams
- Provide day-to-day guidance and technical mentorship to junior team members, fostering a culture of excellence and training the team on advanced performance marketing processes
- Act as a strategic partner to Engineering and Product teams, providing the domain expertise needed to develop and automate our in-house tools
Our take
KAYAK is a travel agency and metasearch engine owned and operated by Booking Holdings. KAYAK processes over 6 billion queries across its platforms each year for travel information - as one of the world’s leading travel search engines, KAYAK searches other sites to show travellers the information they need to find the right flights, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages. It offers a variety of tools and features such as KAYAK trips, explore, and price forecast.
There’s been speculation over the years about online travel companies getting into the hotel business, and KAYAK is no exception. The company is expanding its hospitality offerings beyond its traditional hotel referral and booking services, but despite speculation through the 2020s, has stopped short of opening hotels under its own brand, preferring to partner with preexisting companies on their hotel tech.
Since being acquired by Booking Holdings, the global leader in online travel, in 2013, KAYAK has continued to expand and innovate, enhancing the travel experience for users all around the world. And now KAYAK manages a portfolio of metasearch brands including SWOODOO, checkfelix, momondo, Cheapflights, Mundi and HotelsCombined. With the aim to make it easier for everyone to experience the world - it now operates sites in more than 70 countries and territories.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
6% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Company benefits
- Work flexibly: Our global flexible work policy lets our teams decide if they head into one of our offices or work from anywhere else
- Team-wide time off: Most of our team disconnects at the same time each year to recharge and reconnect
- Global volunteer week: Take VTO (Volunteer Time Off) to support the organizations and charitable efforts you believe in
- Wellness: We take care of each other - providing opportunities and spaces to live that work-life balance
- Resource groups: Our five ERGs are employee-led groups for underrepresented communities and their allies
- Career growth: We provide opportunities for our team to develop their skills – or learn new ones – on their own terms
Company HQ
East Side of Stamford, Stamford, CT
Leadership
Steve Hafner
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously Board Member of Trulia, Blade and SeatGeek and currently an Executive at OpenTable.
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