# Performance Marketing Manager Job Description: Templates by Business Type

> A performance marketing manager job description should name the paid channels the role owns, the budget it manages, the target it's judged on (such as cost per acquisition, return on ad spend or pipeline) and whether it manages specialists or an agency. Below are templates for ecommerce, B2B, app and agency roles, duties by level, and what to look for if you're applying.

Canonical: https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/performance-marketing-manager-job-description/  
Published by the Know the Room team (https://knowtheroom.ai/authors/know-the-room-team/). Updated 2026-10-24.

## Key takeaways

- A performance marketing manager job description should name the channels, the budget, the target metric and the people or agency the role manages.
- The target metric changes with the business: ecommerce postings ask for return on ad spend, B2B postings for pipeline, app postings for cost per install and retention.
- Manager postings ask for owning a budget and a plan; specialist postings ask for running campaigns well inside one.
- A posting that lists every channel but no budget, target or team is usually a specialist job with a manager title.
- When applying, match one result where you owned spend and moved the target metric, and say it in cost, volume and return.

Our [performance marketing manager guide](/career-guides/performance-marketing-manager/) has one general job description. This page goes further: versions for different kinds of business, how the duties change by level, and how to read a posting before you apply.

## What goes in a performance marketing manager job description?

Five things make a performance marketing posting useful, to the hiring team and to candidates:

1. **The channels.** Paid search, paid social, programmatic, app campaigns, affiliates, retail media. Name the ones the person will actually run.
2. **The budget.** An exact figure, a range or at least "seven figures a year." Budget size tells candidates the level of the job.
3. **The target.** Cost per acquisition, return on ad spend, payback, pipeline or installs. One main number, not five.
4. **The team.** Specialists, an agency, freelancers or nobody.
5. **How decisions get made.** Who sets the budget, who owns creative and who owns the tracking.

If a posting is missing three of these, ask about them in the first call.

## Template: ecommerce or DTC brand

```text
Job title: Performance Marketing Manager

About [Company]
[Two sentences: what you sell, average order value range, and where you sell: your site, Amazon, retail.]

About the role
You'll own paid acquisition for [brand] across [Meta / TikTok / Google Search and Shopping / YouTube / affiliates], managing [budget] a year against a [blended return on ad spend / new-customer cost per acquisition] target. You'll lead [one specialist and our creative agency] and report to [Head of Growth / VP Marketing].

What you'll do
- Plan and forecast paid spend by channel, month and promotion.
- Set the testing plan for audiences, offers, creative and landing pages.
- Brief creative with [the creative strategist / design / creators] and decide what to scale.
- Watch new-customer cost, not only blended return, and explain the gap.
- Plan spend around launches and sale periods with merchandising and ecommerce.
- Work with analytics on attribution and holdout tests.
- Report weekly to [leadership] with the decisions you recommend.

What you'll bring
- [X]+ years in paid acquisition for an ecommerce or DTC brand, with your own budget.
- Depth on [Meta and Google Shopping], and working knowledge of [other channels].
- Comfort with unit economics: contribution margin, CAC, repeat rate, payback.
- Experience briefing and judging ad creative.

How we'll measure success
- New customers at or under [target CAC]
- [Blended return on ad spend / marketing efficiency ratio] at [target]
- Share of spend validated by holdout or lift tests

Pay and benefits
[Salary range], [benefits], [location / hybrid / remote].
```

## Template: B2B or SaaS

```text
Job title: Performance Marketing Manager, Demand Generation

About the role
You'll own paid programs that create pipeline for [product], across [LinkedIn / Google Search / review sites / programmatic / retargeting]. You'll manage [budget] and work with [sales development, marketing operations and product marketing]. You report to [Director of Demand Generation].

What you'll do
- Plan paid programs by segment, region and product line.
- Build campaigns that drive [demo requests / trials / content leads].
- Work with marketing operations so leads route and attribute correctly in [CRM].
- Report cost per qualified opportunity and pipeline, not only cost per lead.
- Test offers, audiences and landing pages with product marketing.

What you'll bring
- [X]+ years in B2B paid media with pipeline targets.
- Experience with [LinkedIn Ads, Google Ads] and [HubSpot / Salesforce].
- Clear thinking about lead quality and sales feedback.

How we'll measure success
- Qualified pipeline from paid at [target cost]
- [Target] meetings booked from paid programs each quarter
```

## Template: app or subscription product

```text
Job title: Performance Marketing Manager, User Acquisition

About the role
You'll own user acquisition for [app] across [Apple Search Ads / Google App campaigns / Meta / TikTok / ad networks], managing [budget] against [cost per install / cost per subscriber / day-30 payback]. You'll work with product and data on onboarding and measurement.

What you'll do
- Run and scale acquisition campaigns by platform and market.
- Work with the mobile measurement partner and data team on attribution.
- Test creative concepts and app store pages.
- Model payback with product and finance.

How we'll measure success
- New subscribers at [target cost]
- Payback within [X] days
```

## Template: agency

At an agency, the performance marketing manager runs several client accounts. Add these lines to any template above:

```text
- Own the paid media plan and results for [number] client accounts.
- Present results and recommendations to clients each [week / month].
- Scope new work and keep accounts to budget and hours.
- Lead [specialists / coordinators] across your accounts.
```

Our guide to [billable hours](/career-guides/billable-hours/) explains how agency time is tracked, which affects this job more than most.

## How do the duties change by level?

| Level | Typical title | What they own |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Paid media coordinator or specialist | Campaign setup, trafficking, reporting |
| Mid | Performance marketing specialist | One or two channels, day-to-day optimization |
| Manager | Performance marketing manager | The paid plan, budget and target across channels |
| Senior | Senior manager, head of performance | Strategy, forecasting, team and agency, the measurement approach |
| Director | Director of growth or acquisition | Paid plus other acquisition channels, the budget case to leadership |

A quick test: specialist postings use verbs like "build", "optimize" and "report." Manager postings use "own", "plan", "allocate", "lead" and "forecast."

## What red flags should you look for in a posting?

- **Every channel, no budget.** Usually one person doing everything with little money.
- **"Own growth" with no say over creative or the site.** You'll be judged on results others control.
- **No target metric at all.** Ask what success looks like at six months.
- **Return on ad spend as the only measure.** Ask how they count new customers versus returning ones.
- **Attribution described as "last click in GA."** Fine to start with, but ask whether they've run any lift tests.

## How do you use the job description when applying?

Find the main target metric and the budget size, then lead your resume with one result where you owned spend and moved that number. Say it in cost, volume and return: "Grew new customers [X]% at [Y]% lower cost per acquisition on a [budget] budget."

When you write your summary or practice your answers, use your own words for how you think about spend. Hiring managers meet a lot of polished "data-driven growth marketer" lines; the way you actually explain a tough budget call is what they'll remember.

Prepare with our [performance marketing interview questions](/interview-questions/performance-marketing/). Recon can tailor your resume to a specific posting line by line, using only facts already on your resume.

Before applying, check the posting's pay range. A growing number of US states require one in job postings; [Cooley's summary of new state pay transparency laws](https://www.cooley.com/news/insight/2026/2026-07-06-show-me-the-money-or-the-wage-range-new-state-pay-transparency-laws) covers recent ones. For pay figures, see our [advertising and promotions manager salary page](/career-salaries/advertising-manager/).

## FAQ

### What does a performance marketing manager do day to day?

Checks spend and results across channels, moves budget toward what's working, reviews creative and tests, works with analytics on tracking, and reports to leadership. The [performance marketing manager guide](/career-guides/performance-marketing-manager/) covers the role in detail.

### Is a performance marketing manager the same as a paid media manager?

Often. Both own paid campaigns and budgets. "Performance" tends to signal a direct-response target such as cost per acquisition; "paid media" can include awareness campaigns too. See [paid media specialist](/career-guides/paid-media-specialist/) for that side.

### What's the difference between a performance marketing manager and a PPC specialist?

A PPC specialist runs campaigns on search and ad platforms. A performance marketing manager owns the plan, budget and target across channels, and often manages the specialists. Our [PPC specialist job description](/career-guides/ppc-specialist-job-description/) shows the hands-on version.

### What metrics should a performance marketing job description list?

One main target (cost per acquisition, return on ad spend, payback or pipeline), plus a measure of new versus returning customers and some sign of how results are validated, such as lift or holdout tests.

### How much experience do performance marketing managers need?

Postings commonly ask for several years in paid media, including time owning a budget. The specific number matters less than results you can explain.

## More on Paid media

- [Performance marketing manager](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/performance-marketing-manager.md)
- [Google Ads specialist](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/google-ads-specialist.md)
- [PPC specialist](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/ppc-specialist.md)
- [Media buyer](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/media-buyer.md)
- [Media planner](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/media-planner.md)
- [Performance marketing interview questions](https://knowtheroom.ai/interview-questions/performance-marketing.md)
- [Brand vs performance marketing](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/brand-vs-performance-marketing.md)
- [Advertising manager salary](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-salaries/advertising-manager.md)
- [Creative strategist](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/creative-strategist.md)
- [Paid media specialist](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/paid-media-specialist.md)
- [Programmatic trader](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/programmatic-trader.md)
- [Media director](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/media-director.md)
- [Media planner resume](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/media-planner-resume.md)
- [Media planner cover letter](https://knowtheroom.ai/cover-letters/media-planner.md)
- [PPC specialist job description](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/ppc-specialist-job-description.md)
- [Creative strategist job description](https://knowtheroom.ai/career-guides/creative-strategist-job-description.md)