Role Overview
Clients bring in a Paid Ads Strategist to move product, not just traffic. Your role is to use paid media—usually Meta and Google—to generate profitable sales at scale across Shopify-based and DTC brand stores. Strategy means two things: knowing what decisions move the metrics that matter (ROAS, CAC, LTV), and making them fast enough to keep pace with spend. This is a revenue-driving role. When you’re doing it right, the ads pay for themselves and then some.
This is not a media buyer who just pushes buttons. Clients don’t need someone to “run ads”—they need someone who knows how to *make ads work*. That includes feeding the algorithm the right data, guiding creative, knowing when a campaign needs to scale or stop, and aligning spend with business goals—not vanity metrics. You’re measured by repeatable, profitable results. When strategy is shallow or delayed, the client loses money fast.
The stakes are high because client cash is on the line every day. Done well, this role can double profit and build long-term brand equity in months. Done poorly, it drains ad budgets and forces a full reset. Clients don’t hire for potential—they expect pressure-tested judgment, tight calls, and zero waste. Performance matters daily, and trust is tied to outcomes, not effort.Private Label (DTC Brand Stores)
Standards You Must Meet
• They expect profitable return, not just spend—ROAS must improve predictably, not fluctuate without explanation.
• You must know when to scale, pause, or kill—delayed judgment costs real money.
• Creative can’t be blindly run—clients expect you to guide production toward what converts, not just what looks good.
• Every campaign has to link directly to business goals; vanity metrics only erode trust.
• Your strategy must adapt fast—sticking to a failing playbook is not acceptable.
• Data should drive decisions daily—clients lose confidence when insights lag behind spend.
• You’re not hired to test endlessly—clients want tested funnels, not guesswork.
• Results must hold week to week—if performance drops, clients expect a fix before they need to ask.
What You’ll Be Doing
• Launch and manage Meta and Google Ads campaigns with daily oversight on ROAS, CAC, and LTV across Shopify and DTC stores.
• Read performance patterns early and make fast-cut decisions to scale, pause, or pivot before the data becomes expensive.
• Direct creative with input backed by audience signals and conversion-backed insights—not just brand aesthetics.
• Review product margins, inventory status, and historical performance before assigning budget to avoid wasted spend.
• Link campaign structures tightly to business targets, killing any ad sets chasing engagement without sales.
• Run lean testing cycles focused only on variables that can meaningfully move profit, not surface-level CTR.
• Provide weekly insights with action plans, not just charts—clients should know exactly what changed and why.
• Monitor backend metrics from Shopify, GA4, and attribution tools to verify tracking, flag anomalies, and retain performance trust.
What You’ll Hand Over
• A weekly performance summary with clear ROAS, spend, CAC, and next-step actions tied to outcomes.
• A validated list of campaigns launched, adjusted, or killed—with the ROI rationale behind each decision.
• A creative direction brief showing which assets performed, why, and what to make next.
• A funnel performance map connecting ad traffic to product sales and identified drop-offs.
• A proactive risk report when results dip—what happened, what was done, and what’s changing.
Tools You’ll Need to Use
• Meta Ads Manager – Core platform for planning, launching, and optimizing Facebook and Instagram campaigns across funnels.
• Google Ads – Primary tool for managing search, shopping, display, and YouTube ads with direct ROI tracking for DTC.
• Shopify Analytics – Essential for interpreting store performance data to align ad spending with product-level profitability.
• Google Analytics (GA4) – Key for campaign attribution, conversion tracking, and assessing user behavior across paid channels.
• TikTok Ads Manager – Required for creating and scaling performance-driven ad creatives in trend-based short-form formats.
• Klaviyo – Needed to coordinate campaigns with email flows and remarketing strategies, especially in retention-heavy brands.
• Triple Whale (or similar pixel-based attribution tool) – Used to verify tracking accuracy and guide real-time ad spend decisions.
Why Work Smarter
As a Paid Ads Manager at the Strategist level, your role demands both performance results and operational efficiency. That means knowing when and where to automate. If you can’t build or manage basic automations — even with no-code tools — the client is paying premium rates for low-leverage work. That’s not sustainable.
This knowledge isn’t officially “required” yet, but in practice, it’s already the baseline. OES sets this expectation not because we’re pushing trends, but because the best ecommerce brands already are. Stay relevant, or get replaced.
Why Your Work Matters
Every dollar spent on ads is real client cash—and it’s either compounding or evaporating in real time. Right now, brands don’t have the margin for delayed insights or vague strategy. Paid media isn’t background activity; it’s frontline revenue work. If the strategist doesn’t execute with speed, precision, and accountability, the client doesn’t just “miss a target”—they lose money, momentum, and market share.
This role is mission-critical because it connects ad spend directly to sales outcomes, not vanity metrics. It turns platforms like Meta and Google into profit engines when handled correctly—and into liabilities when not. A skilled strategist knows the difference between a dip and a danger signal, and acts before the damage hits the books. There’s no cushion; performance is judged by what the ads earned this week, not what’s being tested next month.
Brands don’t ask for help here—they pay for results. That places the Paid Ads Manager in a revenue leadership seat, not an execution lane. Missed calls, slow pivots, or passive management put the whole account in jeopardy. Done right, this role drives compounding growth across product lines. Done wrong, it forces resets the client may not recover from. That’s why this role isn’t just important—it’s non-optional.
What We Expect From You
As a Paid Ads Strategist at OES, you are expected to own profitable decision-making across Shopify extensions and DTC private label stores. You will not be handed media plans—you will build them. That means you operate with clarity in conditions of incomplete data, move paid channels forward without waiting for permission, and deliver performance that holds up to financial scrutiny. Strategic thinking here isn’t abstract—it’s directly tied to margin, CAC, and long-term brand viability. If you cannot manage risk while sustaining growth, this role is not for you.
We’re looking for someone who can analyze real numbers, spot patterns fast, and act before others even realize there’s a shift. You’ll be evaluated not just on ROAS, but your judgment—when to throttle, when to scale, when to cut, and when to push through. You are accountable to both the client’s brand health and OES’s operational standards. Discipline in execution and foresight in planning are not bonuses at this level—they are minimum requirements. This role carries real leverage, and we only assign it to people who understand the weight of strategy measured in revenue and risk.
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$700 – $2,300
OES salary standards reflect real market benchmarks, tier and experience level, ensuring fair pay for VAs and realistic expectations for clients.
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