Search Engine Marketing Specialist

What you’ll be doing

The SEM Specialist plays a key role in driving performance for our automotive dealer clients through Google Ads. You'll own and manage a large portfolio of 100+ accounts, mostly car dealerships and automotive businesses, many of them small and mid-sized. You'll make sure each one is set up well, optimised, and delivering against its goals, and you'll be the main point of contact for clients on how their account is performing.

Success comes from managing many accounts efficiently and knowing where to focus, without losing sight of each client's needs. You'll be part of a small, close-knit team, so you'll need to be confident running accounts on your own and bringing fresh ideas to how we work. You'll have plenty of support, but we're looking for someone who can see what an account needs and get it done.

• Manage a large portfolio of Google Ads accounts end to end, keeping performance, budgets and client needs balanced across all of them
• Build and structure campaigns across Search, Performance Max, Display, Demand Gen, Shopping Ads/Vehicle Ads and other campaign types, matched to each client's goals
• Carry out ongoing optimisation across bidding, keywords, audiences, ad copy and budgets to get the most out of every account, whatever its size
• Spot accounts that are underperforming, find the cause and take action to turn them around
• Present regular account reviews to clients, explaining performance clearly and giving useful insights and recommendations
• Build strong client relationships and be their go-to person for questions, feedback and strategy
• Onboard new clients, including account creation, campaign setup, and tracking and conversion setup
• Troubleshoot tracking, feed and delivery issues across Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Merchant Centre and Business Profile
• Find ways to work more efficiently at scale, and help improve team processes, reporting and use of tools (including AI)

What we’re looking for

We care more about what you can do than how many years you've been doing it. If you can show us you know your way around Google Ads and can manage clients confidently, we want to hear from you.

• Strong hands-on Google Ads skills, including campaign structure, bidding strategies, keyword strategy and the different campaign types
• A proven ability to optimise accounts and diagnose and fix poor performance on your own
• Confidence talking with clients, presenting account reviews and explaining performance in plain language
• Experience managing many accounts at once, prioritising well and staying organised
• A self-starter mindset: you take ownership, work out what needs doing and do it
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to turn data into clear actions
• Experience with Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics (GA4), Google Merchant Centre and Google Business Profile
• Strong Excel skills (e.g. pivot tables, lookups, bulk data work)
• Experience with Google Ads Editor and bulk changes
• Experience with Skai (Kenshoo) or similar bid and campaign management platforms
• Use of AI tools (e.g. Claude) to work more efficiently

We know not everyone will meet every requirement, and that’s okay. If you’re excited about the role and believe you can make a difference, we’d love to hear from you.

A few other things we want you to know...

• As an equal opportunity employer, carsales welcomes applications from individuals of all backgrounds, identities, abilities, and life experiences. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and supported.
• If you have a disability or require adjustments to participate fully in the recruitment process, please let us know - we’re here to support you.
• We understand the importance of work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements, including part-time options. If you’d like to explore this, just ask during the process.
• We’re also a proud Circle Back Initiative employer, which means we commit to responding to every applicant.
• Successful candidates joining the carsales team will need to complete a National Police Record check and must have full-time Australian working rights.

So come join us - because every role plays a vital part in our journey toward something big!