Remote PPC and Paid Media Jobs: Roles, Pay and Where to Find Them (2026)
If you can turn ad spend into customers, you can do it from anywhere. Paid media is one of the most practical remote marketing careers: the work happens in ad platforms, spreadsheets and dashboards, and results are easy to measure.
In the 30 days to 10 November 2026, our job collector found 54 remote paid media jobs among 466 remote marketing jobs. They covered paid search (PPC), paid social, programmatic and performance marketing. This guide explains the job titles, what they pay, who's hiring and how to get hired.
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About the data: All numbers come from remote marketing job ads collected for GetRemoteMarketingJobs between 11 October and 10 November 2026. The ads come from employer career pages (Greenhouse, Lever and Ashby) and remote job boards (Jobicy, We Work Remotely, NoDesk and Remote OK). We counted a job as paid media if its title included paid, PPC, media buyer, performance marketing, Google Ads, SEM, programmatic or user acquisition. Salaries are advertised ranges. We used the midpoint of each range as one number per job.
What does a remote paid media specialist do?
Paid media people plan, buy and improve paid advertising. The daily work usually includes:
- Setting up and running campaigns in ad platforms
- Managing budgets and bids, and shifting spend to what works
- Testing ads, audiences and landing pages
- Tracking conversions and reporting on results
- Working with designers and copywriters on new ads
The tools change by channel, but the goal stays the same: more results for the same money.
The main types of paid media jobs
Paid media isn't one job. We grouped the 54 titles by keyword:
| Type (by title keyword) | Jobs | Typical platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Performance marketing | 13 | Several channels at once |
| Paid search / PPC / Google Ads / SEM | 10 | Google Ads, Microsoft Ads |
| Programmatic | 10 | Demand-side platforms such as DV360 and The Trade Desk |
| Paid social | 9 | Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn |
| Paid media (general) | 9 | Mix of search, social and display |
| User acquisition | 3 | App and social ad platforms |
Some titles could fit more than one type; we counted each job once, by its main keyword.
Paid search (PPC) is the classic entry point. You bid on searches in Google and Microsoft Ads and pay per click. Remote examples include Paid Search Manager (B2B) at Wpromote, Senior Account Manager, Paid Search at DEPT and Remote Paid Search Specialist (PPC) at Brafton (Mexico).
Paid social covers ads on Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn and similar platforms. Creative testing matters more here. Examples: Manager, Paid Social at DEPT and Wpromote, and Growth Marketing Manager, Paid Social at Thumbtack.
Programmatic means buying display, video and connected-TV ads through automated platforms. It's a specialist niche, and one agency dominated it in our data: Directive posted programmatic roles from specialist and trader up to Head of Programmatic, in both the US and Canada.
Performance marketing is the broadest title. These roles usually own results across several paid channels, often in-house at a software or consumer company. Examples: Performance Marketing Manager at NerdWallet, Mural and 1Password.
Remote PPC and paid media salaries
Of the 54 paid media jobs, 19 published a salary (35%) and 17 gave a yearly salary in US dollars.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Median salary (range midpoint) | $107,500 |
| Middle 50% of jobs | $82,500 – $127,500 |
| Median bottom of the range | $89,000 |
| Median top of the range | $115,000 |
| Lowest range bottom | $65,000 |
That's lower than the $141,000 median across all 148 remote marketing ads with yearly USD pay in the same data. The main reason is that paid media has more mid-level and agency roles, and fewer director-level ones.
Our earlier remote marketing salaries report only had 3 salaried paid media ads, so treat this larger sample as the better guide.
Real ranges from current ads
- Manager, Paid Social, Wpromote (USA): $70,000 – $85,000
- Paid Search Manager (B2B), Wpromote (USA): $74,000 – $90,000
- Paid Media Influencer Analyst, hims & hers (USA): $75,000 – $90,000
- Senior Performance Marketing Specialist, GOAT Group (USA): $75,520 – $111,000
- Senior Paid Media Associate, SeatGeek (USA): $80,000 – $116,000
- Performance Marketing Manager, NerdWallet (United States): $89,000 – $138,000
- Growth Marketing Manager, Paid Social, Thumbtack (USA): $104,600 – $159,500
- Performance Marketing Manager, Mural (United States): $131,840 – $164,800
- Director, Performance Marketing, Help Scout (USA): $198,000 – $218,000
- Director, Paid Marketing – Subscription, DuckDuckGo (USA): $243,800
Outside the US, ranges were lower. GiveDirectly's Growth Manager, Paid Media (UK or USA) listed $65,000 – $99,940. ShopFully's Digital Campaign/Performance Marketing Specialist in Italy listed €30,000 – €32,000.
Agency vs in-house pay
Agencies posted more than half of the remote paid media jobs: 29 of 54. DEPT and Directive had 10 each and Wpromote had 8. In-house teams posted the other 25.
| Employer type | Jobs | Salaried USD ads | Median salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agencies | 29 | 8 | $99,750 |
| In-house | 25 | 9 | $113,500 |
Both samples are small, but the direction matches what we saw for remote marketing director jobs: in-house roles tend to pay more. Agencies make up for it in other ways. You manage several accounts, learn quickly and get to see many budgets and industries. That's why many PPC careers start at an agency and move in-house later.
Who is hiring remote paid media talent?
The 54 jobs came from 26 companies. Three agencies led the list:
| Company | Remote paid media openings |
|---|---|
| DEPT | 10 |
| Directive | 10 |
| Wpromote | 8 |
1Password and Appen had two each. Other employers included NerdWallet, SeatGeek, Thumbtack, Mural, Help Scout, DuckDuckGo, GOAT Group, hims & hers, Ladder, GiveDirectly and capital.com.
If you're job hunting, look at these agencies' career pages directly. They post many paid media roles at once, often for both the US and Canada.
Where can you work from?
Of the 54 paid media jobs:
- 36 were limited to the United States.
- 8 were for Canada, mostly Directive's "Remote Canada" roles.
- A few were for Europe, Italy, Mexico, or the UK and USA. capital.com's User Acquisition Manager (PPC) covered the UK, UAE and Poland.
Paid media roles are often tied to a country because of client time zones and payroll rules. Check the location line on each ad, and look for European user acquisition and performance roles if you're outside North America.
Skills paid media job ads ask for
We searched the full text of all 54 ads. Here's how often key terms came up:
| Term in the ad | Ads (of 54) |
|---|---|
| Budget | 50 |
| Attribution, incrementality or media mix modelling | 29 |
| Meta or Facebook | 24 |
| TikTok | 19 |
| ROAS, CAC, CPA or LTV | 18 |
| Google Ads | 16 |
| 14 | |
| GA4 or Google Analytics | 14 |
| DV360 or The Trade Desk | 10 |
| Microsoft Ads or Bing | 9 |
A few lessons from that list:
Budget management is the core skill. It appears in almost every ad. Be ready to say how much spend you've managed and what you did with it.
Measurement matters more than ever. Over half the ads mention attribution, incrementality or media mix modelling. Employers want people who can tell which spend actually caused results, not just report on platform numbers.
Know the unit economics. ROAS (return on ad spend), CAC (customer acquisition cost), CPA (cost per acquisition) and LTV (lifetime value) show up in a third of the ads. Learn how they connect.
Social platforms are as common as search. Meta and TikTok came up more often than Google Ads by name. Being strong in both search and social makes you more employable.
How to get a remote PPC job
Get certified for free
Google offers free Google Ads training and certifications through Skillshop. According to Google's Skillshop FAQ, Skillshop is available at no cost. Google Ads Help says you need a score of 80% or more to pass an assessment, you have 75 minutes to take it, and the certification stays valid for one year. Certifications are available for Search, Display, Video, Shopping, Apps and Measurement.
A certificate alone won't get you hired, but it shows you know the platform basics, and agencies that are Google Partners need certified staff.
Run a small real campaign
Nothing beats real results. Run a small campaign for a friend's business, a local nonprofit or your own side project. Track conversions, test two or three ad variations and write up what happened, including what didn't work.
Start where the entry roles are
Junior remote paid media roles exist, but they're limited. In our data they included DEPT's Account Coordinator, Paid Search, Zanda Health's Paid Media Coordinator and Directive's Programmatic Specialist. Agencies are the most common entry point. Our guide to getting a remote marketing job with no experience explains how to build proof of skills before your first job.
Show your numbers in your CV
Paid media is one of the easiest marketing jobs to quantify. Use real numbers: spend managed, CPA reduced, ROAS improved, number of accounts. Don't share confidential client data, and be ready to explain how you got the results.
Move between search and social
If you've only done one channel, learn the other. Many in-house performance roles cover search, social and sometimes programmatic together.
Paid search also overlaps with organic search. If you're curious about the organic side, see our remote SEO jobs guide.
FAQ
How much do remote PPC and paid media jobs pay?
Across 17 remote paid media ads with yearly USD salaries (11 October – 10 November 2026), the median range midpoint was $107,500, and the middle half sat between $82,500 and $127,500. Director-level roles went above $200,000.
Are remote PPC jobs good for beginners?
They're a realistic way in, especially at agencies. Coordinator and specialist roles exist, and you can show skills with free Google certifications and a small real campaign.
Is a Google Ads certification worth it?
It's free and shows you know the basics, so it's worth having. Employers care more about real results, so pair it with a campaign you've actually run.
What's the difference between PPC and performance marketing?
PPC usually means paid search, such as Google and Microsoft Ads. Performance marketing is broader and covers all paid channels measured on results, including social, display and programmatic.
Which companies hire remote paid media specialists?
In our data, agencies led: DEPT, Directive and Wpromote posted 28 of the 54 jobs. In-house employers included NerdWallet, SeatGeek, Thumbtack, Mural, Help Scout and 1Password.
Find your next remote paid media job
Paid media roles are listed across our growth and digital categories. Browse remote growth marketing jobs and remote digital marketing jobs to see current openings.
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