Senior Manager, Performance Search & AI Marketing

Job Summary

The Senior Manager, Performance Search & AI Marketing partners with Marketing Leadership, Retail Media and Digital leadership, agency partners, and cross-functional stakeholders to develop and execute enterprise performance marketing strategies that drive customer acquisition, engagement, conversion, and business growth. This role serves as the enterprise lead for Paid Search and AI-driven Discovery, overseeing strategy, investment planning, optimization, measurement, and innovation across search and emerging performance channels.

Key Focus

• Lead enterprise Paid Search (SEM) strategy, planning, and optimization efforts, ensuring alignment with business objectives, customer priorities, and full-funnel marketing goals.
• Develop and execute performance marketing strategies that drive customer acquisition, engagement, conversion, retention, and revenue growth across search and performance channels.
• Lead Walgreens' strategy for AI-driven search and discovery, including emerging capabilities such as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), AI Search Optimization (AISO), conversational search experiences, and AI-powered customer discovery.
• Partner with agency teams to develop channel investment strategies, budget recommendations, campaign priorities, and optimization plans that maximize business performance and marketing ROI.
• Develop annual performance marketing plans, forecasts, and investment strategies aligned to enterprise business priorities and customer growth objectives.
• Establish measurement frameworks, performance scorecards, and reporting processes that provide visibility into campaign effectiveness, channel performance, and business impact.
• Partner with Marketing Science, Analytics, and agency teams to leverage attribution, Marketing Mix Modeling, incrementality testing, customer insights, and performance analytics to optimize investments and drive continuous improvement.
• Analyze campaign, channel, audience, and business performance data to identify growth opportunities, optimization actions, and future investment recommendations.
• Collaborate with Brand, Digital, Retail Media (WAG), Loyalty to ensure performance marketing strategies support integrated customer journeys and enterprise objectives.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, AI tools, automation capabilities, and performance marketing innovations to improve efficiency, effectiveness, personalization, and marketing outcomes.
• Identify and advance new opportunities within search, retail media, commerce media, AI assistants, and performance marketing ecosystems to accelerate customer growth and competitive advantage.
• Lead performance forecasting, scenario planning, and investment optimization efforts to support evolving business priorities and maximize return on media spend.
• Establish best practices, governance frameworks, and strategic recommendations that improve enterprise performance marketing capabilities and execution.
• Monitor industry trends, platform innovations, privacy changes, consumer behavior shifts, and competitive activity to inform future performance marketing strategies and investment decisions.
• Serve as the enterprise subject matter expert for Paid Search, search marketing, AI-enabled discovery, and performance marketing best practices.
• Build strong partnerships across internal stakeholders, technology providers, agencies, and platform partners to ensure strategic alignment, executional excellence, and achievement of business objectives.

Job Responsibilities

• Partners with the Marketing Director in determining and implementing the strategy across the organization.
• Partners with the management team to identify, develop, and implement appropriate approaches, processes, and tools that elevate the marketing group.
• Identifies, evaluates and recommends marketing opportunities consistent with business objectives; provides marketing support throughout the organization.
• Works to identify and develop marketing strategies and programs in collaboration with business team.
• Communicates new ideas to director.
• Delivers presentations and provides reports for the business to provide marketing information which may include marketing trends, competition, new products, and pricing.
• Works with external vendors and third parties to develop and maintain positive relationships.
• Builds and enhances internal and external partnerships.
• Proactively provides Marketing solutions to address key business capabilities.

This role is based in our Deerfield, IL office and is on-site four days a week.