Preply
Director of SEM
Part remote, part office, you need to live within commuting distance of a named location.
Hybrid · Barcelona
Employer listed it 5 months ago · Added yesterday
Been open since 5 months ago. Long-running listings are sometimes left up after the role is filled.
Salary
Not stated
Location
Hybrid · Barcelona
Timezone
Not stated
Contract
Full-time
Experience
Lead
Category
Marketing
This employer didn't state pay. Jobs like this usually pay around $160k–$240k a year, a typical range taken from 241 lead-level marketing roles on Nomaders that do state pay. It's a guide, not an offer.
Remote flexibility
Hybrid
This role is only partly remote, the employer expects time in the office around Barcelona, London, Hybrid, so you need to live within commuting distance.
What the employer says
- Source listing states candidate location: "Barcelona, London, Hybrid"
- Listing mentions "Hybrid"
What Nomaders makes of it
- Not suitable if you plan to move between countries
The quotes above are the employer's own words; the reading is ours. Always check the original listing and employment terms before working from another country.
About the role
We power people’s progress.
At Preply, we’re all about creating life-changing learning experiences. We help people discover the magic of the perfect tutor, craft a personalised learning journey, and stay motivated to keep growing. Our approach is human-led, tech-enabled - and it’s creating real impact.
We’ve just reached unicorn status with a $150M Series D, accelerating our vision to transform education through human-led, AI-enhanced learning. Today, 100,000+ tutors teach 90+ languages to learners in 180 countries - and we’re only getting started. As a category-defining company, we’re shaping what the future of learning looks like at global scale.
Every Preply lesson sparks change, fuels ambition, and drives progress that matters. Joining Preply means helping define the future of education at global scale, and building something that truly matters for millions of people, every day.
Meet the team!
As we scale globally, performance marketing has become the primary engine of that growth. Search is at the core of how learners find us - and SEM is our largest and highest-impact acquisition channel, with a nine-figure annual spend, and growing significantly YoY. To continue outperforming, we need a world-class leader to own it.
We’re now looking for a Director of SEM to own strategy, performance, and the future of our search acquisition channel. This is a senior, strategic role for a performance marketing leader who has operated SEM at scale inside a high-growth consumer tech or marketplace/e-commerce business.
You’ll lead a growing team of specialists and partner with Data Science, MarTech, Brand, and a dedicated double-digit team at Google to push the boundaries of what’s possible in search. You’ll also be among a select group of advertisers piloting a new ad offering with a leading AI platform, shaping how SEM evolves at a global scale.
This role is not about managing day-to-day execution. It’s about designing the best system, setting the strategy, and making sure Preply keeps winning in search - at scale, across markets globally, and at the cutting edge of automation and AI.
What you’ll be doing:
Own the channel strategy
Define and own Preply’s global SEM strategy across Google Search, PMax, and emerging AI-powered ad formats
Set the vision for how we grow the channel - expanding keyword coverage, improving bidding sophistication, and deploying budget with increasing efficiency
Decide how to balance automation with human judgment, and where to invest in new capabilities vs. doubling down on what works
Stay at the frontier: shape how Preply thinks about the future of search as AI reshapes user behaviour and ad formats
Drive performance and scale
Own the channel KPIs while maintaining or improving ROI
Oversee keyword architecture and automation across keywords, languages, and markets
Lead LTV-based bidding strategy in partnership with the Data Science team, pushing the state of the art in how we value and bid for users
Expand SEM coverage into non-language subjects as Preply grows beyond its core vertical
Build and lead the team
Lead a team of specialists, setting direction, developing capability, and creating clear accountability
Define how the team operates: priorities, org structure, and collaboration model with enabling functions
Shape how we use AI
Requirements
The employer hasn't listed requirements separately, they're described in the role summary above and on the original listing.
Benefits
No benefits package published with this listing. Ask about it at first interview.
How to apply
- 1Check the flexibility label above, hybrid, matches where you plan to live and work.
- 2Tailor your CV to the role at Preply, mentioning your remote working experience.
- 3Apply directly on the employer's careers page using the button below. Nomaders never handles your application.
Found 1d ago. Last checked today. Always confirm the details on the original posting, salary and location can change after publication.
Listing sourced from Company boards.
Similar roles
Other open marketing roles with comparable remote rules.
Free to apply, no account needed.
Typically $160k–$240k · You'll be taken to the employer's careers page.