Senior Manager, Performance Marketing

About gradnext gradnext is a consulting prep platform offering one-on-one coaching with ex-McKinsey, BCG, and Bain coaches, along with a subscription product that includes recorded courses, case drills, workshops, and peer-to-peer practice. We're building the go-to platform for aspiring consultants, and we're looking for someone who can own our growth engine end to end.

About the Role We're looking for a Head of Marketing who can manage both organic and performance marketing for gradnext, and has hands-on experience in edtech marketing. This is a high-ownership role. You'll lead the entire marketing function, working directly with the co-founder to drive pipeline, conversions, and revenue.

This isn't a role for someone who wants to just manage spends or post content. We need someone who understands the full funnel, from awareness to conversion, and can build a marketing engine that works across both organic and paid channels.

What You'll Do

• Own organic social media strategy and execution across Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn, from content planning to publishing
• Plan, execute, and optimize performance marketing campaigns across Meta and Google Ads (search, display, and social)
• Understand and map different funnels (awareness, consideration, conversion) and build strategies suited to each stage
• Own the full funnel: from ad spend and content reach to lead quality to conversion, and be accountable for CAC and ROAS
• Continuously test creatives, formats, and messaging across organic and paid channels to improve performance
• Design or guide the creation of basic ad and content creatives (static and simple video edits) using tools like Canva, or similar
• Build and maintain dashboards to track key metrics and report performance to the co-founder regularly
• Work closely with the sales and content teams to align messaging with what's actually converting
• Identify new channels and growth opportunities as the business scales
• Manage marketing budgets efficiently and make data-backed decisions on where to allocate spend
• Eventually build and lead a small team as the function scales

What We're Looking For

• 3-4 years of experience in marketing, with a significant chunk of it in edtech or a similar high-consideration, education-led product
• Proven experience managing organic social media content and growth on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn
• Proven experience running and scaling campaigns on Meta Ads Manager and Google Ads
• Strong understanding of marketing funnels and how organic and paid channels work together across the funnel
• Strong grip on metrics like CAC, ROAS, CTR, conversion rates, and how to move them
• Basic graphic design skills, comfortable putting together simple ad and content creatives independently without always relying on a designer
• A builder's mindset. Comfortable working with ambiguity and owning a function end to end, not just executing tasks
• Strong analytical skills and comfort with spreadsheets, dashboards, and campaign data
• Excellent communication skills, since you'll be working directly with the co-founder and cross-functional teams

Good to Have

• Experience marketing coaching, consulting prep, or premium subscription products
• Familiarity with tools like Canva, CapCut, or basic Adobe tools
• Prior experience in a startup environment where you had to wear multiple hats

Why Join gradnext

• Direct ownership of the entire marketing function, reporting straight to the co-founder
• High impact role in an early-stage company where your work directly shows up in the numbers
• Opportunity to build and eventually lead the marketing team as we scale