BraceAbility: Hiring a Performance Marketing Director to Bring Paid Media In-House
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Finding a True Google Ads Expert With DTC Growth Experience
BraceAbility wasn't looking for a general performance marketer. They needed someone who could become the company's internal paid acquisition leader.
The ideal candidate needed to:
- Own Google Ads strategy end-to-end
- Scale Google Ads spend from about $70K to $120–130K per month, inside a $150–180K all-channel target by year end
- Expand into Meta, YouTube, and other acquisition channels
- Help grow Shopify's share of revenue from 20% to 40%, against roughly 80% still running through Amazon
- Successfully transition paid media away from an external agency
The talent pool was extremely limited. Many candidates had agency experience but lacked true ownership of large ecommerce accounts, while others didn't have the depth needed across both Search and broader performance marketing channels. One otherwise-credible candidate's most relevant account was a tractor and forklift dealer, nowhere near the DTC pace the role demanded. Others were cut as retention risks after a run of short stints. The eventual finalist was also considering a competing agency offer, adding urgency to the search.
Prioritizing Operators Over Generalists
Constant Hire targeted candidates with proven ownership of large-scale DTC advertising programs rather than agency coordinators or channel specialists.
The selected candidate stood out because they brought:
- More than a decade of hands-on performance marketing experience
- Deep expertise across Google Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and YouTube
- Experience managing large monthly advertising budgets
- Strong reporting discipline and independent decision-making
- The ability to operate without day-to-day oversight
To validate technical capability, candidates ran a live audit of BraceAbility's own Google Ads account and delivered five specific recommendations before final interviews. Three professional reference checks further confirmed the candidate's technical expertise and leadership style.
Our Sourcing Approach
Building a Technical Hiring Process Around Real Work
Constant Hire helped design a structured evaluation process that reflected the actual demands of the role, not just interview polish.
Our team:
- Established a biweekly hiring cadence with leadership
- Coordinated a live Google Ads account audit
- Helped define the evolving responsibilities of the position
- Advised on compensation and built a bonus tied to Shopify contribution margin growth, so the hire's payout tracked the exact revenue-mix goal
- Managed three reference checks
- Supported offer creation and negotiation
The client evaluated real execution on their own ad account, which no interview panel could fake.
Sourcing and Interview Process
- 7 candidates submitted
- 4–5 interview stages
- 3 professional reference checks
- 2 executive stakeholders
- 69 days to offer
The interview process included recruiter screening, a live Google Ads account exercise, a founder-led technical interview, a Caliper behavioral assessment, and a final scope and culture conversation with the CEO before the offer went out.
An In-House Growth Leader Ready to Scale Paid Media
- Finalists: 1
- Offers: 1
The selected Performance Marketing Director brought the technical depth and strategic ownership BraceAbility needed to transition paid media in-house.
The hire positioned the company to:
- Scale monthly advertising investment
- Increase Shopify's contribution to total revenue
- Reduce dependence on external agencies
- Build a stronger long-term acquisition engine across Google, Meta, and YouTube
Positioning Highlight
This case study demonstrates Constant Hire's ability to:
- Recruit senior performance marketing leaders
- Evaluate technical paid media expertise through real-world assessments
- Support businesses transitioning from agency-managed to in-house marketing
- Advise on compensation, hiring strategy, and role definition
- Place operators capable of owning multi-channel growth
