Ad Operations Specialist

Role overview

We are looking for an Ad Operations Specialist to support the day-to-day operation and optimization of CarGurus’ advertising platforms and campaigns. This role combines campaign execution, reporting, troubleshooting, analysis, and cross-functional collaboration with Product, Engineering, and Sales. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, analytically minded, and comfortable working across both technical and business-focused workflows.

What you’ll do

• Build, maintain, and automate accurate, timely recurring reports that provide visibility into ad performance, delivery, revenue, and business trends.
• Create custom reports, templates, dashboards, and other tools that give teams reliable, accessible insights and reduce manual work.
• Monitor campaign delivery and advertising platform performance, identify unusual patterns early, and address issues before they affect results.
• Investigate and resolve ad-serving, tracking, and platform issues, documenting findings and escalating when appropriate to minimize disruption and maintain strong service levels.
• Analyze campaign performance, yield, and revenue opportunities, and provide actionable recommendations that support better business decisions.
• Traffic, QA, and launch test campaigns across ad-serving and measurement platforms, ensuring campaigns are accurate and perform as expected.
• Support Sales with timely, accurate campaign forecasting, performance insights, and contract-related materials.
• Partner with Product and Engineering to develop, test, troubleshoot, and launch new advertising products and features with dependable operational support.
• Investigate deep-linking issues and help ensure users reach the correct dealer and vehicle pages.
• Identify recurring operational challenges, recommend practical solutions, and support improvements to product quality, platform performance, and team workflows.

What you’ll bring

• 2+ years of experience in ad operations, digital advertising, campaign management, marketing technology, or a related field.
• Experience working with one or more advertising and measurement platforms, such as Google Ad Manager, Meta Business Manager, Google Campaign Manager, DoubleVerify, SSPs, DMPs, JIRA, Salesforce, DV360, or Google Analytics.
• A strong understanding of digital advertising concepts, including campaign setup, trafficking, targeting, tracking, delivery, pacing, and performance measurement.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to investigate issues, identify root causes, and translate data into clear recommendations and practical actions.
• Experience building or maintaining reports, dashboards, templates, or workflow automations using spreadsheets, business intelligence tools, SQL, or similar technologies.
• Strong attention to detail and a high standard for accurate reporting, campaign quality, operational follow-through, and clear documentation.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and communicate clearly so partners receive reliable, responsive operational support.
• Comfortable collaborating with Product, Engineering, Sales, and other cross-functional teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience with ad-serving logic, prioritization, or yield optimization is a plus.
• Experience troubleshooting URLs, redirects, deep links, or other web-based user journeys is a plus.

The displayed range represents the expected annual base salary / On-Target Earnings (OTE) for this position. On-Target Earnings (OTE) is inclusive of base salary and on-target commission earnings, which applies exclusively to sales roles.

Individual pay within this range is determined by work location and other factors such as job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

This annual base salary forms part of a comprehensive Total Rewards Package. In addition to benefits, this role may qualify for discretionary bonuses/incentives and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).

Working at CarGurus

We reward our Gurus’ curiosity and passion with best-in-class benefits and compensation, including equity for all employees, both when they start and as they continue to grow with us. Our career development and corporate giving programs, as well as our employee resource groups (ERGs) and communities, help people build connections while making an impact in personally meaningful ways. A flexible hybrid model and robust time off policies encourage work-life balance and individual well-being. Thoughtful perks like daily free lunch, a new car discount, meditation and fitness apps, commuting cost coverage, and more help our people create space for what matters most in their personal and professional lives.

CarGurus may require in-person interviews as part of our hiring process, particularly for positions based in our Boston and Dublin offices. Candidates selected for an in-person interview will be notified in advance. Please be aware that travel expenses are the responsibility of the candidate.