PPC Manager in London

Full time Hybrid | 4 days per week in our Clerkenwell HQ

Why Ballpoint

Ballpoint is a fast-scaling, strategy led creative and marketing science agency built for consumer brands who want to grow fast and grow properly. We combine creative, data and experimentation to help cool brands kill their competition.

As a team, we’re made up of people at the top of their game, all with exceptional experience and a strong track record. Ballpoint started because we knew first hand what ambitious brands actually need from an agency: not big promises and account handlers, but operators who treat their business like it’s their own.

We’ve been on the receiving end of all the problems. So we became the solution. Today, every Ballpoint strategist is ex-in-house senior talent. The people running client growth here are the people who used to hire agencies, not career account handlers learning on your budget.

Our clients reflect who we are: early innovators, fast growing startups, and household names pushing into their next phase of growth. Each brings a new challenge for us to break through, creatively, strategically and through marketing science.

Why You

People who thrive at Ballpoint are self motivated and take genuine ownership of their work. They’re commercially minded and confident making decisions, with a knack for solving problems quickly without losing clarity. Whatever their discipline, they care deeply about their craft and are naturally curious. We want people who are always learning, always sharing, and always raising the bar. They’re comfortable challenging others and being challenged themselves, and they know how to inspire confidence with clients and teammates alike. If that sounds like you, you’ll fit right in!

We’re scaling quickly and we want the best people with us on the journey.

About this role

This role is for someone already operating at a high level in paid search. You’ll own PPC end-to-end, running Google and Microsoft Ads with the confidence, clarity and pace expected at Ballpoint.

You will collaborate directly with our Growth Strategists to analyse cross-channel performance and provide clients with a clear-headed, unified view of their growth program.

This role is perfect for someone who is:

• A hands-on PPC operator
• Exceptionally analytical and commercially sharp
• Great at simplifying complex data into clear takeaways
• A clear communicator

The performance side of Ballpoint is scaling quickly, and we need someone who can truly own PPC by shaping how the channel runs, how it scales, and how data turns into commercial results.

This is a chance to make a meaningful impact by driving client growth, sharpening our performance capability, and developing your own craft as the agency continues to grow.

What this role involves

You will:

• Channel Ownership
  • Be the go to PPC operator, responsible for daily performance, structure, scale and profitability
  • Stay ahead of platform changes (AI shifts, zero-click trends, algorithm updates)
• Hands-On Execution
  • Manage, optimise and scale campaigns daily
  • Control budgets, pacing and make essential scaling decisions
  • Build efficient campaign structures
  • Proactively conduct commercial-focused keyword research, and write sharp, effective ad copy
• Data, Measurement & Forecasting
  • Set and manage meaningful KPIs
  • Forecast accurately and drive campaign performance to hit and exceed critical ROAS/CPA targets
  • Maintain clean data across Looker, GA4, Shopify and other core analytics tools
  • Troubleshoot tracking issues. Clean data is non-negotiable.
• Experimentation
  • Run structured, commercially-led experiments
  • Test bidding strategies, audiences, landing pages and creative variations
• Cross-Channel Collaboration
  • Work closely with our Growth Strategist to provide unified performance insights
  • Contextualise PPC within the wider growth picture
  • Ensure clients get a clear, honest view of what’s working (and what isn’t)

Skills & Experience

You should have:

• 3+ years running Google and Microsoft Ads for scaling eCommerce brands
• Strong experience across Search, Shopping, Display and Performance Max, with experience with YouTube campaigns expected
• Proven ability to hit/exceed ROAS, CPA and contribution margin targets
• Excellent analytical skills using Looker, GA4, Shopify or similar
• Ability to forecast, budget and structure accounts for scale
• Strong commercial judgement, whilst knowing what moves the business, not just the numbers
• Clear, concise communicator who can explain complex performance in a simple manner

Desirable:

• Experience scaling accounts from £0 to £100k+ annual spend
• Understanding of attribution models, MMM and incrementality testing
• A sharp understanding of paid social (to help contextualise PPC results)
• Experience linking first-party data and managing clean conversion setups

What does success look like?

30 Days

• You’ve fully audited account structures, data hygiene, tracking setups, keyword approach and experimentation history
• You’re taking ownership of existing PPC accounts with confidence
• You’ve presented your initial recommendations: what to fix, what to test, and what to stop doing immediately
• You’re confidently running the day-to-day operations of existing PPC accounts

60 Days

• Your accounts have tighter structures, cleaner data and clearer forecasting
• You’re communicating decisions simply and directly
• You’re showing measurable improvements in efficiency, structure quality, data clarity and commercial performance
• You’re delivering measurable performance improvements backed by clean data

90 Days

• PPC becomes a consistent, compounding growth engine for our accounts
• Your accounts are structurally sound: clean tracking, strong feed quality, tight query control and well-built PMax programs
• You’re operating independently, decisively and with clarity
• Your clients trust your judgement because results (and communication) show they can

Package

• Competitive salary
• 28 days paid holiday excluding bank holidays
• £1,500 tech budget
• EMI Scheme
• Enhanced Parental Leave Policy
• Work from anywhere days
• Monthly socials
• Regular team lunches
• Annual offsite