Head of Paid Digital in Manchester

To support continued growth, we are looking for a Head of Paid Digital to join our expanding Digital team. The role offers clear progression opportunities as the Paid Digital function grows in scale, revenue, and leadership depth.

Location: Ideally commutable 3 days / week to Chesterfield or Manchester

Job type: Full time, permanent. 35 hours per week

Salary: £50k-£55k (depending on experience)

Working model: In-office / Hybrid-remote

Benefits: Employment Ownership Trust (EOT) tax‑free company bonus scheme; flexible working; gym membership; regular team building events and socials; access to Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice scheme.

Career & Personal Development: Clear leadership progression opportunities; tailored learning and development programme; well‑being programme.

As one of the fastest growing regional agencies in the UK, there is a real sense of excitement at CNS where nothing stands still for long. We continue to scale teams across all departments, adding senior leadership talent to support significant growth for our clients and for CNS. Our vision is to make CNS the best place to work in media. We offer a generous benefits package and a collaborative, high‑performance environment where people are empowered to learn, lead, and make a real difference. We have offices in Chesterfield, Manchester and Birmingham, with ambitions to expand further. We work with well‑known national brands as well as regional clients and are a results‑led agency.

About the Role: To support continued growth, we are looking for a Head Paid Digital to lead CNS Media's Paid Media function at a strategic, operational, and commercial level. Reporting to the Digital Commercial Director, you will own the vision, direction, and performance of Paid Digital across the agency. You'll be responsible for shaping strategy, developing senior talent, driving innovation, and ensuring paid media delivers sustainable commercial growth for both clients and CNS. You will lead a high‑performing team of paid media specialists across platforms including Google, Meta, Bing, YouTube, TikTok and emerging channels, while acting as a senior stakeholder for key clients and new business opportunities. This is a leadership role suited to someone who combines deep paid media expertise with people leadership, commercial awareness, and agency‑wide influence.

Key Responsibilities:

• Set and own the Paid Digital vision and roadmap aligned with CNS's wider commercial strategy.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the Paid Media team, including performance management, succession planning, and clear progression frameworks.
• Act as the senior strategic lead for Paid Digital across Google, Meta, Bing, TikTok, YouTube, and emerging platforms.
• Translate client business objectives into scalable, insight‑led paid media strategies that drive growth and ROI.
• Accountable for departmental profitability in collaboration with the Digital Commercial Director.
• Report on departmental forecasting, utilisation, and resourcing.
• Play a key role in new business pitches, audits, and strategic upsell opportunities.
• Establish, refine, and enforce best‑practice processes for planning, activation, optimisation, and reporting.
• Champion innovation by testing new platforms, betas, automation, and partnerships.
• Collaborate closely with senior stakeholders across Digital, Client Services, and Commercial teams.

What Does Success Look Like?

• A high‑performing, engaged Paid Digital team with strong leadership depth and clear development pathways.
• Consistently excellent performance across client accounts, aligned with commercial and strategic KPIs.
• Strong senior client relationships built on trust, insight, and demonstrable results.
• Clear commercial control across the Paid Digital function, balancing growth, efficiency, and profitability.
• Paid Digital recognised internally and externally as a market‑leading capability within CNS.

The Ideal Candidate Will Have:

• 7+ years' experience in Paid Digital / Performance Marketing, with significant leadership responsibility.
• Proven experience leading senior paid media specialists and developing leadership capability within an agency environment.
• Deep expertise across Google Ads, Meta, Bing, YouTube, TikTok, and wider performance marketing trends.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience managing large budgets and department‑level profitability.
• Excellent strategic thinking, communication, and senior stakeholder management skills.
• A collaborative leadership style with the ability to influence at all levels of the business.
• Agency experience is essential.

CNS Media Ltd are passionate about creating a workplace that promotes and celebrates diversity. We are committed to attracting, recruiting, retaining and developing a diverse workforce. Our diversity and uniqueness not only drive but empower our creativity.