Senior SEM / PPC Executive in Chelmsford

Location & Working Model: Hybrid – based in Essex (minimum 3 days/week in our offices) + remote flexibility.

Role Purpose: As the Senior SEM / PPC Executive, you will take full ownership of our search-engine-marketing and pay-per-click campaigns, driving the strategy, execution and optimisation of paid search (and related display/shopping) to support our online growth. You’ll work closely with the acquisition team, agency partners, analytics and merchandising to deliver measurable results in line with our business priorities: great quality at a great price, huge choice and ease of buying.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop, execute and optimise campaign strategies across search engines (primarily Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising/Bing, Shopping, Display, Affiliates, Socials) to maximise ROI, conversion volume and customer acquisition.
• Conduct in-depth keyword research, audience and competitor analysis to identify growth opportunities and refine targeting.
• Build, monitor and refine ad copy, creative assets, campaign structure, bidding strategies and landing page alignment to drive performance improvements.
• Manage and optimise campaign budgets, bid strategies (manual and automated), day-to-day campaign pacing, under-/over-spend, and ensure maximum efficiency.
• Oversee campaign tracking, attribution and measurement frameworks (including integrations with analytics platforms), ensure data is accurate, timely and actionable.
• Analyse campaign performance at a detailed level (search query reports, device/channel/geo breakdowns, audience segments) and provide actionable insights and optimisation recommendations.
• Set and manage KPIs (e.g., CPA, ROAS, CTR, conversion rate, incremental volume), regularly report performance to senior stakeholders, and ensure alignment with overall business and marketing goals.
• With internal stakeholders (creative/content, web UX, merchandising), work on landing page optimisation, ad alignment, test & learn frameworks and conversion-rate improvements.
• Work with agency partners (if applicable) or internal team members to ensure campaign delivery, performance improvement, optimisation and forward-planning.
• Stay up-to-date with PPC/SEM best practices, platform updates (Google, Microsoft/Bing, shopping, display), emerging channel opportunities and industry trends; propose adoption of new formats/technologies.
• Mentor more junior PPC team members and help drive best practice across the paid marketing team.

Experience & Requirements:

• Minimum 5+ years’ experience in SEM/PPC roles (preferably within e-commerce or retail environments) managing mid to large scale paid search campaigns.
• Strong hands-on experience with Google Ads (Search, Shopping, Display), Microsoft Advertising/Bing, and ideally other paid formats (video, discovery, retargeting) as relevant.
• Demonstrable track record of improving performance (e.g., reducing CPA, improving ROAS, scaling profitably) in paid search and shopping campaigns.
• Experience working with agency partners (or external vendors), briefing, monitoring, driving performance improvement and working to SLAs.
• Excellent analytical skills — comfortable with dissecting large data sets, search and query reports, performing bid/keyword level analysis and translating insight into optimisation.
• Skilled in campaign tracking, attribution, reporting tools and analytics — e.g., Google Analytics (GA4), tag-management, data-visualisation tools (Looker Studio/Power BI), and strong Excel/Google Sheets capability.
• Commercial awareness — understands how PPC performance links to business metrics (customer lifetime value, margin, acquisition cost, retention) and can make decisions in a business context.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills — able to present campaign performance and recommendations to senior stakeholders clearly and persuasively.
• Strong project and time-management skills — able to manage multiple campaigns, priorities and deadlines simultaneously, and work effectively in a fast-moving environment.
• A proactive, curious mindset — you test, iterate, learn and optimise rather than just execute set campaigns.

Skills & Competencies:

• Strategic thinking combined with strong execution capability.
• Data-driven decision making — you use insight, not instinct, to optimise campaigns.
• Strong vendor/agency management — setting briefs, holding to account, driving improvements.
• Comfortable dealing with ambiguity and change — PPC landscape evolves quickly, you stay ahead.
• Collaborative working style — you engage cross-functionally, aligning paid search with other channels and with broader marketing objectives.
• Excellent attention to detail — you spot inefficiencies, errors, and opportunities before others.
• Strong commercial mindset — you understand how spend drives revenue, profit and customer value.

How You’ll Fit With Us:

• You’ll be a champion for our customer proposition: delivering value, choice and ease of purchase through paid search.
• You’ll thrive in a performance-marketing environment where metrics matter, improvement is expected and flexibility (including hybrid working) is valued.
• You’ll partner proactively across the business — from agencies to internal teams — to make paid search a driving engine of growth.
• You’ll act as a senior practitioner: leading by example, sharing knowledge, influencing strategy and execution alike.