Senior Paid Search Manager in London

Go City is transforming the way people see and experience the world’s greatest destinations. We give our customers total flexibility to choose the experiences, tours and activities they want to visit at incredible savings. Backed by a highly successful Private Equity firm Exponent and headquartered in Covent Garden, London, the business is highly profitable with 3+ million customers globally. We have ambitious plans to leverage these capabilities to drive the business’ continued growth. Go City is excited for like-minded, problem-solving individuals to join the team and make their mark on our future. We listen to our customers, our partners and our team, to help improve our business every day. And that’s where you come in!

Key Responsibilities

• Own our search channel end-to-end - from keyword strategy and campaign architecture through to daily optimisation, feed management and performance reporting.
• Manage paid search campaigns across Google Ads and Microsoft Ads - search, shopping, Performance Max and DSA.
• Build and maintain a logical, well-structured account architecture that balances control and automation.
• Conduct rigorous, ongoing search query analysis - mining for new opportunities, identifying waste and shaping match type and negative keyword strategy accordingly.
• Manage Shopping and product feed campaigns including feed optimisation, custom labels, segmentation strategy and liaison with feed management tools.
• Write and test ad copy systematically using RSA asset performance data.
• Monitor auction insights, competitor activity and share of voice, and adjust strategy in response.
• Own bid strategy decisions across the account with a clear rationale for each choice.
• Manage daily and monthly budget pacing across campaigns and ad groups.
• Model budget scenarios and forecast performance: projecting clicks, conversions and revenue at different spend levels.
• Understand and apply marginal ROAS thinking.
• Identify and act on opportunities to reduce wasted spend.
• Own the search measurement framework: conversion tracking, goal configuration, attribution settings and the integrity of the data flowing into reporting.
• Build and maintain dashboards that tell a coherent performance story.
• Design and run structured experiments: bid strategy tests, ad copy tests, landing page tests, audience overlay tests.
• Develop and evolve the paid search strategy.
• Stay close to Google and Microsoft product roadmaps and translate platform changes into account actions.
• Build the case for new search investments.
• Define how paid search interacts with SEO, brand and upper-funnel channels.
• Act as the primary contact for Google and Microsoft account teams.
• Present search performance and strategy to senior stakeholders clearly.
• Collaborate with SEO, CRM, product and trading teams.
• Set clear briefs for agency or freelance resources.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• 4–7 years of hands-on paid search experience, with a significant portion in a senior or lead capacity.
• Deep, platform-native expertise in Google Ads and Microsoft Ads.
• Strong Shopping and feed management experience.
• Proven experience with Performance Max.
• A track record of managing search budgets of £500k+ annually.
• Experience with bid management platforms (SA360, Marin, Skai) is a plus.

Mathematical & Analytical Mindset

• Fluent in auction theory, Quality Score mechanics, bid modifiers, impression share maths.
• Advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills are non-negotiable.
• Comfortable with statistical concepts.
• SQL or Python experience is a meaningful differentiator.

Curiosity & Intellectual Drive

• Follow the evolution of search with genuine interest.
• Ask 'why is this happening?' before 'what should I do about it?'
• Enjoy working out the puzzle of a search account.
• Comfortable with ambiguity.

Strategic Capability

• Think beyond the account and articulate how paid search fits into the broader marketing mix.
• Understand the brand vs non-brand dynamic deeply.
• Build a compelling investment case.
• Have a point of view on where search is going.

Benefits

• Annual Go City Explorer Pass allowance.
• Enhanced pension contributions (5% employer).
• Life assurance: 4x your base salary.
• Annual leave: 25 days + bank holidays.
• Option to buy additional 5 days annual leave per year.
• Upgraded Family Leave.
• 1x Community day.
• Work from Anywhere for up to 4 weeks per year.
• Health care cash plan.
• Personal Learning Budget & dedicated time for development.
• EAP providing access to counselling, finance support, etc.
• Cycle to Work Scheme.