Senior Paid Media Manager (In-house role with huge potential) in Doncaster

Senior Paid Media Manager

Location: South Yorkshire (In-office role to start, flexibility to follow) Reports to: Head of

• Digital
• Marketing
• Level: Senior
• Type: Full-time, Permanent

About the Role

Our client is a fast-growing education business generating thousands of leads through digital marketing, webinars, live events, memberships and online learning programmes.

They're now looking for an ambitious Senior Paid Media Manager to become the first in-house Paid Media specialist, taking ownership of their paid acquisition strategy while helping build an internal paid media function from the ground up.

Initially, you'll work closely with external agency partners, ensuring campaigns across Meta and Google are delivering exceptional commercial results.

However, this role is much more than agency management.

Over the next 6-12 months, you'll progressively bring Paid Media in-house, taking direct ownership of campaign management, strategy, optimisation and reporting while reducing reliance on external agencies and helping shape the future structure of the team.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who enjoys being both strategic and hands-on, and wants to build something from the ground up rather than inherit an established function.

IMPORTANT

Until the team grows, to begin with in this role, you will be a one-person paid media team, working with agencies to deliver paid media across Meta (90%) and Google.

Please ensure you are coimfortable with this.

Key Responsibilities

• Paid Media Strategy & Performance
• Own paid acquisition performance across Meta, Google and emerging paid channels.
• Develop strategies that drive lead generation, customer acquisition and profitable revenue growth.
• Build robust creative testing frameworks to continually improve campaign performance.
• Identify and test new acquisition opportunities, channels, AI tools and emerging technologies.
• Hands-On Campaign Management
• Be comfortable rolling up your sleeves and managing Meta Ads and Google Ads campaigns directly.
• Initially oversee agency-delivered campaigns while progressively increasing your own hands-on ownership.
• Within 6-12 months, transition campaign management and optimisation in-house where commercially appropriate.
• Continually optimise budgets, audiences, creative and bidding strategies to improve ROI and reduce acquisition costs.
• Agency & Stakeholder Management
• Manage and challenge external agency partners to maximise performance and value.
• Build strong relationships across CRM, Marketing, Automation and Sales teams to improve the customer journey.
• Influence senior stakeholders using commercial insight, reporting and performance analysis.
• Reporting & Attribution
• Develop best-in-class reporting, attribution and performance dashboards.
• Provide clear commercial insight around lead quality, customer acquisition cost, ROAS and revenue contribution.
• Use data to influence business decisions and future marketing investment.
• Building the In-House Function
• Become the organisation's Paid Media expert.
• Build internal Paid Media capability, processes and best practice.
• Lead the transition from outsourced delivery to an in-house Paid Media function over the next 6-12 months.
• Help shape future team structure, hiring plans and long-term Paid Media strategy as the business continues to grow.

What We're Looking For

• Extensive experience managing high-performing Meta Ads and Google Ads campaigns.
• Strong background in Paid Media, Performance Marketing or Customer Acquisition.
• A proven track record of generating leads, improving conversion rates and delivering profitable growth.
• Experience managing agencies while also being confident running campaigns yourself.
• Someone who enjoys being hands-on, not simply managing external suppliers.
• Experience building or developing in-house Paid Media capability, processes or teams.
• Strong understanding of attribution, reporting and performance measurement.
• Excellent stakeholder management and commercial influencing skills.
• Highly analytical, commercially minded and results driven.
• Highly Desirable
• Experience within education, coaching, memberships, events or information products.
• Experience managing webinar acquisition funnels.
• Hub Spot experience.
• Experience using AI tools, conversational marketing or chatbot platforms.
• Previous experience bringing Paid Media capability in-house from agency partners.

About You

• You're equally comfortable discussing commercial strategy in the boardroom as you are optimising campaigns inside Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads.
• You love building functions, improving processes and creating scalable ways of working.
• You're commercially driven and obsessed with improving lead quality, ROAS and customer acquisition.
• You're naturally curious and always looking for new channels, technologies and opportunities.
• You thrive in high-growth businesses where you can genuinely shape the future.

What's in it for You?

• Be the first dedicated Paid Media hire in a rapidly growing business.
• Build an in-house Paid Media function from the ground up.
• Enjoy genuine ownership of strategy, performance and future team development.
• Work alongside experienced agency partners before transitioning capability internally.
• Influence business strategy and play a key role in future growth.
• Competitive salary of £50,000–£60,000 DOE.
• Excellent long-term career progression as the digital marketing team expands.

Ready to build something from the ground up?

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