Paid Ads Specialist | UK hours

Our client in the UK is looking for a Paid Media Specialist to manage campaigns across Google, Meta, TikTok, and Microsoft (Bing) Ads for their client portfolio, reporting to the Director of Operations. You'll take new clients from first access through to a fully live, tracked, reporting-ready account, then keep those accounts healthy, accountable to agreed KPIs, and report on every week and month. This is an ownership role suited to someone with hands-on paid media experience who wants real accountability for client budgets and results. Onboarding follows the agency's Paid Media Specialist SOP, which sets out the non-negotiable standards for setup, tracking, and ongoing account management. Key responsibilities New client setup Secure and document correct access under the client's own business accounts — never build on a personal profile or ad account. Establish the website access level (full / partial / none) and either install tracking directly or write a clear tracking spec and hand it to the Project Lead for implementation. Install and live-verify conversion tracking across platforms — pixels, server-side events (CAPI, TikTok Events API, enhanced conversions), deduplication, and consent/privacy configuration. Run discovery with the client: agree KPIs, unit economics (margins, AOV, LTV), audience definitions, USP and competitor set, and budget split before building a single campaign. Build accounts with clear, documented structure, consistent naming conventions, platform-native creative, and a full pre-launch QA pass before going live. Ongoing campaign management Carry out daily checks on spend and pacing, disapprovals or billing issues, and tracking integrity — treating any unexplained conversion drop as a tracking failure until proven otherwise. Review performance weekly against agreed KPIs, manage creative fatigue and search terms, and make considered, logged optimisations within the agreed strategy and budget. Apply core optimisation discipline: respect each platform's learning phase, reach statistical significance before killing or scaling, scale budgets gradually, and cut underperformers on data, not emotion. Escalate material changes — budget shifts, pausing/scaling, strategy changes — to the Director of Operations and MD/Founder for sign-off before acting, and document decisions in email. Reporting & communication Produce the monthly performance report against the Monthly Report Standard, ready at least 2 working days before each client's end-of-month meeting. Bring numbers and recommendations to the weekly internal catch-up with the Director of Operations and MD/Founder, flagging risks before the client ever has to. Maintain a running change log for every account, and produce a handover document ahead of any planned leave. Performance and targets Targets are agreed per client (typically CPA, ROAS, or CPL) and reviewed monthly with the Director of Operations. A realistic ramp-up period is agreed before launch, in line with each platform's learning phase, so performance is judged on statistically meaningful data rather than week-two noise. Full launch checklist complete (access, tracking verified end-to-end, KPIs agreed in writing) before any client spend goes live. Accounts trending toward agreed KPIs (CPA/ROAS/CPL) once each platform has exited its learning phase. Monthly client reports delivered on time, every time, at least 2 working days ahead of the client's EOM meeting. Change log and reporting cadence consistently maintained across the account portfolio. Progression Paid Media Specialists can progress to Senior Paid Media Specialist and, in time, Paid Media Lead — taking on larger or more complex accounts, mentoring junior specialists, and expanding ownership across TikTok, Bing, and platform partner relationships. Platform depth: Hands-on experience running paid campaigns across Google Ads and Meta Ads at minimum; TikTok and/or Microsoft (Bing) Ads experience is a strong plus. Tracking fluency: Solid grounding in conversion tracking — pixels, server-side tracking (CAPI, Events API, enhanced conversions), consent management, and debugging when it breaks. Commercial judgement: Comfort working to KPIs (CPA, ROAS, CPL) and tying platform metrics back to real business outcomes and margins, not vanity numbers. Discipline: A methodical approach to testing and scaling — someone who resists the urge to tinker daily or panic in week two, and follows the process even under pressure. Communication: Strong written communication, able to produce a client-ready report and an honest, solutions-first update to senior leadership.