SENIOR PAID ADS MANAGER
Performance Lead — Own the Strategy. Build the Standard. Drive the Growth.
Digital Marketing Agency South Africa Full-Time Senior Leadership Track
THIS IS A CAREER-DEFINING OPPORTUNITY
We are a fast-scaling digital marketing agency and we are making room at the top.
We are investing in senior talent who can shape how we operate, how we grow,
and how we deliver world-class results for our clients.
This is not a role where you inherit someone else's playbook and maintain the status quo.
You write the playbook. You set the standard. And as the agency scales, so does your role.
THE OPPORTUNITY
This is a rare senior leadership role that gives you genuine agency-wide influence from day one. You will own paid media performance across our entire client portfolio, lead and develop the activation team, and have the freedom — and the mandate — to design the systems, processes, and culture that will define how this agency operates at scale.
Most senior paid media roles put you in a box. This one hands you the keys. You will work directly with agency leadership, have full visibility across the business, and your decisions will have immediate, measurable impact on client outcomes and agency growth.
For the right person, this is the role that accelerates a career by 3–5 years.
Role at a glance
Job Title: Senior Paid Ads Manager
Reports To: Agency Director / Head of Growth
Location: South Africa (Cape Town or Johannesburg preferred) — Fully remote
Employment Type: Full-Time, Permanent
Salary Range: R45,000 – R70,000/month (negotiable based on experience + Bonuses and regular 6 months salary review)
Career Path: Head of Performance / Director of Growth within 12–18 months
Team Oversight: Paid Media Activation Team
YOUR FIRST 90 DAYS — THE LAUNCHPAD
We believe in giving senior hires a clear runway. Here is exactly how we see your first 90 days unfolding — structured enough to give you direction, open enough for you to make it your own.
Phase 1: Understand (Days 1–30)
- Immerse yourself in the full client portfolio — audit all active paid media accounts across Google Ads, Meta, and beyond
- Map the current account management workflow: how campaigns are built, how clients are communicated with, how performance is reported
- Get to know the activation team — understand their strengths, working styles, and where they need development
- Identify the biggest performance and process opportunities across the portfolio
- Deliver a clear, insight-led Audit Report to leadership — your first major contribution — within 30 days
Phase 2: Build (Days 31–60)
- Design and implement a best-in-class account management system — from client onboarding through to reporting and renewal
- Establish communication rhythms and SLA standards that make clients feel genuinely looked after, not just managed
- Build internal SOPs for campaign setup, optimisation cadences, and quality control — your standards, your framework
- Introduce a campaign health scoring model so the team is proactively improving performance, not reactively firefighting
- Create a creative-to-performance feedback loop between the activation, creative, and strategy teams
Phase 3: Lead (Days 61–90)
- Step fully into the leadership of the activation team — set individual KPIs, run weekly performance reviews, and coach towards excellence
- Launch a client retention and growth programme, including quarterly business reviews with key accounts
- Build an agency-wide performance dashboard that gives you and leadership full real-time visibility
- Present your 6-month growth roadmap to leadership — this becomes the agency's operating blueprint going forward
WHAT YOU WILL OWN
Paid Media Performance
- Lead campaign strategy, structure, and optimisation across Google Ads, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads, and other performance channels
- Set and raise the performance standard across the portfolio — ROAS, CPA, CPL, and client-specific KPIs
- Drive creative strategy in partnership with the creative team — ensuring every asset is built to convert, not just to look good
- Champion rigorous testing frameworks: audiences, creatives, copy, offers, and landing page alignment
- Stay ahead of platform changes, algorithm updates, and industry best practices — and bring the team with you
Client Relationships & Growth
- Be the senior voice clients trust — strategic, proactive, and always focused on their business outcomes
- Build communication rhythms that clients rave about: clear, insightful, and genuinely useful — not just monthly reports
- Turn client relationships into long-term partnerships by consistently demonstrating and articulating ROI
- Identify natural growth opportunities within accounts and present them as strategic recommendations
- Build a retention culture where clients stay not because of contracts, but because of the value we deliver
Team Leadership & Culture
- Lead, mentor, and develop the paid media activation team — help them grow faster than they would anywhere else
- Create a high-performance team culture: accountability, curiosity, collaboration, and a relentless focus on results
- Own the full paid media operating system — SOPs, quality standards, tooling, and workflow design
- Be a connector across departments — aligning creative, strategy, and activation so campaigns land as intended
- Report directly to agency leadership with performance insights, strategic recommendations, and team updates
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Experience
- 5+ years of hands-on paid media experience, with at least 2 years in a senior or lead role
- A proven track record on high-spend accounts (R100k+/month per client) with real, documented ROAS outcomes
- Agency experience is essential — you know what multi-client management actually feels like under pressure
- Experience stepping into a senior role and building or improving a team is a significant advantage
- Exposure across e-commerce, lead generation, and service-based campaigns gives you the versatility we need
Platform & Technical Skills
- Expert-level command of Google Ads — Search, Shopping, Performance Max, YouTube, and Display
- Expert-level command of Meta Ads Manager — from full-funnel strategy down to creative and bid optimisation
- Solid working knowledge of TikTok Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and/or programmatic platforms
- Strong grasp of GA4, Meta Pixel, server-side tracking, and multi-touch attribution
- Confident with reporting and dashboarding tools — Looker Studio, Google Sheets, or equivalent
- Comfortable with CRM and project management platforms — Monday.com, ClickUp, HubSpot, or similar
Leadership & Communication
- A natural leader — people follow you because you are credible, clear, and genuinely invested in their growth
- Outstanding communicator — you can translate complex performance data into insights that excite and reassure clients
- Confident in strategic conversations at C-suite level, and equally comfortable coaching junior team members
- Organised and decisive — you manage competing priorities without losing quality or momentum
- You do not wait to be told what to do. You identify what needs to happen and make it happen.
HOW SUCCESS IS MEASURED
We believe in transparency. Here is exactly what great performance looks like in this role:
Client Retention Rate: 85%+ portfolio retention on a rolling 6-month basis
Client Satisfaction: 30%+ improvement in satisfaction scores within 90 days of your systems going live
Campaign Performance: Measurable ROAS/CPL/CPA improvements across the portfolio within 60 days
Audit Delivery: Full audit and strategic recommendations delivered within 30 days
Systems Rollout: Core SOPs and communication protocols live within 60 days
Team Performance: Full activation team operating on clear KPIs within 45 days
Reporting Standard: All clients on structured, insight-led monthly reporting within 90 days
WHAT IS IN IT FOR YOU
- R45,000 – R70,000/month — competitive, transparent, and negotiable for the right person
- A genuine fast-track to Head of Performance or Director of Growth — we are building the leadership team now and you are being hired into it
- Real decision-making authority from day one — your instincts and expertise will be backed, not second-guessed
- Direct access to agency leadership — no layers of bureaucracy between your ideas and their implementation
- A hybrid working model built around outcomes, not hours
- A diverse, growing client portfolio across e-commerce, services, and lead generation — serious breadth of work
- A team that is ready to be led well — talented people who want direction, development, and someone to look up to
- The rare opportunity to leave your fingerprints on an entire agency's operating model — most people never get this chance
IS THIS YOU?
You are a senior paid media professional who has outgrown just running campaigns.
You want to lead, build, and be recognised for the strategic impact you create.
You are energised by growth — your own, your team's, and your clients'.
You want a role where your work directly shapes the trajectory of a business,
where your name is on the strategy, and where the ceiling is entirely up to you.
If that describes you — read on and apply.
HOW TO APPLY
Please include:
- Your CV in PDF format
- A covering note (max 300 words) — tell us about a campaign or account situation you are genuinely proud of and why
- Two or three performance results that show what you are capable of — numbers, not adjectives
- Your notice period and salary expectation
We read every application personally. If yours stands out, you will hear from us within 5 business days.
Pay: R45 000,00 - R70 000,00 per month
Application Question(s):
- Have you previously worked within an Agency setting, running multiple Google and Meta Campaigns?
- Have you previously worked within a client facing environment specifically within Digital Marketing. Providing technical reports and team optimisation.
Experience:
- Google Ad Manager: 3 years (Required)
- Agency: 3 years (Required)
- Meta: 3 years (Required)
Work Location: In person
