Director - Paid Media

Job Description

Impression Digital

Impression is a multi-award winning, high growth digital marketing agency based in Nottingham, London and Manchester.

We are Digital Growth Specialists helping ambitious global brands push boundaries. We define and deliver integrated digital strategies that transform our clients from market players to market leaders. As we embark on another year of accelerated growth we’re looking for a Head of Marketing to help us lead the charge.

Our agency wouldn’t be what it is today without our incredible people. Our diverse team encompasses expertise across the digital landscape which enables us to accelerate change and results, driving business growth faster. Our collaborative, creative and inclusive culture helps build our reputation as a leading digital employer and we are committed to nurturing and developing people to their full potential.

Recognising that we are a part of something much bigger, we’re on a mission to use business as a force for good. We’re actively committed to creating a positive impact for our people, planet and community.

The Role

We are looking for a strategic Director within our Paid Media department to act as the effectiveness backbone of our team. While our Heads of service define what we do, you will define how we do it.

You will be responsible for the 3-5 year vision of the department's delivery model. Your mission is to enable and empower our teams to deliver industry-leading work effectively and efficiently, ensuring we have the right skills, processes, and technology embedded into our daily workflows. This is more than an operational role - you will ensure that we develop a department that can truly enact on our agency's promises - account performance and growth. You will bridge the gap between technical innovation and practical application, ensuring our agency leads from the front when it comes to delivering industry-defining work.

Key Responsibilities

Delivery Effectiveness

• Workflow optimisation: You will proactively work with delivery teams to discover operational pain points and bottlenecks. You are responsible for identifying why a process is failing and implementing the structural changes needed to fix it.

• Complex Problem Solving: You will act as a senior support for our client portfolio, supporting delivery teams with complex problems and guiding them through challenging client or technical scenarios to ensure successful resolutions.

• Team Synergy: You are responsible for ensuring effective working relationships and collaboration within team units. You will oversee the setup of account teams to ensure they are structured to deliver as best they can, breaking down silos between roles.

• Continuous Improvement: You will proactively identify new areas of opportunity across the Paid Media landscape to improve delivery or output, ensuring that our initiatives lead to improved delivery of work and increased client retention.

• Future Vision: You will build the vision for the Paid Media team’s structure and capabilities over the next 3-5 years. You will plan how we evolve our team, tools and tech and roadmap which delivery areas can be optimised, automated, or outsourced.

Technology Adoption & Workflow Integration

• Tech Enablement: Unlike the product developers, your role is to identify and roll out tools that help the team be more effective. You will own and review the department’s tool stack to ensure it supports the team's needs whilst considering cost and GP implications.

• Project Management & Rollout: You will act as the project manager for new tools and technology. You will ensure builds meet specifications and, crucially, oversee the rollout to ensure new tech is successfully embedded into day-to-day ways of working.

• Adoption & Compliance: You will be responsible for ensuring teams adopt these tools and processes. You will keep oversight of team and account usage, and support team members with challenges or feedback.
  

Talent Capabilities & Workforce Planning

• Skills Strategy: You will ensure we have the right skills in place for the future. You will identify the need for technical training content and project manage its creation to close capability gaps.

• Team Development: You will ensure we are continuously developing the team's capabilities, striving to be the market leader by equipping our people with the tools they need to succeed.

• Recruitment & Resourcing: Working alongside the People Team, you will help shape job descriptions and identify suitable candidates to ensure our recruitment strategy aligns with the long-term operational vision.
  

Commercial Leadership & Growth

• Client KPIs: You will track and monitor account KPIs, identifying threats or areas or opportunity, working with teams to plan a new course of action when needed.

• New Business: You will lead and support new business pitches across Paid Media channels, fluently demonstrating how the team, tools, and technology drive critical value for the prospective client.

• Client Relationships: You will build solid, long-lasting relationships with key client stakeholders, acting as a commercially astute leader who can identify potential flags or performance-related issues early.

• Cross-Department Collaboration: You will work collaboratively with other Directors and Heads of Department to ensure consistency of delivery across Paid Media and the wider agency.
  

About You

• An Operational Leader: You have a track record of transforming how teams work. You look at a department and see opportunities for efficiency, automation, and better processes.

• A Change Agent: You are experienced in change management - specifically in getting large teams to adopt new tools and processes.

• A Strategic Planner: You can look 3-5 years into the future to predict what skills and capabilities a leading agency will need.

• Commercially Astute: You understand that operational efficiency drives margin. You can balance the need for robust process with the need for commercial agility.

• Collaborative: You can work alongside craft specialists (eg. Head of Paid Search, Head of Paid Social) to ensure their technical vision is executable in the real world.
  
  
  Starting salary from: £64,900 (+£6k London weighting if you are live within the Greater London area)

What makes us different

We are proud to be listed on the “Flexa 100” Most Flexible Companies to work for and to be officially recognised as a Great Place to Work®. Alongside our amazing culture, here's what else makes us standout as a great employer:

• Flexible, hybrid working options - as per ways of working charter

• 4.5 day working week

• Private medical insurance with access to EAP

• Impression funded specialist therapy sessions, up to 6 sessions where Impression funds 50% of the cost

• Enhanced sick pay

• Access to OpenUp, a virtual therapy platform

• Enhanced parental leave

• 28 days annual leave, plus bank holiday

• Life leave – when something unexpected happens in your life and you need some paid leave

• Pregnancy loss and parental bereavement leave

• Compassionate leave

• Eye-care vouchers

• Opportunity to save on and spread the cost of new tech through Techscheme

• Travel to work scheme

• Railcard salary sacrifice scheme

• Budget for books, tools and software

• A full social calendar

• Summer and Christmas party (off-site)

• Chance to attend national and international conferences

• Top Apple equipment to use at work

• Savings on bikes and accessories through Cyclescheme

• Contributory pension schee

• The usual agency stuff – office dogs, drinks fridge, ping pong and foosball, tea and coffee and office snacks
  

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We're listening and we're learning.

We’re committed to embracing diversity and promoting equal opportunities, both within our teams and through the services we provide. But we know we still have work to do. Improving fairness – in our agency and our industry – is something we’re passionate about, and we’re committed to having the conversations, making the changes and helping other businesses to do the same.

We pledge to promote equal opportunities and, as per the Equality Act 2010, will not tolerate discrimination on the grounds of: gender, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, age, disability, caring responsibilities or beliefs. We’ll also make every effort to represent different genders, ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds and sexualities at the events, panels and discussions we run.

Strictly no recruitment agencies.