About the role....
Paid Search is one of four disciplines sitting under the digital activation umbrella, alongside SEO, Paid Social and Programmatic.
The team is currently c. 80 FTEs, split between the UK, India and Colombia. Our client roster includes household name brands in FMCG, technology, fashion, pharmaceuticals, entertainment, hospitality and consumer electronics.
The Head of Paid Search reports into the Head of Digital Activation.
You will lead the day to day running of the Zenith International Paid Search Department, ensuring consistent delivery of excellent work, exceptional client service, best in class product and achievement of revenue and profitability targets.
About the work....
Commercial Leadership & Revenue Growth
Revenue ownership: Ensure channel revenue targets are met and forecasted accurately
Cost management: Track, manage, and report on team structure, resourcing, and costs
Commercial growth: Identify and develop opportunities for incremental revenue through expanded services, increased scope, and additional investment
New business: Support agency new business efforts by shaping the programmatic offering, contributing to pitches, and developing innovative solutions beyond existing scopes of work
Revenue diversification: Champion profitability through the adoption and growth of bespoke in-house tools and products
Forecasting: Own regular revenue and FTE forecasting for the channel, maintaining an accurate and up-to-date view of performance
Operational Excellence & Quality Control
Brilliant basics: Ensure robust QA processes, accurate planning, and ongoing optimisation are embedded across all campaigns and regularly updated in line with platform and industry changes
Error prevention: Proactively prevent errors by enforcing QA standards across the team, with a zero-tolerance approach to avoidable mistakes
Finance excellence: Maintain absolute financial accuracy and adherence to agency processes, including PO management, query resolution, SLA compliance, bookings, audits, and invoice clearance within required timelines
Governance & access: Own access administration, Publicis ID compliance, and governance processes, including forecasting tools and internal platforms
Best-in-class output: Develop, maintain, and evolve best-practice guidelines and training materials covering planning through to optimisation
Innovation & product development: Partner with senior performance leadership to test, adopt, and scale new products, tools, and approaches that drive efficiency and quality
Client Performance, Leadership & Growth
Client satisfaction: Oversee the development and delivery of client performance roadmaps, ensuring clear goals, accountability, and outcomes
Strategic leadership: Act as the senior paid search lead across the client portfolio, influencing strategy and decision-making at a senior level
Innovation & testing: Develop and deliver quarterly channel roadmaps and test-and-learn plans to drive innovation, performance, and growth
Relationship management: Build strong, trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders and internal planning teams
Growth delivery: Ensure paid search strategy, activation, and tactics consistently drive performance, growth, and client satisfaction across all accounts
Opportunity identification: Support teams in identifying growth opportunities, improving strategy, and expanding use of platforms, first-party data and proprietary tools
Team Leadership, Resource Management & Culture
Visible leadership: Deliver consistent, responsive, and proactive leadership across the team, providing timely support to clients, planning teams, and internal stakeholders
Resource management: Allocate resources efficiently to maximise output and ensure workloads are balanced and sustainable
Hiring & retention: Build and maintain a high-performing, well-staffed team aligned to business priorities, with oversight from senior leadership
Development & progression: Set clear objectives and career pathways by level, supported by structured development plans and performance management
Training & certification: Build and deploy annual training and certification plans across platforms and vendors, ensuring full compliance across the team
Onboarding: Own and oversee onboarding processes to ensure a consistent, high-quality experience for all new starters
Succession planning: Maintain clear succession and promotion roadmaps to support long-term team stability and growth
Team engagement: Host regular team meetings to onboard new members, share knowledge, strengthen culture, and improve engagement
Department & External Profile
Media owner partnerships: Develop strong relationships with key partners and media owners, including joint business planning, training, and access to support and innovation
Profile building: Surface and celebrate great work from the team by developing case studies and sharing success internally and externally
Awards & recognition: Lead the submission of industry award entries to showcase excellence within the paid search discipline
What you need to succeed....
-
Strong line management capabilities
-
Proactive mindset and excellent problem-solving skills
-
Exceptional knowledge of the paid search landscape, platform evolution and user behaviours
-
Operational excellence, evidence of driving efficiency through improved operations
-
Gravitas required to build relationships with senior clients and colleagues
-
Experience managing a P&L for a department or business unit
-
Strong organisational skills
-
Diplomacy, particularly in terms of managing conflict
-
A keen eye for detail
-
A solid understanding of emerging technologies, in particular LLMs and AI
#LI-MP1
