Head of Performance Marketing

About the role

A UK-based e-commerce client with multi-million-pound monthly paid media spend is looking for a Head of Performance Marketing based in South Africa. Reporting to the COO, you will take full strategic and operational ownership of the paid acquisition engine, driving scalable, profitable DTC revenue across international territories with a focus on Google Ads and Meta Ads. The role is senior and hands-on, with established Google and Meta teams to audit and transition in-house.

Key responsibilities

• Own paid media strategy across Google Ads (Search, Shopping/Performance Max, YouTube) and Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram) for international DTC sites, including country-specific growth plans focused on revenue, CAC, LTV, margin and profitability.
• Optimize multi-million-pound monthly budgets across campaigns, territories and channels to maximise ROAS and net margin.
• Lead creative testing, landing page CRO and checkout funnels with Design, Content and Web Development, and align with CRM, Retention and Marketplace teams.
• Take direct ownership of moving externally managed agency campaigns in-house, with zero downtime or performance dips.
• Lead, mentor and develop existing Google and Meta managers and media buyers, and recruit specialised talent.
• Dive into accounts to check negative keywords, PMax asset groups, CBO/ABO structures, bid caps, pixels and CAPI setups.
• Set up reporting cadence, weekly performance sprints, attribution tracking and commercial scorecards for executives.

Required profile

• Proven track record managing multi-million-pound annual paid acquisition budgets in e-commerce or DTC retail.
• Experience transitioning accounts from external agencies to an internal performance department.
• Fluency in contribution margin, attribution modelling, CAC:LTV and cash flow impact.
• Track record of recruiting and mentoring technical media buyers and campaign managers.
• Flawless English, able to present to C-level stakeholders.
• Nice to have: Amazon Ads experience and experience scaling e-commerce brands across the UK, Europe and the US.

Required skills

• Google Ads (PMax, Search, Shopping, YouTube, Smart Bidding)
• META Ads Manager (Advantage+, dynamic creative testing, manual bidding)
• Attribution modelling (GA4, Northbeam, Triple Whale)

What we offer

• Salary of £1,500 per month, negotiable depending on experience and proven scale.
• UK business hours and UK public holidays.