Paid Media Manager | Lookfantastic

Life at THG Beauty

We know that beauty isn’t one-size-fits-all. Our portfolio of leading retailers and iconic beauty brands caters to everyone, everywhere, empowering customers all over the world to look and feel fantastic.

By combining our portfolio of owned brands inclusive of ESPA, Ameliorate and Christophe Robin, with a marketplace for over 1,300 third-party beauty brands through online retail sites LOOKFANTASTIC, Cult Beauty, and Dermstore, THG Beauty's ambition is to be the global digital partner of choice across the beauty industry, supporting the channel shift to online.

THG Beauty’s breadth of relationships is unique to the beauty market; it engages with brands as a retailer, a brand owner, and a product developer and manufacturer, making it the industry’s digital strategic leader.

Paid Media Manager

Leading regional paid media strategy, operational tasks, optimisations and budget management across a range of paid channels and engines, with a core focus on Paid Search (PPC). This role sits at the intersection of performance execution, measurement, and search innovation — ensuring LOOKFANTASTIC remains at the forefront of how paid search is bought, measured, and scaled.
You will be responsible for the performance of regional paid media activity, with PPC as the primary channel focus. Delivering reporting and insights back into the regional leadership teams. Supporting the Head of Paid Media with strategic input and insights for the wider global approach to Paid Search, measurement, and emerging search platforms.

Key Responsibilities

PPC Account Management & Optimisation

• Use data-driven insights to quickly iterate and methodically improve results day on day, week on week and month on month.

• Own the specifics of account management and optimisation, including campaign structure, keyword research and management, bidding strategy, ad copywriting and testing, search content integration, related search strategies, landing page testing, and any other core capability required to maximise results, drive volume, and hit targets.

• Manage daily paid campaign spend to ensure optimum campaign performance against agreed revenue and ROI/COS% targets.

• Work with our in-house design team on banner and ad creation for campaign activation across relevant platforms.

Measurement & Testing

• Support the adoption and day-to-day application of our measurement framework, triangulating between Fospha, MMM outputs, and in-platform/last-click reporting to build a rounded view of true performance.

• Use triangulated measurement to design, run, and read incrementality and channel tests — translating findings into budget and optimisation decisions.

• Help the wider team and regional stakeholders understand where measurement sources agree, where they diverge, and what that means for how success is defined and reported.

Search Diversification & Innovation

• Drive diversification of our search footprint beyond core Google Search — identifying, testing, and scaling emerging search surfaces and AI-driven discovery channels (e.g. ChatGPT Ads and other LLM/answer-engine placements).

• Lead adoption of product innovation across Google and other platforms — including AI Max, UCP, and new campaign types and formats — building test-and-learn roadmaps that keep us ahead of the market.

• Monitor shifts in search behaviour (including AI-assisted search) and translate these into actionable recommendations for strategy, budget, and creative.

• Conduct competitor research and analysis, including how competitors are adopting new search products and surfaces.

Reporting & Communication

• Deliver reporting and analysis that clearly shows the impact of activity, tests, and innovation initiatives.

• Provide transparent, insight-led communication back to trading, buying and management teams.

KPIs

• Regional paid media performance, measured against COS%, NC and GP.

• Delivery of new campaigns, keywords, and ad copy across all relevant platforms and surfaces.

• Successful execution of measurement and incrementality tests, with findings adopted into planning and optimisation.

• Pace and quality of innovation adoption — new platforms, betas, and AI-driven search products tested, evaluated, and scaled where proven.

• Reporting on performance, with transparent communication back to the trading, buying and management teams.

• Driving better revenue volumes within COS% targets, acquiring more New Customers within CAC targets.

Key Behaviours

• Team player — able to collaborate across functions and locations

• Initiative — able to think outside of the box

• Curious and forward-looking — actively seeks out emerging platforms, products and trends

• Organised

• Pro-active and positive attitude

• Developing self and others

• Driven and goal orientated

• Passionate

• Can build strong relationships

• Can work cross functionally across teams

Essential Skills

• Strong hands-on PPC experience across Google Ads and Microsoft Ads, including automated bidding and AI-driven campaign types (e.g. PMax, AI Max)

• Understanding of measurement methodologies — comfortable working across platform reporting, attribution tools (e.g. Fospha), and MMM, and able to reconcile differences between them

• Experience designing or supporting structured testing (A/B, geo, incrementality)

• Capability with key marketing platform technologies

• Prioritise, structure work and effectively manage time

• Excellent communicator — able to give clarity and provide detail on insights

• Ability to form good working relationships with internal teams

• Critical thinker and problem-solving skills

• Project management skills

Desirable Skills

• Exposure to emerging search and AI advertising platforms (e.g. ChatGPT Ads, answer-engine optimisation)

• Experience participating in platform betas and translating early access into competitive advantage

• Familiarity with retail/e-commerce trading environments and how pricing, stock, and promotion decisions interact with media performance

What’s in it for me?

Career Development

• Access bespoke development programmes that have been designed and developed by our in-house L&D team.

• Continued development through our upskilling programme that is delivered in partnership with an industry-leading training provider.

Enhanced Leave

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.

• Don’t want to work on your birthday? We don’t either! Enjoy your day off on us!

• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay, depending on length of service.

• Up to 10 days compassionate leave.

• Buy back up to 3 days each year.

• Unlock 2 days volunteer leave after 12-months.

Wellbeing Support

• Access face-to-face and virtual appointments with our in-house GP.
  
• Access our 247 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) which is provided by Bupa.

• State-of-the-art on-site gym.

• Access to our on-site physio.

Other Perks

• Save up to 12% on the cost of personal tech through our salary sacrifice scheme.

• Subsidised bus pass from Manchester City Centre to our ICON office.

• Up to 50% staff discount on THG brands.
  
  
• On-site staff shop.
  
• Know someone who would be perfect for THG? Refer them and get up to £1000 when they pass their probation.

• Anniversary gifts when you hit 5 and 10 years of service.