Job Overview
Job Title: Digital Performance Director
Salary: £60k–£80k
Location: Leeds (Hybrid – 3 days)
Employment Type: Full-time
Reporting Line: Group Managing Director - Media
Why media talent join AC Media
AC Media is part of Audience Collective, a group of 140 specialists working with brands including Secret Escapes, BT, PizzaExpress, Amazon, Seiko and Kellogg’s.
We combine creative thinking with performance precision to deliver campaigns that challenge the algorithm not just optimise it. Media talent join us to shape ideas early, influence strategy, and play an active role in pitching, new business and growth, not sit behind the scenes.
Backed by the scale of Audience Collective and the autonomy of a specialist agency, AC Media offers real influence, visibility and the chance to help build what’s next.
Through the Audience Collective, our clients access a full ecosystem of expertise to move faster, think smarter, and grow beyond expectations.
The Role
This role is for someone who wants to shape and build, not maintain.
As Digital Performance Director, you’ll define and lead AC Media’s digital performance capability, playing a central role in our next stage of growth. You’ll set the performance vision, lead senior client conversations, and stay close to delivery to ensure results translate into real commercial impact.
You’ll also be a visible force in pitching and new business helping shape propositions, contribute to integrated pitches, and build performance thinking into how we win and grow accounts.
It’s a hybrid, hands on leadership role, balancing strategic direction with practical execution, and offering the opportunity to build a performance offering that’s fully integrated into a creative media environment, not siloed from it.
Own the performance. Build the capability. Deliver commercial impact.
What good looks like
Owns digital performance end‑to‑end, with clear accountability for results
Leads senior clients with confidence and authority
Gets hands on fixing issues and drive improvement when needed
TURNS data into clear decisions that focus on growth
Builds a credible, scalable director‑level performance function.
Responsibilities
Performance Strategy & Commercial Outcomes
Accountable for defining and owning AC Media’s digital performance strategy across Search, Paid Social and YouTube
Ensure all performance activity is explicitly aligned to client commercial objectives and growth targets
Establish clear success measures across CPA, ROAS, LTV, incrementality and contribution to revenue
Maintain performance quality and commercial rigor across all accounts
Objective: Performance activity consistently demonstrates measurable commercial impact and clear return on investment.
Campaign Ownership & Delivery Excellence
Personally accountable for the setup, optimisation and performance of priority client campaigns
Own budget allocation, bidding strategy and optimisation frameworks across platforms
Identify underperformance early and take decisive, data led corrective action
Ensure performance standards are upheld regardless of scale, budget or client size
Objective: Campaigns are actively managed, not passively overseen, with sustained performance improvement.
Measurement, Attribution & Insight
Accountable for ensuring accurate tracking, tagging and attribution across all performance activity
Lead the use of GA4, GTM, offline conversion data and attribution models to inform decision‑making
Define and maintain outcome‑focused reporting that moves beyond platform metrics
Ensure insights are translated into clear actions and recommendations
Objective: Clients and internal teams clearly understand what is working, why, and what happens next.
Client Leadership
Own senior client relationships from a performance perspective
Lead strategic conversations with confidence, clarity and commercial credibility
Challenge client thinking where required, using evidence and performance insight
Act as a trusted performance partner rather than a delivery‑only contact
Objective: Clients trust AC Media’s performance leadership and see it as integral to their business growth.
Build, Embed & Scale the Performance Function
Accountable for defining performance processes, standards and best‑practice frameworks
Introduce scalable ways of working that improve efficiency and quality as the function grows
Manage freelancers and contribute to future hiring decisions
Embed performance thinking across strategy, creative and media disciplines
Objective: A clearly defined, scalable performance capability that can grow with the agency.
Growth & New Business Contribution
Lead digital performance strategy input into pitches and growth opportunities
Build credible forecasts and performance narratives that support commercial decisions
Strengthen AC Media’s reputation as a serious, outcome‑driven performance partner
Objective: Performance capability directly supports agency growth and new business success.
Future Capability & Innovation
Maintain awareness of emerging platforms, formats and performance models
Apply AI and automation pragmatically to improve quality, insight and efficiency
Continuously evolve performance approaches to remain competitive and relevant
Objective: AC Media’s performance offering remains progressive, credible and future‑ready.
Skills & Capabilities
Strategic problem solving – able to identify root causes, not just symptoms
Performance storytelling – frames results, insight and trade‑offs in a commercially compelling way
Operational rigor – sets and maintains clear standards, processes and expectations
Cross‑disciplinary leadership – works effectively across media, strategy, creative and analytics
Adaptability under pressure – maintains quality and momentum in fast‑moving environments
Progressive mindset – applies AI, automation and emerging approaches pragmatically
Tools & Platforms
Paid platforms: Google Ads (incl. YouTube), Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Programmatic (i.e. Stackadapt)
Measurement & analytics: GA4 with strong conversion and event setup
Tagging: Google Tag Manager (confident implementation and QA)
Attribution: UTM governance and attribution logic
Reporting: Looker Studio (or equivalent) with platform data extraction
Data & automation: Advanced Excel/Google Sheets; familiarity with scripts, feeds and automation
Experience & Requirements
Proven Digital Performance Director / Lead experience within a media or performance agency
Deep expertise across core performance channels, with hands‑on ownership of significant budgets (£50k+ per month)
Strong commercial and strategic mindset, able to translate business goals into performance outcomes
Confident leading senior client conversations and influencing decision‑makers
Builder mentality, motivated to shape, scale and improve performance capability
7+ years’ experience, including leadership of freelancers or small teams
What We Offer
Hybrid working (Leeds office Tuesday–Thursday)
25 days’ holiday + 3 celebration days
37.5‑hour working week
Pension, life insurance and income protection
EAP and 24/7 virtual GP access
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