Manchester · 10+ years

Head of Paid Media.

I run the paid media team and build the systems they work in. 10+ years agency-side in Manchester, across every channel, the tracking and attribution underneath, and the commercial strategy above.

The things I build get written up rather than left implicit. There is a page on the tools themselves, a set of longer guides covering tracking and automation, and a recent note on the shared context system my team runs on.

Platform81 Aug 2025 – Present

Head of Paid Media

Run the paid media function at a Stockport-based digital agency. Team of three, 15+ client accounts across Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Meta. Responsible for strategic oversight, team development, and client delivery.

Built custom tooling that automated account analysis, reporting, and feed optimisation across the full client base. Designed and maintain the server-side tracking infrastructure that supports delivery. Building a centralised analytics platform for cross-account performance management.

Rebuilt the agency's paid media scoping framework and pricing model. Designed a three-tier service structure to fix the gap between retainer value and actual delivery. Created the team's go-live SOP. Built the agency ICP from scratch. Contributing to wider company positioning and growth strategy.

Sharp Ahead Apr 2024 – Aug 2025

Principal Consultant

Led paid media, SEO, content, and GA4 implementations. Managed campaigns across Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, LinkedIn, and Meta. Team of 3. Delivered QBRs and drove feed optimisation through DataFeedWatch.

McCann Aug 2023 – Apr 2024

Senior Paid Search Manager

Team lead. Owned GTM setups (GA4, Consent Mode, CAPI). Coordinated across media planning, SEO, and paid social. 15% ROI improvement over 6 months. Built Shopping feed structures delivering 100-300% ROAS increases for DTC clients.

Soap Media Nov 2020 – May 2023

Paid Search Lead

Promoted twice in two years. Built the team onboarding process from scratch. Ran client portfolios across retail, B2B, and lead gen. GTM, GA4, CRM integrations, attribution modelling. 30% ROI improvement Q3 2023.

Earlier roles Oct 2016 – Nov 2020

The Hut Group · CTI Digital · The Garden

Four years hands-on across paid search, shopping, and display, including managing up to £100k daily spend at The Hut Group.

Paid media

Google Ads (Search, Shopping, PMax, Display, YouTube), Microsoft Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads. Campaign architecture, bid strategy, feed optimisation via Merchant Center.

Tracking & attribution

GA4, Google Tag Manager (web and server-side), Consent Mode, Meta CAPI, BigQuery, attribution modelling. Built and maintain SST infrastructure.

Technical

Python, PostgreSQL, JavaScript, Docker, Nginx, n8n. Custom MCP servers, API integrations, Grafana/Prometheus monitoring. Self-hosted over SaaS.

Leadership

Team management, competency frameworks, SOP development, onboarding design, scoping models, ICP development. MSc Organisational Psychology.

MSc Organisational Psychology

Manchester, 2013

MA Psychology (Upper 2:1)

Aberdeen, 2012

Manchester, UK