Head of Paid Media - Location: PAN India

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and commercially driven Head of Paid Media to lead our global performance marketing strategy across multiple international student recruitment markets.

This role will be responsible for driving measurable business growth through paid media, supporting students throughout the entire recruitment journey from initial discovery and awareness through to enquiry, application, offer acceptance, and enrolment.

Working closely with regional marketing teams, content and creative teams, external agencies, and internal stakeholders, the Head of Paid Media will develop and execute data driven campaigns that deliver high quality student leads and maximise conversion throughout the funnel. The successful candidate will balance strategic leadership with hands on optimisation, ensuring marketing investment delivers measurable commercial outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Paid Media Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and own the global paid media strategy across search, social, display, video, retargeting, and emerging channels.
• Build full funnel acquisition strategies that support every stage of the student journey, from awareness and consideration through to application and enrolment.
• Identify market specific opportunities and develop localised paid media strategies aligned with regional recruitment goals.
• Explore and evaluate emerging platforms, channels, and technologies relevant to specific markets and audiences.
• Lead annual budget planning, forecasting, and allocation across global regions.
• Ensure paid media activity is aligned with wider business objectives and recruitment targets.

Campaign Management & Optimisation

• Oversee the planning, execution, and optimisation of campaigns across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and other relevant platforms.
• Develop sophisticated audience segmentation, remarketing, and nurture strategies to improve student conversion rates.
• Drive continuous improvement in lead quality, cost per acquisition, conversion rates, return on ad spend (ROAS), and enrolment outcomes.
• Implement robust testing frameworks across creative assets, messaging, audience targeting, landing pages, and calls to action.
• Work closely with content and creative teams to develop high performing campaign assets tailored to different markets and audience segments.
• Continuously analyse funnel performance and identify opportunities to improve conversion at each stage of the student lifecycle.

Agency & Stakeholder Management

• Manage relationships with external media agencies, ensuring strong performance, accountability, and delivery against agreed objectives.
• Work collaboratively with agencies on campaign execution, optimisation, reporting, and innovation.
• Coordinate closely with regional marketing managers across multiple time zones to ensure local market insights are reflected in campaign strategy.
• Partner with content, creative, CRM, events, partnerships, and admissions teams to deliver integrated marketing campaigns.
• Support regional teams with campaign planning, market insights, and performance recommendations.

Performance Measurement & Reporting

• Establish clear reporting frameworks, dashboards, and performance metrics across all markets.
• Ensure accurate tracking, attribution, and measurement throughout the marketing and recruitment funnel.
• Monitor campaign spend closely, ensuring budgets are managed effectively and investments are optimised against performance targets.
• Provide regular reporting and actionable insights to senior leadership on campaign performance, market trends, and growth opportunities.
• Analyse enrolment outcomes alongside marketing metrics to assess true return on investment and inform future strategy.

Skills & Experience

• 8+ years of paid media and performance marketing experience.
• Proven experience managing multi market or global acquisition campaigns.
• Strong understanding of full funnel marketing and customer journey optimisation.
• Demonstrated success managing significant paid media budgets and delivering measurable commercial outcomes.
• Expertise in Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, TikTok Ads, analytics platforms, and attribution tools.
• Experience building and executing remarketing and nurture strategies.
• Strong understanding of lead generation, conversion optimisation, customer acquisition, and lifecycle marketing.
• Experience managing external agencies and cross functional stakeholders.
• Experience within international education, student recruitment, events, marketplaces, or other lead generation focused businesses is highly desirable.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Comfortable working across multiple regions, cultures, and time zones in a fast paced global environment.