Not everyone gets in.

Who we are

The button-pushing side of paid media is shrinking. The platforms automate more of it every year. What they can't automate is judgement: knowing what to test, what the results are actually telling you, and where the next pound should go.

That's what you'll learn here.

Kandidly is a paid media and creative agency in London, working with consumer brands turning over seven and eight figures. We've been going since 2018 and we're still small enough that you won't disappear into an org chart. The people setting strategy on your accounts are on the same calls as you, and they'll show you how they got there.

You'll learn the business side as well as the platforms: what a customer is worth, what a brand can afford to pay to win one and how fast that money needs to come back. Creative and media talk to each other every week, so you'll see a number on Monday turn into a brief by Friday.

The name is a play on "candidly", and we mean it. Expect straight feedback on your work. Clients get the same, even when the news isn't what they wanted.

We're picky about who we work with, clients and colleagues alike. Not everyone gets in.

The role

You'll join an account team, reporting to one of our Account Managers, and work on live client accounts across Meta, Google and TikTok. Day to day you'll build campaigns, work out why numbers moved, and join client calls and eventually deliver them. Your Account Manager sets the direction and reviews your work. The more you get right, the more you'll own.

Ads management is the easy part. The job is working out why a campaign worked and what that means for the client's business.

Who we're looking for

Up to a year of paid media experience, whether that's at an agency, in house, on an internship or running ads for your own project. If you haven't got that yet but can show us you've been teaching yourself, we still want to hear from you.

What we value

• Curiosity. You want to know why. Why CPA jumped on Tuesday, why one hook held attention and another didn't, why a client's best month was March. You read the platform updates before anyone asks you to.
• Ownership. When you say something is done, it's done and checked. When you get something wrong, you flag it early and fix it.
• Attention to detail. A broken UTM or a missed budget cap costs a client real money. You're the person who catches it.
• Communication (and a decent meme game). Clear emails, tidy notes, straight answers. You can explain a number to someone who doesn't live in Ads Manager.
• Take feedback well. You'll get plenty of it. What you do with it decides how quickly you step up to AM.

What you'll be doing

Campaigns

• Build and launch campaigns on Meta, Google (Search, Shopping and Performance Max) and TikTok from briefs agreed with your Account Manager.
• Run daily account checks on spend, pacing, disapprovals, tracking and anything that looks off.
• Make optimisations to budgets, audiences, bids and creative, and log what you changed and why.
• QA every build before it goes live, from UTMs and pixel events to landing page links.
• Keep an eye on product feeds in Google Merchant Centre and flag errors before they hit performance.

Reporting and insight

• Pull weekly and monthly performance data and keep client dashboards in Google Data Studio up to date.
• Write the first draft of the commentary: what moved, why, and what we should do next.
• Prepare the numbers and slides for client calls.

Creative

• Track creative performance using hook rate, hold rate, CTR and conversion data, and spot the patterns in what's winning.
• Upload, name and QA new creative, and keep the testing log clean.
• Watch what competitors are running in the Meta and TikTok Ads Library and bring ideas to the team.

Clients

• Join client calls, take notes and send the actions afterwards.
• Handle day to day client emails and requests, looping in your Account Manager where needed.
• Build a proper working relationship with your client contacts. Over time you'll run parts of the calls yourself.

Skills & requirements

Must have

• Comfortable in Google Sheets or Excel: formulas, filters and basic pivot tables.
• Good with numbers. You can look at a table and tell us what's interesting in it.
• You write clearly, whether it's an email, a brief or ad copy.
• Organised enough to juggle several clients without dropping anything.
• A genuine interest in paid social and search, and a feel for what makes someone stop scrolling.

Bonus

• Google Ads or Meta certifications.
• Time spent inside Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads or TikTok Ads Manager.
• Familiarity with Shopify or ecommerce metrics like AOV, CAC and LTV.
• You've run ads for your own project, side hustle or society. Tell us how it went.

What you'll get

• A proper induction and on the job training from your Account Manager and the wider team.
• A route to Account Manager. Our AM roles are built for strong Execs ready for the step up.
• Competitive salary.
• £500 a year training budget.
• Hybrid working, with a laptop and home office essentials provided.
• Private medical insurance.
• 25 days annual leave, plus your birthday off.
• Work from anywhere in the world for 1 month a year.
• Early finishes on Fridays and plenty of socials.
• Company pension scheme.

How to apply

Plenty of people apply for this role without reading the description or knowing what Kandidly does. Don't be one of them. Tell us:

• Who you are and what you know about paid media.
• What you love about advertising.
• Why you want to work at Kandidly.

Please note

• Strictly no recruitment agencies.
• We're unable to sponsor visas at present.

Who we are

The button pushing side of paid media is shrinking. Meta and Google automate more of it every year. What they can't automate is judgement: knowing what to test, what the results are telling you, and where the next pound should go.

That's the job here. On your accounts, you're the one making those judgement calls.

Kandidly is a paid media and creative agency in London, working with consumer brands turning over seven and eight figures. We've been going since 2018 and we're still small enough that you won't disappear into an org chart. You'll run your accounts day to day, work directly with your Director on strategy, and have an Account Executive reporting into you.

You'll work the business side as hard as the platforms: what a customer is worth, what a brand can afford to pay to win one and how fast that money needs to come back. Creative and media talk to each other every week, and you'll be the one turning a number on Monday into a brief by Friday.

The name is a play on "candidly", and we mean it. You'll get straight feedback on your work and you'll be expected to give it, to your Exec and to your clients, even when the news isn't what they wanted to hear.

We're picky about who we work with, clients and colleagues alike. Not everyone gets in.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for a Paid Media expert with 2-3 years of hands-on experience and a strong grasp of both Paid Search and Paid Social campaign architecture. This role is ideal for a high-performing Account Executive ready for a definitive step up, or an established Account Manager looking for a fresh, autonomous challenge.

Characteristics we value

• Relentless curiosity: You are hungry to learn, adapt, and grow. You don't just accept platform defaults, you soak up knowledge, ask meaningful questions, and test new frameworks.
• Extreme accountability: You take the reins and own the results. You aren't afraid to stand by your data, troubleshoot proactively, and deliver on client goals.
• Sharp communication (with a high-tier meme game): You are a confident communicator with killer time management skills. You know how to translate complex data into clear human insights, spread good vibes, and simply get things done.
• High adaptability: You thrive in the fast lane. You are resilient, flexible, and ready to tackle the ever-changing landscape of digital advertising with a strategic smile.

What you will be doing

In the heart of the action at Kandidly, the Paid Media Account Manager is the maestro orchestrating the Paid Search and Paid Social strategies for our clients. You'll own the show, managing client communications via email and regular calls, with occasional in-person meetups.

Campaign management

• Execute full-funnel strategies: Develop and scale advanced Paid Search and Paid Social campaigns, collaborating directly with the Director during high-level strategy reviews.
• Performance optimisation: Aggressively optimise campaigns for direct response, ruthlessly troubleshoot account errors, and build account structures engineered to hit client growth KPIs.
• Platform innovation: Move fast on new platform updates and algorithmic shifts, ensuring our technical execution stays ahead of the curve.
• Account health & best practices: Maintain a pristine standard across advertising accounts, ensuring flawless activation details and seamless alignment with upcoming client initiatives.

Client management

• Strategic advisory: Serve as the strategic, day-to-day lead for our clients. You aren't an order-taker; you deeply understand their business unit economics, customers, and long-term goals.
• Insightful communication: Lead weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly growth meetings, delivering clear, human insights and proactive next steps rather than just reading data off a dashboard.
• Proactive growth mapping: Look beyond the immediate ad accounts to spot holistic business opportunities, whether that is identifying a creative gap, suggesting a landing page optimisation, or flagging an inventory trend.

Creative strategy & content planning

• Drive creative volume & diversity: Lead the charge on Meta creative strategy, understanding that high-volume, diversified creative is the primary lever for modern Paid Social performance.
• Cross-team collaboration: Bridge the gap between data and design. Partner closely with clients and our internal creative studio to brief, review, and iterate on high-performing ad concepts.
• Data-driven creative feedback: Analyse performance data to work out why creative is winning or losing, translating those metrics into actionable design briefs for the next creative sprint.

Skills & requirements

• Paid Search: 2+ years managing Google Search and Performance Max campaigns, including feed management and bid strategy optimisation.
• Paid Social: 2+ years of hands-on experience scaling Meta and TikTok conversion campaigns, catalogue/DPA setups, and pixel/CAPI optimisation to strict CPA/ROAS targets.
• Creative analysis: Experience analysing platform creative metrics (hook/hold rates, CTR) to build structured design briefs.
• Team management: Experience delegating tasks, reviewing account builds, and training junior account executives.
• Data & analytics: Proficient in Excel/Google Sheets (pivots, formulas) and building client dashboards in Looker Studio.
• Client communication: Proven track record running weekly client performance calls and translating data into clear action plans.
• Technical troubleshooting: Ability to independently diagnose feed errors, tracking issues, and ad rejections.

Bonus

• Shopify & unit economics: Direct experience with Shopify and business-level metrics (CAC, LTV).
• CRO: Experience analysing landing pages and suggesting post-click optimisation strategies.

What we're offering you

• A competitive paycheck and some awesome perks.
• A friendly atmosphere where you can grow and learn exciting new things.
• A £500/year training budget to keep your skills sharp.
• Hybrid working, with a laptop and home office essentials.
• Private medical insurance and 25 days of annual leave, plus your birthday off.
• The chance to work remotely from anywhere in the world for one month a year.
• Fridays are the new Saturdays, with early finishes and plenty of social events.
• A company pension scheme to plan for the future.

How to apply

Make yourself stand out. A lot of candidates who apply don't read the job description or know who Kandidly are or what we do. Don't be one of them. Tell us:

• Who you are and what you know about Paid Media.
• What you love about advertising.
• Why you want to work for Kandidly.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Please note

• Strictly no recruitment agencies.
• We are unable to sponsor visas at present.