Head of Growth & Acquisition

About us: We are one of the top three automotive retailers in the UK, proudly representing 32 manufacturer brands, selling a huge range of new and used vehicles from over 150 dealerships across the UK and Ireland.

We believe our people are our greatest asset, and we’re committed to recognising the valuable contribution each person makes. That’s why we continue to invest in a leading rewards and benefits package designed to support your career, wellbeing, and life outside of work.

The Head of Growth & Acquisition owns Lookers' paid and organic acquisition strategy, driving qualified demand into new car, used car and aftersales channels at the right cost and volume. This role is responsible for the full digital acquisition mix: paid search, paid social, display, automotive marketplaces , partnerships and SEO.

This is a performance marketing leadership role with genuine commercial accountability. The person in it must be obsessed with what works, and able to connect channel performance to ROI, not just traffic or leads.

This role will transform Lookers approach to digital marketing capability and execution. You’ll develop a team that helps trade the business, working with operations teams on days in stock metrics, margin, offers and pricing adherence to drive conversion across your channels.

Critically, this role must balance Lookers' acquisition investment carefully amidst OEM-driven new car commitments, and the more ownable and dynamic used cars and aftersales propositions.

What You'll Be Responsible For

Paid Media Strategy & Execution

• Own paid search (Google/Bing) strategy across new car, used car and aftersales
• Lead paid social strategy, with audience segmentation matched to commercial priorities
• Manage any display, programmatic and video investment with clear attribution to commercial outcomes
• Oversee remarketing and audience strategy, particularly for high-intent used car and aftersales audiences
• Manage agency relationships for paid media. Setting the brief, holding performance accountability, not outsourcing thinking
• Understand the dynamic between national demand and local conversion and set appropriate channel strategies.

Automotive Marketplace Strategy

• Own Lookers' presence and performance on Autotrader, and other lead-gen platforms
• Manage listing quality, pricing strategy visibility and communications with operational stakeholders, and lead volume from marketplace channels
• Build the business case for marketplace investment/package strategies based on cost-per-sale and margin retention not cost-per-lead
• Monitor and respond to competitive marketplace dynamics, particularly as new Chinese brands and EV-native retailers enter the market

SEO & Content Acquisition

• Own keyword strategy and content SEO, building organic authority in used car, aftersales and EV search
• Used car SEO is a significant untapped opportunity. This role is accountable for making Lookers competitive in organic search for pre-owned vehicles
• Collaborate with Head of CX on technical SEO. Site architecture decisions that affect organic performance must be jointly owned
• Build a content acquisition strategy that earns trust with research-phase customers, particularly EV buyers who conduct extensive pre-purchase research

Budget Management & ROI

• Own the acquisition budget, developing an increasingly commercially accountable channel mix that serves both Lookers and our OEM partner requirements efficiently and effectively
• Work closely with data team to develop and own channel level attribution and ROI
• Actively manage the bias toward new car paid media, balancing investment across key growth areas including used and aftersales
• Report performance in commercial terms, maturing the operation: cost per sale, revenue influenced, gross profit supported, not clicks and impressions

OEM Co-operative & Mandated Fund Management

• Partner with OEM/Divisional marketing managers to manage and deliver manufacturer co-operative and mandated fund activity, understanding what is genuinely discretionary vs. OEM-mandate
• Maximise utilisation where it also serves Lookers' commercial interests; push back where it doesn't
• Ensure OEM-funded activity is measured and reported consistently with Lookers-funded activity

Emerging Channels & Innovation

• Monitor and test emerging acquisition channels relevant to automotive, particularly platforms gaining traction with EV and younger car buyers
• Build a test-and-learn culture in acquisition, small bets on new channels before committing budget
• Stay ahead of shifts in search behaviour (AI-generated answers, voice, comparison engines) and adapt strategy accordingly
• Build a suite of commercial partnerships to support effective segment targeting and efficient acquisition costs e.g. energy partners, adjacent service partners across the ownership journey.

Team and Leadership

• You’ll lead a small team across paid digital, supported by agencies, alongside SEO, Partnerships and lead-generation, supporting the development of the team and setting the standard for commercial excellence.
• You’ll support the divisional marketing teams in delivering their marketing plans with strong, commercially sound and scalable channel execution, understanding how to maximise OEM activity and balance Lookers partner commitments.
• Your team will lead the critical Autotrader relationship, maximising the value every day, working closely with operational stakeholders to ensure Lookers used cars are set up to maximise sales and margin.

What We're Looking For!

Essential

• Senior performance marketing leadership experience with a proven track record managing significant paid media budgets
• Deep technical knowledge of Google Ads, Meta Ads and programmatic channels with the ability to audit and challenge agency work
• Strong SEO knowledge spanning both technical and content dimensions
• Commercially driven and able to speak in cost-per-sale and gross profit, not cost-per-click
• Experience with attribution modelling and connecting digital spend to offline commercial outcomes
• Ability to challenge entrenched budget allocation decisions with data and commercial logic
• Strong agency management skills with an ability to get more from agency relationships through better briefs and tighter accountability
• Experience in an omni channel retail business with national/local demand and conversion dyamics.
• Strong stakeholder management and ability to influence effectively
• Experience with marketplace platforms (Autotrader etc.)

Desirable

• Familiarity with automotive retail commercial model i.e. new car margins, used car dynamics, aftersales revenue
• Experience marketing EV products or operating in categories with high research intensity.

Core Benefits:

• Competitive salaries with structured pay scales and progression as you grow within the business
• Generous annual leave that increases with your length of service
• Enhanced family leave, including 6 months’ full pay for maternity and adoption leave, and 2 weeks’ full pay for paternity leave
• Access to Techscheme for discounted technology purchases with flexible payments

Health & Wellbeing:

• Eyecare vouchers to help cover vision care needs
• Smart Health – 24/7 access to GP services to support your mental and physical wellbeing
• Dental insurance for everyday dental care and unexpected treatments
• Optional critical illness cover for peace of mind during life's most challenging moments

Financial Wellbeing:

• MyView PayNow – access a portion of your pay as you earn, with features to stream, save, and track your money through a user-friendly app
• Free will writing services to help plan for the future
• Flexible life assurance options and partner life assurance for added protection

Leisure & Lifestyle:

• Discounted gym memberships to support an active lifestyle
• Travel insurance to help you explore with confidence
• Access to home and technology vouchers
• bYond card and a wide range of exclusive retail and lifestyle discounts

We strongly believe in nurturing and providing our people with specific manufacturer brand and management training to enhance career development opportunities. We have a great bunch of people, and we like to celebrate and encourage success at all levels.

Lookers and Charles Hurst are an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to a working environment that is free from discrimination, is inclusive, and empowers our people to bring their whole self to work and reach their full potential.

If your application is successful, we will conduct relevant employment checks prior to you commencing employment with us. These will include verifying your recent employment, address, credit history and a standard criminal record check. For roles that require you to drive, a driving licence check will also be carried out. Please note, all offers of employment are made subject to a 6 month probation period commencing from your start date.

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