Paid Media Specialist

Role Purpose
As David Jones builds its paid media capability in-house, this role is the operational backbone of the team. The Paid Media Specialist (Operations & Activation) ensures every campaign is built to brief, tracked correctly, and delivered without error — creating the foundation that allows the broader paid media team to focus on strategy, optimisation, and commercial outcomes. This is a role for someone who takes pride in precision, thrives in a fast-moving environment, and understands that flawless execution is what turns great media strategy into measurable results.
Key Accountabilities
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Own the end-to-end setup, trafficking and quality assurance of all paid media campaigns across search, social and programmatic platforms — ensuring every campaign goes live on time, on brief and error-free
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Maintain rigorous QA processes across all campaign builds, including ad copy, creative assets, targeting parameters, tracking tags and UTM structures before every launch
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Manage tag implementation and tracking infrastructure across all paid media platforms, ensuring accurate data capture and clean attribution from campaign to conversion
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Partner with the wider team to translate campaign briefs into technically sound campaign builds that meet performance objectives
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Monitor live campaigns for delivery, pacing and technical issues, escalating promptly and resolving trafficking-related problems with minimal disruption to campaign performance
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Maintain organised and consistently applied campaign naming conventions, account structures and documentation to support reporting accuracy and team efficiency
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Support the Performance Coordinator with data pulls, campaign exports and reporting inputs to enable timely and accurate performance analysis
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Continuously improve operational processes, trafficking workflows and QA checklists to increase speed, accuracy and consistency across the team
Leadership
Leading Self - Leading self is the ability to manage your own mindset, behaviour and performance with awareness, accountability and purpose—so you can consistently show up at your best.
Decision Making
Accountable for:
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Accuracy and timeliness of all campaign builds, trafficking and QA outputs
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Tag management and tracking implementation across all paid platforms
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Maintaining campaign naming conventions and account structure standards
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Identifying and resolving technical campaign issues within their remit
Influences but does not own:
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Campaign strategy, channel mix and media investment decisions
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Creative and messaging direction
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Attribution methodology and reporting framework design
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Budget allocation and pacing decisions
Qualifications & Licences
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Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Communications or a related field (preferred, not mandatory)
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Google Ads certification (preferred)
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Meta Blueprint certification (preferred)
Knowledge, Skills & Experience
Essential:
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Hands-on experience in a campaign trafficking, ad operations or paid media execution role — with demonstrable ability to manage high volumes of campaign builds across multiple platforms simultaneously
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Proficiency in Google Ads and Meta Ads Manager campaign setup, including audience targeting, ad formats, bid strategies and tracking implementation
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Experience with tag management and UTM framework implementation, ensuring accurate tracking from ad click to conversion
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Strong QA mindset — meticulous attention to detail in reviewing campaign builds, creative specifications and tracking setups before launch
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Ability to manage multiple workstreams and deadlines simultaneously in a fast-paced environment with minimal supervision
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Clear and proactive communication skills — able to flag issues, manage expectations and collaborate effectively across a distributed team
Nice to Have:
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Experience with DSPs such as DV360 or The Trade Desk
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Familiarity with SA360 or similar bid management platforms
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Exposure to retail or e-commerce campaign environments with an understanding of seasonal trading cycles
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Experience working within or transitioning from an agency environment
How you thrive
Our cultural foundations are the pillar of how we work.
Customer Obsessed - We strive to understand our customer, inspire them, and deliver seamless solutions together.
Inclusive - We foster belonging and respect, embrace diverse ideas to help our people thrive, and prioritize sustainability for our planet.
Empowered - We act with integrity, value each other’s skills, own our decisions, learn from challenges, and celebrate successes together.
Innovative - We seek innovative ways to inspire by listening, seeking feedback, and challenging the status quo, contributing to our business's success.