PPC Performance Manager - Google ads

AkilConnect; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 355,000 - 426,000; Full time

Job summary

Adbot is looking for a PPC Performance Manager to lead Google Ads campaigns from strategy through to execution. You will optimize Search and Performance Max, manage budgets, and ensure data integrity across GA4, GTM, and Merchant Center to deliver scalable ROAS improvements for clients in South Africa, Africa, and the UK.

The role combines hands-on optimization with strategic guidance, mentoring junior specialists, and shaping automation features as Adbot grows.

Qualifications

• 5+ years hands-on Google Ads management across diverse client accounts and budgets.
• Strong expertise in Search, Performance Max, and conversion data.
• Current Google Ads certifications including Search and Shopping or Performance Max.

Responsibilities

• Review accounts and set strategy to grow performance and ROAS.
• Decide when to use Search, Performance Max, or both, and manage budget allocation.
• Diagnose underperforming accounts and craft a prioritized fix plan.
• Ensure conversion data accuracy across GA4, GTM, and Merchant Center.
• Set daily optimisation direction for the automation platform and the human team.
• Collaborate with product on automations and enhancements.

Skills

Google Ads

Search Campaigns

Performance Max

Merchant Center

GA4 / Conversion Tracking

Smart Bidding

Tools

Google Tag Manager

Looker Studio

Job description

# PPC Performance Manager - Google adsJob CrystalCape Town, South AfricaOriginal postPosted OnOct 24, 2026DeadlineNov 07, 2026Employment TypeFull-TimeWork TypeHybridCompensation15000 - 35000 ZAR### DescriptionJob Intro PPC Performance Manager - Google ads - Cape Town, WC Western Cape Make the strategic calls that grow our customers' Google Ads accounts, and shape how Adbot gets Business Owners new customers at scale. About Adbot Job Specification Adbot gets Business Owners and in-house marketing teams new customers. We build the engine behind their Google Ads: a website wired so Google recognises every real sale, tracking that works, and campaigns that keep learning who the buyers are. We are a Cape Town team serving customers in South Africa, across Africa and in the UK. Our values are simple: Offer Obsessed with growth: ours, our customers' and yours Bots do it better: we automate the repetitive work so people can do the thinking We find a way: no problem gets handed back unsolved Equally valuable and accountable: everyone owns their results Our customers are the bomb.com: their success is our success The role You decide what will make each customer's account perform better, and you make sure it happens. Your goal is clear: get every customer to at least a 1:3 return on ad spend. We promise our customers R3 in conversion value for every R1 they spend on ads, and you are the person who makes sure we deliver on that promise. You make the changes that move an account, not the routine tweaks. Our platform handles the day-to-day bid, keyword, budget and ad changes. You do the work above that, hands on: restructuring accounts, building and fixing Search and Performance Max campaigns, sorting out product feeds and making sure the conversion data is right. That said, you need to understand daily optimisation inside out. You can't direct it, judge it or spot when it is going wrong unless you have done it yourself, for years. You will work closely with our Customer Success and Google Ads Specialist. They are the customer's day-to-day contact, and you manage the account. They bring you what customers are saying and seeing, and you give them the strategy, answers and fixes to take back to the customer. This is a startup role, so it will grow. As Adbot grows, you may help shape what our automation does, coach junior specialists or join key client conversations. The people who lean into that are the people who grow fastest here. What you will do Account strategy Review customer accounts and set the strategy that grows them: structure, campaign mix and budgets Decide when Search, Performance Max or both is the right answer, and how to stop them competing with each other Diagnose underperforming accounts quickly and set a clear, prioritised plan to fix them Data and connections Make sure Google Ads learns from real business results: conversion actions, conversion values, enhanced conversions, offline conversion imports and GA4 Own Google Merchant Center strategy for ecommerce customers: feed quality, product data, diagnostics, disapprovals and how the feed drives Performance Max and Shopping results Understand how the website, tracking, GA4, Merchant Center and Google Ads connect, and how a change in one shows up as performance in another Direction and scale Set the direction for daily optimisation done by our platform and specialists, review the work and coach where needed Turn what you know into rules and playbooks our automation can run across every account Work with the product team on what Adbot automates next What you bring Around 5 years of hands-on Google Ads management, across a range of client accounts and budgets. Deep Search expertise: account structure, match types, broad match with Smart Bidding, responsive search ads, search term analysis and audiences. Deep Performance Max expertise: asset groups, audience signals, search themes, brand exclusions, feed-only versus full-asset campaigns, and reading the insights and channel reporting to see what PMax is really doing. Merchant Center know-how: feeds and supplemental feeds, product attributes, diagnostics, policy issues and product-level performance. Strong grasp of conversion data: Google Tag Manager, GA4, enhanced conversions, value-based bidding, offline conversions and consent mode, and how each one changes what Smart Bidding learns. Proven results. Real campaigns where you increased a client's performance, with before and after numbers: revenue, ROAS, CPA or conversion volume. Commercial thinking. You connect every decision to the customer's revenue and profit, not vanity metrics. Clear communication. You can explain a strategic call to a Business Owner or a marketing manager in plain language. Current Google Ads certifications, including Search and Shopping or Performance Max. Bonus points Agency experience across many accounts at once Ecommerce experience, including Shopify or WooCommerce stores Meta Ads experience Google Ads scripts, automated rules or other automation work Looker Studio or BigQuery reporting Accounts in several markets (South Africa, the rest of Africa, the UK) Mentoring junior PPC specialists Is this you? We are building something bigger than any one job, and we want people who want to build it with us. You will thrive here if: You love finding the one decision that changes an account's trajectory You keep learning, because Google Ads changes every few months and you want to stay ahead of it You own a problem until it is solved instead of passing it on You are comfortable with a role that changes. Today it is account strategy. In six months it might include building automation rules, coaching specialists or joining sales conversations. You care whether the customer gets new customers, not only whether the account looks tidy You want your expertise to scale across hundreds of accounts, not just the few you can touch by hand This role is not the right fit if you are looking for a fixed 9 to 5 with the same tasks every day, you prefer doing the hands-on optimisation yourself rather than directing it, or you prefer to do what is required and no more. That is a valid choice. It just isn't what a startup needs, and we would rather say so upfront. You manage yourself We don't chase people for work. Nobody will check in every day to ask what you have done, remind you of a deadline or follow up on a task you said you would do. At Adbot, that is your job. That means you: Know your priorities each day and get started without being told Finish what you commit to, by when you said you would Update the team on your progress before anyone has to ask Flag a problem or delay early, with a suggested way forward Spot work that needs doing and do it, or raise it Track every account against the 1:3 ROAS goal and act on the ones falling short, without being prompted If you need someone to check in on you before the work gets done, this role is not for you. What you get Your strategy applied across many accounts at once through our automation, so your thinking has far more reach than one person's hands A front-row seat to how a funded ad tech startup is built, working directly with the founder and a small, senior team Room to grow into a bigger role as the company grows, based on what you take on and deliver Salary: R35,000 per month basic, plus a monthly performance bonus of up to R15,000 based on the share of customer accounts you get to a 1:3 return on ad spend Location: Cape Town office, hybrid (mostly remote) Hours: 8am to 5pm Start date: November 2026 How to apply Email [e-mail] with the subject line \" Bots do it better \" and include: Your CV Two case studies of accounts where you increased a client's performance. For each, tell us where the account started, what you changed and why, and the results with numbers and a timeframe. Anonymised is fine. Your answer to this scenario: An ecommerce customer's Performance Max campaign has dropped 40% in conversion value over three weeks. Their Search campaigns are stable, and nobody has changed the campaign settings. Tell us the first five things you would check, in order, and why. Applications without all three parts won't be considered.