Performance Marketing Manager

Performance Marketing Manager

A bit of background on Breathe

Located in vibrant Horsham, Breathe isn't your typical SaaS business. Private equity owned, well-funded, with 17,000 customers and an average 6 years’ LTV (a rarity in the SaaS industry), Breathe is the number 1 HR Software for SMEs in the UK. But there is more to it – our work culture is award winning, with talented people that are committed to driving impact, while having fun together. We're proud of our track record of success, but we're even more excited about what the future holds for us.

Confidence can sometimes hold us back from applying for a job. But we'll let you in on a secret: there's no such thing as a 'perfect' candidate. Breathe is a place where everyone can grow. So however you identify and whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this is a role that would make you excited to come into work every day.

Our Values: What We Live By

Start With People - We remember our work affects real people, so we take the time to listen, understand and act with care.

Own It, Together - We take responsibility for our part, support each other through the messy bits, and focus on fixing things rather than finding blame.

Clear Is Kind - We speak honestly and with care. We don’t avoid difficult conversations, and we make sure people have the clarity they need to move forward.

Why This Role Is SO Important:

We’re looking for an experienced Performance Marketing Manager to own the strategy, management, growth and effectiveness of Breathe’s paid media channels, including Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, LinkedIn and Meta.

The goal is simple: sustainably increase the volume of high-quality trials while improving efficiency and reducing acquisition costs wherever possible. You’ll use data, testing and continuous experimentation to optimise performance across the full acquisition journey, from first click through to activation and conversion.

This role is at the heart of our growth engine. You’ll work closely with the Growth, Demand Generation, Content, SEO and Product Marketing teams to build effective campaigns, improve audience targeting and messaging, and ensure paid activity supports broader business objectives.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

Let’s be clear from the start: this isn’t just a campaign management role. You’ll own the performance marketing engine, turn data into action and keep looking for better ways to generate high-quality demand. You are the channel owner, the experimenter, and the person connecting paid activity to measurable business growth.

Owning Performance Marketing: Taking ownership of Breathe’s performance marketing channels and developing multi-channel campaigns focused on measurable outcomes and return on investment.

Driving Trial Growth: Increasing the volume and quality of trials while supporting activation, conversion and sustainable acquisition across the customer journey.

Managing Paid Search and Social: Planning, executing and optimising activity across Google Ads, YouTube Ads, Microsoft Ads, LinkedIn and Meta.

Testing and Experimenting: Running A/B tests across keywords, ad copy, creative, audiences and other optimisation levers to improve campaign performance.

Working Cross-Functionally: Collaborating with the SEO Manager, Senior Growth Manager, Demand Generation, Content and Product Marketing teams to align campaigns, initiatives and goals.

Achieving Commercial Targets: Taking ownership of monthly ARR targets and ensuring paid activity contributes to wider business performance.

Making Data-Led Decisions: Analysing campaign performance through quantitative insight, identifying issues and pinpointing the root causes behind performance changes.

Tracking Key Metrics: Monitoring and reporting on conversion rates, cost per acquisition, return on ad spend and other performance indicators.

Building Reporting Infrastructure: Developing and maintaining automated reports and dashboards that make performance clear and actionable.

Improving Landing Page Conversion: Working with Design and Growth to run CRO experiments on landing pages and improve conversion from click through to trial signup.

Managing Budgets: Forecasting and managing performance marketing budgets, ensuring spend is controlled and strategies maximise return on investment.

Guiding Creative Development: Briefing and supporting design and content teams on display and paid social creative, from initial concept through testing and iteration.

Keeping Campaigns Fresh: Staying up to date with industry trends, platform developments and best practice, while identifying opportunities for innovation and optimisation.

Using AI Effectively: Applying AI tools to automate tasks, save time and improve workflow efficiency while continuing to deliver strong results.

Key Competencies & Behaviours

You Start with People: You understand audiences, customers and their needs, and you create marketing activity that connects with them in a useful and relevant way.

You Own It, Together: You’re proactive, accountable and comfortable working independently while collaborating closely with Growth, Demand Generation, Content, Design and Product Marketing.

You believe that Clear Is Kind: You can explain complex data and performance insights clearly and confidently to stakeholders.

You’re performance focused: You’re motivated by measurable outcomes, commercial targets and making a tangible impact on the organisation.

You’re analytically strong: You can interpret complex datasets, identify patterns and turn performance insights into practical action.

You’re a confident channel operator: You bring hands-on experience managing paid media across Google Ads, YouTube Ads, Microsoft Ads, LinkedIn and Meta.

You understand the full funnel: You know how to optimise performance from first click through to trial signup, activation and conversion.

You’re creative-minded: You have strong creative instincts and can guide briefs, give clear feedback and understand what drives engagement in feed-based advertising.

You know CRO: You’re comfortable working with landing pages, briefing changes, running A/B tests and using data to improve conversion.

You’re commercially curious: You understand how paid media, SEO, SEM, audience targeting, messaging and creative work together to drive growth.

You’re organised and adaptable: You can manage multiple projects, prioritise effectively and keep activity moving in a fast-paced environment.

You’re always learning: You bring a growth mindset, push boundaries, test new ideas and look for ways to continuously improve.

Why You’ll Love it Here:

Salary on offer is £50,000-£55,000 DOE

Flexible working – 50% office based & core hours are 10am to 3.30pm

25 days holiday (+ 1 extra after 3 years!) PLUS Your Birthday off!

Dog friendly office – because furry co-workers make everything better!

Private medical insurance (PMI) - with enhanced mental health, dental & optical coverage via AXA

Employee Assistance Programme – Support when you need it

Life Insurance – 2 x salary & Matched pension (5%) – because the future matters

2 x volunteer days per year – give back to causes that matter to you

Access to Mintago – Exclusive financial wellbeing through discounts and expert advice

Retail discount scheme – perks and savings just for being part of our team!

The Hiring Process: Let’s Make it Personal!

Screening Call: Virtual via Google Meet with one of our team to have a friendly chat, learn more about your experience, what excites you about the role, and how you align with our people-first culture.

Competency Interview: Online you’ll meet the hiring manager and we’ll dive into your performance marketing experience, channel knowledge, analytical approach and how you turn insight into action. This is also your chance to ask us anything about the role and company.

Final Stage Interview: In person, you’ll meet the hiring manager and members of the wider team. You’ll talk through your approach to campaign strategy, experimentation, reporting, creative testing and improving conversion across the acquisition journey.

Ready to join us? Apply Now!