Operations
Part of Why UK PPC agencies need named account owners before choosing tools
Which team roles do PPC agencies need for paid search delivery?
A practical listicle on PPC agency team roles, with inclusion criteria, a decision table and the data sources that support delivery in the UK.
What to take away
- The ICO's business-to-business marketing guidance sits inside the UK GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, so B2B lead generation in paid search needs a named owner for consent and suppression.
- The named roles in a PPC agency are paid search strategist, PPC executive, account manager, paid media analyst and conversion tracking specialist. A shopping feed specialist joins them wherever Google Shopping runs.
- Inclusion criteriajob titles that appear in agency scopes of work for UK paid search accounts, not broad role categories such as strategy, build or data. Geography is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with UK-wide rules unless a devolved rule differs.
- The decision table maps common account situations to a role to hire and a role to avoid.
- Sources for role design are the regulator and government pages cited here, not vendor marketing.
Paid search strategist: account direction
The strategist owns the account plan, the split between brand, non-brand and Shopping, and the testing roadmap. In a small agency the founder usually holds the title. In a larger one it belongs to a head of paid search who runs a team.
UK salaries for the title typically run from £45,000 to £70,000. London agencies pay at the top of that band and regional agencies pay lower.
Strategists work in Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising, and in Search Ads 360 when a client's spend justifies a separate bidding platform.
Strategy vs Build Roles
Strategy role
- Owns
- Account plan
- Decides
- Budget split
- Sets
- Testing roadmap
- Risk
- Unshippable plans
Build role
- Owns
- Ad copy
- Decides
- Campaign structure
- Sets
- Bid rules
- Risk
- Easy optimisations
Buyers should ask who signs off the plan and who can change it mid-quarter. A committee answer means slow decisions.
The operations guide for 2027 explains how the role fits the wider delivery chain: PPC agencies: operations and delivery guide for 2027.
A strategist with no build experience writes plans that cannot be shipped. A PPC executive with no strategy optimises whatever is easiest to change.
PPC executive: build and optimisation
The PPC executive writes ad copy, builds campaigns, manages bids and reads search term reports. This is the day-to-day paid search management most clients picture when they buy a PPC agency.
Typical UK pay runs from £24,000 for a junior executive to £32,000 for someone with three years in the seat. Google Ads Editor and Microsoft Advertising Editor are free desktop tools for bulk changes.
Some agencies add a separate ad copywriter for responsive search ads, who writes headlines and descriptions from the executive's brief.
Where Google Shopping runs, a shopping feed specialist owns product data and clears disapproved items, missing GTINs and price mismatches.
Ad copy compliance sits with the PPC executive, not a separate legal function.
The ASA and CAP resource library sets out what ad copy can claim in paid search and display: CAP resource library. Executives should know it before they write a headline.
Where a client sells food or drink high in fat, salt or sugar, the PPC executive also carries targeting restrictions. The government consultation on further advertising restrictions for HFSS products online covers the direction of travel: HFSS advertising restrictions consultation.
What does a PPC executive do that a strategist cannot?
A PPC executive turns a plan into live campaigns, naming conventions and bid rules. They also catch practical problems, such as a feed that will not sync or a conversion tag firing twice.
How do you tell a PPC executive from a reporting analyst?
A PPC executive changes the account. A paid media analyst explains what changed. If one person does both, the reporting describes their own work and the challenge function weakens.
Paid media analyst: data and measurement
The analyst owns tracking, attribution and reporting quality. Without that role the strategist is guessing and the build role optimises against incomplete numbers.
Day to day the analyst works in Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager and Looker Studio, which has a free tier and a paid Pro tier.
A conversion tracking specialist often sits inside this role. That person owns tag manager containers, consent mode settings and server-side tagging.
Typical UK pay runs from £30,000 to £48,000 for the title, with London agencies at the top of the range.
This role also owns the client's first-party data questions: what is collected, where it is stored, and who can see it.
The launch review data guide covers the evidence you should ask for at the start of a new account: PPC agencies launch review: data and sources.
For B2B accounts, the analyst works with the compliance lead on lawful lead capture. The ICO's business-to-business marketing guidance explains the rules for contacting business audiences: ICO B2B marketing guidance.
Compliance lead and account manager
The compliance lead covers consent, suppression lists and advertising standards. In many agencies a senior manager holds it part-time rather than as a dedicated hire.
The account manager answers the phone and owns the relationship. That is not the same job as strategy. A good account manager shields the team from vague briefs and the client from vague promises.
If your account spans several markets, check who owns each one. Shared ownership across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland usually means nobody owns the whole picture.
Decision table
| Situation | Choose | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| New account, no tracking history | Paid media analyst first, PPC executive second | Strategist-only hire |
| B2B lead generation with a small list | Compliance lead plus account manager | Bulk outreach owner |
| HFSS product lines in the mix | PPC executive with targeting limits written down | Open-ended audience expansion |
| One person covering build and data | Written handover notes each week | Verbal updates only |
| Multi-market UK account | Named owner per nation | Single unnamed owner |
| Shopping feed errors blocking ads | Shopping feed specialist | PPC executive covering feeds alone |
Common questions
Do PPC agency team roles differ by account size?
Yes. A small account may need one person covering strategy and build, with a part-time analyst and compliance lead. A large account usually separates all four roles. The split matters more than the job titles.
Who should own consent and suppression in a B2B paid search account?
The compliance lead, with support from the paid media analyst. The ICO guidance cited above places the duty on the organisation doing the marketing, so the agency needs a named person rather than a shared inbox.
Can one person cover strategy and compliance?
They can, but the two roles pull in opposite directions. Strategy wants reach and speed. Compliance wants evidence and restraint. If one person holds both, put the decisions in writing so a buyer can see which one won.
How should a buyer test these roles before signing?
Ask for a written scope naming who does strategy, build, data and compliance. Then ask what happens when that person is on leave. Vague answers are a warning sign.
