Senior Acquisition Manager

N.B. This role is with a business operating in the adult services sector. Please only apply if you’re comfortable working in this space. We’ll talk openly about the business in the first conversation, so you can make an informed decision early.

Senior Acquisition Manager

Hybrid working | Central London (Holborn) | up to £75,000 + £5,000

Most acquisition roles hand you a mature channel mix and ask you to squeeze out a few more percent. This one hands you the whole function, a set of channels that don’t play by the usual rules, and a 2027 roadmap that’s yours to write.

Our client is a long-established online classifieds marketplace serving millions of users a month across four European markets. Its core UK category is adult services, where advertisers are mainly independent professionals alongside a smaller number of agencies, paying to list and to boost their visibility. It’s a legal space, and the business has rebuilt itself around safety. It has invested heavily in safeguarding technology and people, and works closely with law enforcement, government and the charity sector. The goal is to be the safest, most trusted operator in the market.

The role

Marketing is organised around three pillars: brand, retention and acquisition. Brand and retention are in place, and this role completes the picture. You’ll own customer acquisition end to end, from reaching potential advertisers through to registration and their first advert. That covers paid search and social, retargeting, display, podcast sponsorship, SEO, and the fast-moving world of AEO and GEO.

The interesting part is the constraint. Mainstream platforms restrict advertising for this sector, so you can’t reach this audience by ticking a targeting box. Campaigns get suspended and creative gets rejected. The job is to work out where these customers actually spend their time, test your way there, and build channels that don’t depend on any one platform’s goodwill. A referral and advocacy programme is a priority for 2027. It will turn current and former advertisers into advocates, and you’ll build it from scratch.

You’ll report to the Head of Marketing and present performance and recommendations at board level. You’ll also help hire, then line manage, an SEO & AEO Manager, and own how paid and organic work together.

What you’ll bring

• Hands-on paid acquisition experience across Google Ads, Meta, retargeting (Criteo or similar) and display, ideally in a digital-first business such as classifieds, marketplaces, e-commerce or a two-sided platform
• A solid grip on funnels, attribution, incrementality and test design, and the ability to turn data into a clear story for a board
• Working knowledge of SEO, and of how organic, paid and AI search fit together
• Some experience managing or developing people
• Referral, affiliate or partnership programme experience, which is a real plus

Who’ll thrive here

This is a small, busy team where everyone works beyond their job title. It suits someone who’s comfortable with ambiguity, takes ownership without being asked, and will happily get stuck into the campaigns themselves. Agency backgrounds are welcome if you’ve genuinely owned outcomes and want to move in-house.

Above all, you need to believe in what the business is trying to do, and to be someone who’ll stay committed when the sector draws attention.