Job Advert
We’re excited to welcome a
Senior Direct Trading Manager into our Marketing team—someone who brings strong commercial acumen and a passion for thoughtful, customer-first sales and revenue growth.
This is a
12-month FTC as a maternity cover, where you’ll guide our direct-to-consumer strategy with a balanced focus on both performance and sustainability, helping us evolve towards more organic, and multi-channel growth
This is a collaborative, cross-functional role where you’ll work closely with brilliant minds across channel, partnerships, Brand & comms, Finance, and more—to create meaningful connections with consumers while unlocking new opportunities for new business growth.
Base salary: £58000 - £65000 + benefits
What you'll be doing:
- Lead the vision and delivery of our Direct Trading strategy, ensuring healthy, consistent performance across PPC, SEO/GEO, Paid Social, and other direct channels.
- Steward a significant Google Joint Business Plan working with partners to drive value and long-term return on investment.
- Partner with all marketing teams and our agencies to grow our organic reach and reduce reliance on paid strategies over time.
- Use data insightfully - interpreting trends, uncovering new opportunities, and helping forecast growth that aligns with our brand values and business goals.
- Collaborate widely - working across Marketing, Finance, and Brand to ensure alignment and momentum.
- Support and empower a small, high-performing team—fostering a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
What we’re looking for:
- Proven experience managing D2C or digital trading channels with commercial success.
- A laser focus on managing daily, weekly and monthly performance and springing into action when required.
- A highly numerate and analytical individual, with a data-first mindset and experience using marketing attribution and modelling.
- Hands-on knowledge of PPC, SEO/GEO, Paid Social, and media platforms.
- Strong communicator who can influence at all levels with gravitas and credibility but in a diplomatic and affable style.
- An Agile, strategic thinker with experience leading small performance teams.
Experience in Financial Services or Insurance would also be great to have, or an openness to step into new sectors and learn quickly.
Why choose Animal Friends
Animal Friends has been supporting UK pet owners for more than 25 years with our comprehensive and meaningful pet insurance. We are not only an award-winning business but one of the largest pet insurance providers in the UK. But we’re not like other leading UK pet insurers, we were built to be unmistakably different – giving back to incredible animal welfare and conservation charities, at home and around the world, as they fight to support and care for vulnerable pets, wildlife, and habitats. So far, we’ve helped support over 800 charities and conservancies across the UK and worldwide and donated over £8.5 million and continue to use our voice and platform to fight for positive change. We believe that even the smallest act can make a big difference.
We understand that our success is only possible because of how we work together, which is why our company values of being
courageous, kind-hearted and passionate are the heart of what we do – and we simply wouldn’t be who we are today without our colleagues, who embody these values every day.
We are part of the Pinnacle Pet Group (PPG) – a pan European fully integrated pet insurance and pet health services provider. On a mission to help pets live happy, healthy lives with their pet parents, PPG are committed to supporting the diverse needs of their customers and colleagues with a clear ambition to become the world leader in pet insurance and healthcare services.
Inclusion, Diversity and Belonging at Animal Friends
At Animal Friends, we take inclusion seriously. This means nurturing a culture that respects everyone as an individual and values the unique perspectives we all bring through our background, characteristics, and lived experiences.
We know that harnessing our differences makes us stronger and helps us to deliver better outcomes for our customers and each other. That’s why we are committed to ensuring that everyone is treated fairly and without discrimination, and we are passionate about creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong.
Our recruitment process
As an FCA regulated business, we require successful applicants to clear our pre-employment screening process which includes a credit check, a DBS check and references checks. As this role holds accountability for Senior Manager Function 2 under the FCA Senior Managers Certification Regime, the successful candidate will need to be approved by the Regulator as part of our recruitment process. Under the latest UK Right to Work regulations, we will require successful applicants to evidence their right to work in the UK, either in person, online, or digitally via a third party subject to circumstances.
Please be aware this advert will remain open until the vacancy has been filled rather than the advertised closing date. Interviews will take place throughout this period; therefore, we encourage you to apply early to avoid disappointment.
Department
Marketing
Contract type
Fixed Term Contract
Hours
37.5
Salary
£58000 - £65000
