Head of Performance Marketing

About Whitecliffe Global

Whitecliffe is an independent tertiary institution known for creative, industry-connected education, with campuses in New Zealand, Australia, Germany and Canada.

We are growing quickly across four countries and building a group commercial team to match. Our campuses in Auckland, Sydney, Berlin and Toronto are moving onto one CRM, with one weekly view of the student pipeline and a growing global agent network. This role brings the same consistency to how we invest in paid media.

About the role

This is a new group leadership role. You will set paid media strategy for Whitecliffe in New Zealand, Australia, Germany and Canada, and direct every media agency we work with. You will be measured on students, not leads: your success is our group cost per enrolment.

You will own budget allocation by market, bidding strategy, attribution and the conversion data that links media spend to enrolments in Microsoft Dynamics 365. You will set one performance standard and one agency scorecard for the group. You will also work closely with regional marketing and admissions leads, who share responsibility for each campus's enrolment target.

About you

You are a performance marketer who thinks commercially and lets the data decide. You are comfortable setting strategy and getting into ad accounts and tracking. You enjoy holding agencies to a clear standard, moving budget to where it works, and explaining the numbers to people who aren't marketers. You want to be measured on real outcomes, and you will be energised by building something new across a growing international group.

What you will bring

• Depth of capability and experience in performance or digital marketing, including at least 3 years leading paid media strategy and budgets


• Experience directing several agencies at once, ideally across more than one country or market


• Deep hands-on knowledge of Google Ads, Meta and LinkedIn, including bidding strategy and budget allocation


• Strong attribution and measurement skills: GA4, offline conversion tracking, funnel analysis and cost-per-acquisition reporting


• Experience connecting a CRM to ad platforms (Microsoft Dynamics 365 / Customer Insights desirable)


• A track record of measurably lowering acquisition cost while growing volume


• Experience in higher education, international student recruitment or another long-cycle, high-value acquisition sector (desirable)


• Confident leadership and influence, including with senior stakeholders and teams you don't manage directly


• Willingness to work some early and late hours to connect with teams in Auckland, Sydney and Berlin


• Legal right to work in Canada and ability to work on campus in Toronto

If you want to shape how a growing international education group wins students, and to be measured on the results, we would love to hear from you.

Apply Now!

Whitecliffe is committed to an inclusive and accessible hiring process. If you need any support or adjustments to take part in the interview or assessment process, please let us know when you apply.