Managing Director - Digital & eCommerce
20 hours ago
Leeds
This isn’t a job advert for someone who wants to manage an agency. It’s for someone who wants to build one. This role is with Puddle Agency, one of our agencies. Puddle is a specialist digital marketing and Shopify agency based in Leeds, currently turning over circa £350k per annum. We have a small, capable delivery team, a strong client retention record, and a genuine specialism in eCommerce. What we need is a leader who can take all of that and turn it into something significantly bigger. We’re also clear-eyed about where agencies are heading. AI is not a nice-to-have, it needs to be the operating model. We believe the agencies that win over the next five years will be the ones that embed AI and automation into every layer of their delivery, from campaign optimisation to reporting to content production. We expect Puddle’s next MD to lead that integration, not delegate it to an innovation committee. We’re part of the Cohaesus Group, which means you won’t be doing this alone. You’ll have the backing of a group that provides shared HR, finance, legal support, a network of sister agencies, dedicated FinOps reporting across utilisation, recovery, revenue and costs, and critically in-house automation engineers who can help you build and deploy AI tooling across Puddle’s operations. The Group is fully committed to making its agencies AI-native. The strategic and commercial decisions for Puddle will be yours. You set the direction. You own the numbers. You build the team. Think of it as running your own agency with a safety net, a technology advantage, and a board that wants you to succeed. Requirements At this stage of Puddle’s growth, the MD role is hands-on. You will be the senior commercial presence in the business, which means: • Winning work. You’ll lead business development personally — identifying prospects, running pitches, closing deals. This is a growth mandate first and foremost., • Owning the P&L. You’ll manage Puddle’s finances with a focus on building revenue to a level where healthy margins follow naturally. The economics are simple: grow the top line using the delivery capacity you already have., • Leading the team. You’ll manage and mentor a small delivery team across PPC, SEO, content, and Shopify development. You need enough technical literacy to hold your own in strategy conversations and enough leadership skill to get the best from people., • Setting the strategy. You’ll decide where Puddle competes, which verticals to pursue, what services to lead with, and how to position the agency in market., • Engaging with the Group. You’ll work with other Cohaesus agencies for cross-referral, shared learning, and the occasional joint pitch. The network is there to be used. This is not a role where you delegate everything and operate at 30,000 feet. At £300k revenue, the MD is also the top seller, the client relationship owner, and often the person writing the proposal. If that excites you rather than concerns you, keep reading. Who You Are You’re probably in a senior role at a digital or eCommerce agency right now, head of client services, senior account director, commercial lead, or similar. You’re good at what you do, but you’ve hit the ceiling. You want to run the show, not just contribute to it. Specifically: • Commercially sharp. You understand how agency economics work. You’ve sold digital marketing services and you know how to take a prospect from first conversation to signed SOW., • Digitally fluent. You have genuine depth across SEO, paid media, and ideally Shopify or broader eCommerce. You’re not a generalist who’s read a few blog posts, you can interrogate strategy and challenge your team’s thinking., • Comfortable with ambiguity. A £300k agency doesn’t have rigid processes for everything. You’ll need to be the person who builds the process, not the person who needs one to function., • A natural leader. You stay calm under pressure, you’re direct without being abrasive, and people want to work for you because you raise the standard without lowering morale., • Hungry. You see a small agency backed by a group and you think “opportunity”, not “risk.” Benefits The base salary reflects where the business is today, not where it’s going. The profit share and equity path reflect our belief that the right person will take it significantly further. We’re looking for someone who backs themselves enough to bet on the upside. • Base salary: £67,500 per annum., • Profit share: A meaningful share of Puddle’s profits, directly linked to the growth you deliver. The more you build, the more you earn., • Equity potential: For the right person, there is a path to equity participation within the wider Cohaesus Group. This isn’t a vague promise, it’s a conversation we’re ready to have once we see growth., • Group backing: Shared HR, finance, legal, and operational infrastructure. You focus on clients and growth; we handle the back office., • Autonomy: You report to the Cohaesus Group board, but day-to-day you run Puddle. Hiring, pricing, positioning, strategy, these are your calls. If this sounds like your kind of challenge, we’d like to hear from you. Send us a note explaining why Puddle will be bigger because of you, not a recitation of your CV, but your honest view on what you’d do and why you’re the person to do it.