Manager, Direct Activation OOH - OOH Direct Activation

ROLE OVERVIEW

WPP Media is looking for an experienced, strategic, and high-impact media professional to join our team as Manager, Direct Activation OOH in Toronto. In this role, you will be the primary activation and investment lead, orchestrating first-class OOH buys, while also directly managing relationships with client and planning leads. You will drive holistic investment strategies, lead high-stakes partner negotiations, ensure operational and financial excellence, and actively coach and mentor a team of Associates.

This role sits at the intersection of media strategy, commercial negotiation, and operational leadership, requiring someone who excels at building media partner relationships and translating client business goals into top-tier media investments.

HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT

1. Strategic Investment & High-Level Negotiation

• Lead Investment Strategy: Oversee and drive the development of comprehensive media investment recommendations across all formats of OOH, ensuring alignment with client business objectives.

• Commercial Leadership: Secure competitive pricing, added value, and priority placement for our clients.
• Media Partner Management: Cultivate and manage senior-level relationships with major OOH vendors. Lead Joint Business Partnerships (JBPs) and discover first-to-market opportunities.

1. Portfolio Stewardship & Team Management

• Team Leadership & Mentorship: Direct, develop, and mentor junior team members. Manage bandwidth, delegate responsibilities, conduct quality reviews, and foster career development.

• End-to-End Operational Governance: Oversee the team’s campaign workflows within Prisma from buy creation and traffic instructions through to billing reconciliation, ensuring zero-error execution.

• Financial Accountability: Own the end-to-end financial integrity of client accounts. Lead quarterly/annual reconciliations, resolve complex billing disputes, and ensure adherence to internal audit and client contract guidelines.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Strategic Planning, Ad Operations, and Client Leadership teams to build seamless workflows and ensure unified delivery of client expectations.

1. Measurement, Performance & Audience Intelligence

• Audience Analytics: Direct the application of audience measurement platforms to analyze reach/frequency, competitive intelligence, and market consumption shifts.

• Pre- and Post-Campaign Intelligence: Oversee rigorous pre-buy validations and lead comprehensive Post-Campaign Analyses (PCAs). Translate campaign data into actionable strategic recommendations for executive client presentations.

• Process Optimization: Identify and implement process improvements, standardization, and automation across the activation team to improve operational efficiency and workflow speed.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• Client Trust & Authority: Serving as a reliable, authoritative subject-matter expert on OOH media in senior client meetings and presentations.

• Commercial Excellence: Consistently meeting or beating buying benchmarks, delivering added value, and driving favorable commercial outcomes for client investments.

• Team Empowerment: Building a resilient, high-performing team that delivers accurate, timely executions with high employee engagement and retention.

• Operational Precision: Maintaining spotless financial records, proactive discrepancy management, and zero billing aging issues across your assigned accounts.

WHAT YOU BRING

• Experience: 4–6+ years of progressive media buying, planning, or investment experience within an advertising agency, with dedicated leadership in OOH media.

• People Leadership: Proven track record of managing, mentoring, or directly guiding junior planners, buyers, or coordinators.

• Enterprise Systems Mastery: Advanced, hands-on command of MediaOcean for campaign set-up, pacing, and financial stewardship.

• Audience & Market Tools: Working knowledge and analytical fluency with Canadian media tools, including COMMB, Vividata, and media research platforms.

• Commercial Acumen & Negotiation: Proven background negotiating large-scale OOH packages with Canadian media sales houses.

• Client & Presentation Skills: Poised, articulate verbal and written communication skills with comfort presenting complex investment strategies to VP/Director-level client stakeholders.

• Problem-Solving & Agility: Strong business judgment, organizational rigor, and the ability to prioritize and pivot under tight deadlines in a fast-paced agency environment.

Life at WPP Media & Benefits

Our passion for shaping the next era of media includes investing in our employees to help them do their best work, and we’re just as committed to employee growth as we are to responsible media investment. WPP Media employees can tap into the global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, grow their networks, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising. We have a variety of employee resource groups and host frequent in-office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our benefits include competitive medical, group retirement plans, vision, and dental insurance, significant paid time off, preferential partner discounts, and employee mental health awareness days.     

WPP Media is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers. We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office around four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

Please read our Privacy Notice (https://www.wppmedia.com/pages/privacy-policy) for more information on how we process the information you provide.

While we appreciate all applications received, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. 

- 45000 - 95000 CAD