Associate Director - Social

3431 - Associate Director, Social - Manchester

Role Summary and Impact

As a Associate Director, Social, you will be a core strategic leader responsible for driving the commercial success, operational excellence, and overarching roadmaps for key clients. This role requires an elevated blend of senior paid social expertise, macro strategic vision, and deep commercial acumen. You will assume overarching strategic and commercial accountability for your portfolio, ensuring paid social strategies directly accelerate client business transformation and deliver high-impact commercial results.

You will act as a trusted advisor to senior level stakeholders, navigating complex matrix environments and articulating the strategic value of paid social in the broader marketing mix. Leading a multi-tiered team of social managers and specialists, you will foster a culture of creative innovation, rigorous testing, and continuous professional growth. Furthermore, you will play a pivotal role in driving agency growth by supporting with new business pitches, developing Joint Business Plans (JBPs) with platform partners, and establishing yourself as an authoritative voice in the wider media industry.

Key responsibilities:

Senior Associate Directors have several key areas of focus. These include:

Strategic Leadership & Innovation

• Formulate and execute macro-level paid social strategies aligned with broad client business outcomes (e.g., brand equity, customer lifetime value, market penetration).
• Spearhead innovation across first-party data strategies, privacy-first media planning, conversion APIs (CAPI), and AI-driven social operations.
• Champion cross-channel integration, collaborating closely with search, programmatic, strategy, and creative teams to deliver cohesive omni-channel campaigns.

Commercial Management & Agency Growth

• Maintain commercial oversight across your portfolio, driving organic account growth and ensuring client profitability.
• Develop paid social strategies for new business pitches and RFPs, delivering compelling proposals that win new client accounts.
• Own joint business plans (JBPs) with platform partners (Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, Snap, LinkedIn, Reddit), securing priority alpha/beta testing access for clients.

Client & Executive Stakeholder Relations

• Serve as a senior point of escalation and trusted partner for client and planning leads.
• Deliver high-impact presentations, translating complex technical data into clear, boardroom-ready commercial insights.

People Management & Operational Excellence

• Lead, mentor, and build a high-performing team of social specialists, setting clear KPIs and development plans.
• Oversee team resourcing, capacity planning, and operational workflows to ensure high-quality, faultless campaign delivery across all accounts.
• Establish and govern agency best practice, QA frameworks, and compliance standards across all social channels.

Skills and Experience

At WPP Media, we believe in the power of our culture and our people. It’s what elevates us to deliver exceptional experiences for both our clients and each other. In this role it will be critical to embrace WPP & WPP Media’s shared core values:

• Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity.
• Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust.
• Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Experience & Track Record: Proven track record of leading large-scale, enterprise or multi-market client portfolios within a media agency environment.
• Senior Team Leadership: Demonstrable success in leading multi-tiered teams, driving high team retention, talent development, and operational resource planning.
• Commercial & Pitch Capability: Proven record of supporting new business and growing organic client revenue, with a strong understanding of agency commercial models.
• Platform Mastery & JBPs: In-depth, expert-level knowledge of major advertising platforms (Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads Manager, Pinterest Ads Manager, Snap, LinkedIn) alongside experience managing platform partner relationships and JBPs.
• Advanced Measurement & Effectiveness: Proven capability in implementing sophisticated measurement frameworks including incrementality / lift testing.
• Executive Communication & Influence: Outstanding verbal, written, and pitch presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex strategic narratives effortlessly.
• Strategic Portfolio Management: Masterful organizational skills with the ability to balance competing strategic priorities, client accounts, and agency-wide initiatives seamlessly.

Preferred Skills & Qualifications:

• Experience in paid social media.
• Platform certifications (e.g., Meta Blueprint, TikTok Certifications).

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 note this is a UK based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location

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