Director, Advancement - Strategic Operations

2868 - Director, Advancement (Strategic Operations)  - UK

Department:  WPP Media Group Operations 

Reports To:  VP, Advancement

Location: London, UK  

About WPP Media

WPP Media is WPP’s global media collective. In a world where media is everywhere and in everything, we bring the best platform, AI, Data, People and partners together to create limitless opportunities for growth. For more information, visit www.wppmedia.com

The UK is the largest market within the WPP Media EMEA region, with over 4,500 people employed within the WPP Media ecosystem. Marquee UK key clients include the likes of Amazon, UK Government, BT, Tesco, Coca Cola, Bayer, Dell, Unilever, M&S, Ford, Nestle, Mazda, Danone and Colgate. We have a bold ambition: to make WPP Media UK the undisputed leader in our industry. We are evolving our business operating model, our ways of working and placing data, technology and AI at the heart of everything we do for our people and our clients. 

ONE WPP – Vision '30

Join us in shaping the future of our industry with Vision '30 – our ambitious strategy to lead in the AI era. We are revolutionizing our business to unlock limitless growth opportunities for our clients and ourselves, built on four core priorities:

1. Collaboration: Foster unprecedented levels of data collaboration across WPP and partners through WPP Open, turning every channel into a smarter opportunity.
2. Data & Technology: Leverage our AI-powered Open Intelligence solution, connecting vast data to uncover unique insights, deliver predictive performance and superior brand experiences through our globally consistent DPAM process.
3. Innovation: Drive true innovation by generating intelligence from trillions of privacy-by-default data points, focusing on the 'why' behind customer behaviour to create unparalleled competitive advantages.
4. People: Developing future-ready talent involves evolving our focus from traditional media planning to strategic business outcomes, advanced technology and real-time measurable results, as AI increasingly automates media investment by 2030

We empower ambitious experts to deliver extraordinary work by challenging ordinary thinking. If you are passionate about an AI-driven future, thrive in a collaborative and data-centric environment, and are driven to deliver unparalleled growth, we invite you to be part of our transformative journey.

WPP Media is a single client centric company with a portfolio of go to market brands. Wavemaker, EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and T&P are our agency teams, these house multiple local and global clients.  In addition, we have several dedicated client brands, such as OpenDoor (Amazon), MFG (Google), OpenMind (Nestle), OpenConnect (BT/EE) and Media Futures Group (Google).  All of these teams are supported by consistent capabilities, enterprise level tools and systems and our market leading OPEN platform.

About WPP Media Group Operations:  WPP Media Group Operations is a central function within WPP, dedicated to driving operational excellence and efficiency across the business. The team is an enabling function for WPP Media, supporting our client facing teams to transform their capabilities and deliver a seamless service for their clients. Committed to providing best-in-class services and solutions to our clients, enabling them to achieve their business objectives through innovative and effective media strategies. We foster a collaborative and dynamic environment where individuals can thrive and contribute to the success of the organization.

Role Summary

As a Director in the Advancement team, you are a senior leader responsible for operationalizing our innovation agenda. Reporting to the Lead of Advancement, you will take the conceptual, future-focused ideas from our strategic roadmap and transform them into structured pilot programs and proof-of-concepts.

Your mission is to own these critical innovation projects from design through to initial delivery and analysis. You will be responsible for testing new AI capabilities, piloting new global delivery models, and proving the value of emerging technologies. This is a key strategic role that requires a blend of creative thinking, analytical rigor, and disciplined project delivery to turn visionary ideas into data-backed business cases, ready for wider rollout.

Skills & Attributes

The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker with a passion for innovation and a proven ability to manage ambiguous, forward-looking projects from concept to completion.

Innovation & Strategy

• Conceptual Thinker: The ability to take a broad, visionary idea and break it down into a testable hypothesis, a structured project plan, and clear success metrics.
• Analytical Mindset: Strong analytical skills to design pilot programs with robust measurement frameworks and to analyze the results to determine business impact, ROI, and scalability.
• Market Curiosity: A genuine passion for staying ahead of industry trends, with a deep interest in emerging technologies like AI and their practical application in a business context.

Project & Stakeholder Management

• Ambiguity Navigation: The ability to manage innovation projects from start to finish, creating structure, clear plans, and milestones where none existed before.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: A talent for building coalitions and working with diverse teams (e.g., Technology, Finance, People) to get pilot projects off the ground and secure their expert contribution.
• Influential Communication: The ability to articulate the goals, progress, and outcomes of innovation projects to a wide range of stakeholders, including senior leadership, building excitement and buy-in along the way.

Candidate Requirements

• 8-10+ years of experience in a role focused on innovation, business transformation, strategy, or internal consulting.
• Proven experience taking conceptual ideas and turning them into tangible projects, pilot programs, or new business capabilities.
• Strong project management skills, with experience managing complex, ambiguous projects in an innovation or R&D context.
• Excellent business analysis and financial modeling skills, with experience building business cases and measuring the impact of new initiatives.
• Familiarity with emerging technologies like AI/automation and a deep understanding of how they can be applied to drive business value.

Measures of Success

• Within 6 Months: You will have taken ownership of one or two key innovation initiatives from the Advancement roadmap. You will have designed and launched a structured pilot program for your primary initiative, complete with clear goals, metrics, a project plan, and strong engagement from supporting teams.
• Within 12 Months: You will have completed your first major pilot program, delivering a comprehensive analysis of the results to senior leadership. This will include a clear recommendation on the initiative's potential for wider rollout and a refined business case based on real-world data. You will be recognized as a key leader in driving the innovation agenda, successfully translating vision into proven concepts.

WPP Media Values: 

WPP media is an equal opportunity employer. We view everyone as an individual and we understand that inclusion is more than just diversity – it's about belonging. We celebrate the fact that everyone is unique and that's what makes us so good at what we do. We pride ourselves on being a company that embraces difference and truly represents the global clients we work with.

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 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. 

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