Senior Social Strategy Director - Lead Teams & Clients

VML, part of WPP, is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and human-first, award-winning work for blue-chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy’s.

We are seeking an accomplished Senior Social Media Director to set the vision and lead our social capability for a leading brand. You’ll be a senior leader within the VML social team, responsible for the strategic direction, team leadership, and client counsel that ensures we deliver truly exceptional social work at scale. This is a role for someone who can see the big picture; connecting business objectives, social innovation, and team development into a cohesive vision.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Vision & Leadership: Set the overarching social vision across your client portfolio, ensuring all work ladders up to client business objectives and represents the best of what social can offer.
• Client Counsel: Serve as a senior trusted advisor to client stakeholders, continuously counselling on opportunities, risks, and effectiveness in social.
• Team Leadership & Development: Lead, mentor, and develop a team of social specialists across disciplines.
• Business Growth: Identify opportunities for growth on current business and develop plans to win.
• Capability Building: Identify opportunities to improve and evolve VML’s social offerings.
• Cross-Agency Collaboration: Foster strong relationships with senior leaders across VML.
• Agency Stewardship: Represent VML’s expertise and core values to clients, vendors, partner agencies, and industry groups/publications.

The ideal candidate will:

• Be an established social media leader with significant experience directing social strategy and delivery for major brands.
• Have a proven ability to set vision and inspire teams to deliver against it.
• Be a natural relationship builder who can adapt their communication style to influence a wide variety of senior stakeholders.
• Foster an environment that rewards innovation, welcomes risk-taking, and values diverse perspectives.
• Be adept at navigating complexity, managing multiple clients, teams, and priorities simultaneously.
• Have a nuanced perspective on social marketing built from wide-ranging experience and continuous learning.
• Be passionate about growing people, capabilities, and business in equal measure.
• Be a proactive and results-oriented leader with a strong work ethic and commitment to excellence.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Extensive experience in a senior social leadership role within an advertising/marketing agency or major brand.
• Proven track record of leading social strategy and delivery for large, complex client accounts.
• Demonstrated experience building, managing, and developing high-performing teams.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience contributing to business growth and pitch activity.
• Expert-level understanding of social platforms, emerging technologies, and the evolving social landscape.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills at senior/board level.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams across multiple disciplines.
• A degree of some sort will help us understand your background and point of view.

What’s in it for you?

• A generous annual leave allowance and pension allowances.
• Access to a whole host of other benefits and activities such as Life Assurance, Permanent Health Insurance, BUPA, Flexible hybrid-working schedule, Enhanced family-friendly policies, Well-being Programme, Employee Assistance Support, Cycle to Work Scheme, Eye Care and Glasses Vouchers, Season Ticket Loans, WPP Discounts.
• A clear long-term career development plan and access to our learning and development activities and online learning platforms.

VML is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, colour, religion or belief, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, military/veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability.