Network Connector Director 12 month FTC (Parental Leave) (London)

About WPP Media

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit wpp.com.

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

About Mindshare: A Leading WPP Media Brand

Mindshare delivers Good Growth for its clients. As “Growth Architects,” we drive growth that benefits all stakeholders — better for people, planet, and business — by using media with intention. This approach creates more meaningful connections with consumers, increases consumer trust in the brand, and delivers better outcomes for all stakeholders.

Role Summary and Impact

The Network Connector and Strategist is a crucial member of Mindshare’s global client team, working with client, global and local teams to centralise local market insight and successfully land global work in local markets. The Network Connector is the key contact with our local media agency network, acting as the conduit for global-to-local and local-to-global knowledge transfer, orchestrating regular communications and updates across the network. They are the go-to person for global clients and team strategists seeking local market intel and analysis.

You will work with the Global Strategy Partner and Director to fuel global media strategies for Unilever Beauty & Wellbeing global brands (Dove, TRESemme, Simple, Sunsilk, Vaseline) with local market category, competitive and community insights. You will ensure the effective cascade of global brand strategies into local markets and analyze local campaign utilization of global brand strategy and campaign effectiveness (ROI, Adstock, etc).

Responsibilities

• Centralisation of Local Market Knowledge: Establish and maintain a centralised repository of local market knowledge for Unilever's Beauty and Wellbeing business, including planning documents, campaign performance data, research findings, and key learnings. Foster a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration between global and local teams. Lead the creation of local market media landscapes to fuel global media planning and partner selection.
• Insight Mining & Localisation of Worldbuilding: Lead the effort to extract actionable insights from local markets to fuel worldbuilding and strategic planning for Unilever's Beauty and Wellbeing brands – across commerce, community, category and culture. Collaborate with local teams to understand how global communities and passions translate across different cultures and regions for Unilever's Beauty and Wellbeing brands. Identify potential spaces and opportunities for Unilever's Beauty and Wellbeing brands to engage with local communities in meaningful ways. Work with specialist functions within Mindshare, especially the insights and innovation specialists, to create compelling audience and channel insights. Be an expert at using global tools to mine for audience, category and competitive insight. Translate local insights into compelling narratives and strategic recommendations for global initiatives for Unilever's Beauty and Wellbeing brands.
• Portfolio Prioritization & Local Market Requests: Own Portfolio Prioritisation requests to work with cross-functional global and local teams to determine how various [brand / campaign] messages should be balanced in market. Have an analyst mindset and the ability to collate and mine large datasets into actionable implications for brands and markets. Lead senior client requests for local market data collation and analysis as it relates to media performance, reporting and planning.
• Closing the Loop with Local Markets: Establish and maintain a clear communication channel between global and local teams working on Unilever's Beauty and Wellbeing brands. Ensure that local markets are informed of global strategies, initiatives, and key decisions related to Unilever's Beauty and Wellbeing brands. Solicit feedback from local markets on global initiatives and incorporate their input into future planning for Unilever's Beauty and Wellbeing brands. Communicate the impact of local market insights on global strategies and campaigns for Unilever's Beauty and Wellbeing brands.

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.

Knowledge: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business Administration, or a related field. Proven media agency experience, within local market or global networks, working on large (multi-national) clients. Accelerate knowledge of Mindshare, including the skills and services available and the key people who deliver those services across the wider Unilever Central Team, the regional/local Centres of Excellence and the Mindshare network. Awareness and understanding of research tools, including Mindshare proprietary tools, syndicated services and publicly available data. Up-to-date knowledge of media owners, content owners, production agencies, research companies and other suppliers which Mindshare and our clients can partner with. Excellence in communication, organisation and client management. Given the global footprint of the Unilever business across 70+ markets, a second language is a bonus but not essential but an openness to learn and build upon the great work of others is vital.

Key Attributes: Curious about humans; what makes them tick, what makes them connect. Curious about channels; new, old and changing, always asking how we can break the mould of how things may have been. Always looking for creative new and exciting ways to bring brands to audiences. For the extra ‘spark’ or stretch in the plan that may not be expected. Challenging themselves and others to consider if there is a new way, a better way or an uncharted way to solve business challenges. Is analytical and able to work with large data sets and mine information for actionable insight.

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.