Business Director, Social in London

About WPP Media

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships – all united by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open – we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth. WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working.

Role Summary and Impact

We are seeking an experienced Paid Social Business Director for our prestigious automotive client account for UK and Overseas Markets. This role will sit within the wider activation team and be integral to the paid social output of the team. The Paid Social Business Director provides day-to-day leadership to the client and the team. You will advance the Paid Social maturity for our esteemed automotive client account, be proactive, drive innovation, ensure teams within the network adhere to their roles and responsibilities so that the campaigns outperform media quality and performance KPIs.

Key Responsibilities:

• Drive Paid Social Roadmap and foster a community
• Partner with Regional and Global WPP teams to drive the overall Paid Social capability across the region.
• Accelerate Paid Social maturity across audience, creative and measurement.
• Curate a regional Paid Social roadmap that all teams (London, Poland Offshore and Paid Social champions in 5 markets) work towards.
• Lead regional Paid Social reviews with the regional Paid Social client.
• Facilitate strong internal community working on Paid Social across region.
• Oversee creation of a campaign testing plan across the region and the dissemination of highlights of the activity across the region.

Overseeing Paid Social Delivery

• Oversee and ensure best-in-class campaign activation across relevant accounts, ensuring campaigns are operating at the highest standard and delivering highest quality output for our clients.
• Ensure that the team is using templates to prove methodologies for optimisation approach for key trading tactics and optimisation logs.
• Escalation points for the team on activation issues and challenges and any conflict between best practice and client requirements and asks.

Client and Partner Management

• Ultimate responsibility of client interaction and the success of the relationship, with a focus on nurturing key strategic relationship, and team operations/deliverables.
• Agree and set business objectives for each client and review campaign performance against these objectives.
• Create/design Paid Social strategy for client portfolio, ensuring strategy is clear and most appropriate to the client's objectives, KPIs and industry.
• Drive growth through spotting new optimisation opportunities, services or products and delivering excellent results.
• Develop strong relationships with media owners and other service providers to guide team in developing their understanding of the ecosystem.
• Drive understanding of the products and solutions that could be relevant for clients that have been developed within the group.

People Management

• The ability to manage, motivate and train individuals, in line with business requirements, resource, and development needs.
• Ensure workloads are managed and prioritised in line with client needs and SLAs, including the Paid Social resource which sits across the markets and in the offshore team.
• To have identified training requirements with Line Manager, and a formal plan for delivery over 12 months.
• To be responsible for the team’s development (their 360’s, and task & objectives), and to be tied into their own objectives.
• Highlight great teamwork, and client initiatives. Demonstrate examples of Paid Social best practice to the wider team, and contribute to department and wider agency communications.

Operational Excellence

• The appropriate use of tools to drive accountability in Paid Social buying, operational efficiencies, and actionable business insights, with the scoping of agreed client outputs.
• Ensure financial accuracy, integrating the planning and buying process, and reconciliation of spends, including client terms and platform fees, via buying templates and processes.
• Maintain standards and process throughout the end-to-end campaign lifecycle.
• Develop productive relationships with key internal departments and help ensure appropriate opportunities through matching client needs to resource and facilitate introductions.
• Understand and promote the function and value of the other departments within the Agency and its partners within the group.

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.

Strong ability to work within a matrix organisation and confidence in managing onshore and offshore teams. Experience in developing and leading client relationships. Exceptional people management skills, including support and development of junior team members. Understanding of core trading platforms, in particular DV360, TTD and Amazon. An understanding of how Paid Social can integrate with other digital and offline channels. Ability to translate technical and complex points to non-technical audiences and coach others to do the same. Ability to develop and execute comprehensive testing roadmaps in the Paid Social space – audience, media, creative.

Life at WPP Media & Benefits

Our passion for shaping the next era of media is powered by our commitment to Be Extraordinary, investing in our employees to inspire transformational creativity. We also Lead Optimistically, firmly believing in and Championing Growth and Development for every individual. This commitment allows WPP Media employees to leverage the extensive global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, build vital professional connections, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising.

We Create an Open environment built on trust and respect, where everyone feels they belong and has opportunities to progress. This inclusive culture is fostered through a variety of employee resource groups and frequent in-office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our comprehensive benefits package reflects this commitment, including 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 believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection in this open and supportive environment. 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.