Director, Intelligence (Strategic Operations)

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.

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:

• Collaboration: Foster unprecedented levels of data collaboration across WPP and partners through WPP Open, turning every channel into a smarter opportunity.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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

The Associate Director is a senior delivery and operational consultancy role within the Intelligence pillar of Strategic Operations. Working closely with the Director, Intelligence, the role will take ownership of defined client and UK-wide workstreams across taxonomy, CCUID adoption, Campaign Governance, data quality and reporting enablement.

The role sits between the Manager and the Director roles. It requires greater independence, judgement and stakeholder leadership than the Manager role, while remaining focused on translating the Intelligence strategy into practical delivery rather than owning the overall strategy or technical capability roadmap.

The Associate Director will lead discovery, shape recommendations, coordinate implementation and drive adoption across Planning, Activation, Analytics, Finance, Data & Technology and product teams. They will create structure within ambiguous environments, proactively manage delivery risks and bring clear options and recommendations to the Director, Intelligence.

Skills & Attributes

• Highly organised and proactive, with the ability to take ownership of multiple workstreams and maintain momentum without constant direction.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to communicate complex subjects clearly and concisely.
• Strong stakeholder management and facilitation skills, with the ability to build trust and bring together teams with different priorities.
• Curious and comfortable asking detailed questions to understand how campaigns, systems, data and reporting processes work in practice.
• Able to create structure from ambiguity, identify root causes and turn complex challenges into practical recommendations.
• Confident sharing ideas, constructively challenging existing approaches and influencing without direct authority.
• Strong attention to detail while retaining sight of wider business, client and reporting outcomes.
• Collaborative, pragmatic and adaptable, with a genuine interest in helping teams adopt better ways of working.
• Able to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, documentation and follow-through.
• Comfortable escalating risks and decisions with clear context, options and a recommended course of action.

Candidate Requirements

Essential Experience

• Experience owning and delivering cross-functional projects or workstreams within media, marketing, operations, transformation, data governance, business intelligence or technology environments.
• Demonstrable experience leading discovery workshops, gathering requirements and mapping end-to-end processes.
• Experience translating business needs into delivery plans, process improvements, governance approaches or technical requirements.
• Strong experience managing senior stakeholders and coordinating activity across teams that do not directly report into the role.
• Experience creating clear playbooks, process documentation, recommendations, status updates or training materials.
• A practical understanding of change adoption, including stakeholder engagement, feedback, training and ongoing improvement.
• Proven ability to independently manage milestones, actions, risks, dependencies and delivery decisions.

Desirable Experience

• Experience of media campaign workflows, including briefing, planning, buying, activation, finance or reporting.
• Exposure to taxonomy, naming conventions, unique identifiers, campaign governance, data quality or compliance monitoring.
• Experience working with Analytics, Data & Technology, engineering or product teams to shape and test solutions.
• Familiarity with WPP Open, Campaign Governance, Campaign Performance, Power BI or comparable workflow and reporting platforms.
• An understanding of how consistent campaign data supports reliable reporting, measurement and operational efficiency.
• Experience coaching junior colleagues or coordinating contributors supporting a wider workstream.

Measures of Success

• Assigned workstreams progress with clear plans, ownership and stakeholder alignment, requiring limited day-to-day intervention from the VP, Intelligence.
• Discovery findings are converted into clear requirements, practical recommendations and implementable next steps.
• Taxonomy, CCUID and Campaign Governance approaches are usable within real team workflows and are consistently understood by relevant stakeholders.
• The appropriate stakeholders, workspaces, access requirements, systems and reporting dependencies are identified early in delivery.
• Planning, Activation, Analytics, Finance, Data & Technology and product teams remain engaged and accountable throughout implementation.
• Risks, blockers and decisions are surfaced early, accompanied by clear options and recommendations.
• Playbooks, implementation guidance and training materials are accurate, practical and reusable across future client rollouts.
• Adoption and data-quality issues are identified, tracked and addressed through agreed follow-up and governance processes.
• Learning from client implementations is captured and used to improve the Intelligence pillar’s repeatable delivery approach.
• The VP, Intelligence has greater capacity to focus on pillar strategy, senior stakeholder alignment and future capability development.

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.

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