Associate Director, Project Management 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.

About MFG

Made For Google (MFG) is a bespoke team within WPP that delivers on our commitment to Google for a more strategic, creative and integrated marketing media approach established to drive better business results. The MFG team is made up of best-in-class experts across creative, production, and media who work together to drive holistic marketing impact for Google. Powered by the WPP network, our team operates in a seamlessly integrated way across strategy, planning, creative, production, media, and analytics.

About the role

As part of a larger project management practice group, you will work closely with media SMEs to help drive transformative projects focused on continuous improvement and optimization. This critical role will act as a facilitator and collaborator across workstreams, specialists, and client stakeholders to translate desired outcomes and scope into activities and plans to deliver the required outputs.

One of the primary projects for this role includes leading the end-to-end rollout and adoption of Wrike as the primary workflow / project management tool across MFG. This role focuses on process definition, system architecture, change management, and operational excellence to ensure that MFG teams transition seamlessly to a structured, automated, and unified workflow ecosystem.

Some of the things we’d like you to do:

• Manage the project process from requirements and scoping to project and resources planning.
• Drive communications related to project delivery with internal stakeholders.
• Design and architect bespoke workflows, custom fields, and blueprints within Wrike that reflect MFG's specific service offerings and client delivery models.
• Continuously identify operational inefficiencies and build automated triggers, rules, and workflows within our project management tech stack to remove roadblocks and streamline team execution.
• Facilitate cross-capability integration, ensuring Wrike effectively syncs with other enterprise tools like Google Workspace and financial reporting platforms.
• Act as the primary point of contact for technical support, troubleshooting, and feature requests related to the project management tech stack.
• Monitor system adoption and health, utilizing Wrike's reporting tools to identify bottlenecks and iterate on workflow designs to improve team efficiency.
• Support in developing and executing a comprehensive change management strategy, including internal comms, training sessions, and the creation of "best practice" documentation.

Skills and Experience

• Experience as a project manager, transformation manager, or change manager, preferably in a media agency.
• Proactive, creative, and independent strategic thinker with an impeccable attention to detail and problem identification and solving skills.
• Able to lead through influence and demonstrates strong negotiation skills.
• Ability to prioritize work in order to meet competing deadlines.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and breaking down complex problems into simple solutions.
• Proven track record and a passion for delivering high quality projects on time while providing excellent client service.
• Experience documenting requirements.
• Excellent and proactive communication.
• Ability to balance needs of team and stakeholder expectations and can negotiate as needed to achieve project objectives, timing and deliverables.
• Advanced platform expertise: Technical knowledge as a system administrator or power user in modern work management tools (i.e. Wrike, Asana, Monday.com), alongside proficiency in Google’s suite of office management tools (Gmail, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Hangouts, etc.).
• Proven ability to build out robust processes, complex relational dashboards, and custom fields from scratch rather than relying on out-of-the-box templates.
• Solution-oriented technical mindset: Impeccable attention to detail when configuring tools and platforms, ensuring cross-discipline teams can collaborate seamlessly within the tool.

Some nice-to-have qualities:

• Formal experience managing project teams.
• Previous work experience in both technical and non-technical projects.
• Experience and understanding of digital media delivery process including social, search, app and programmatic.
• API and Integration experience: Previous experience integrating primary project management tools (e.g., Wrike) with other enterprise software to create a fully connected operational ecosystem.
• Data-driven workflow optimization: Experience utilizing the reporting and analytics features within tools like Wrike or Monday.com to audit team performance and iterate on existing processes.

Life at WPP Media & Benefits

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 that while our philosophy is the same across WPP, benefits may vary by office/country. Please note this is a UK based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location.