Optimisation Principal in London

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 experienced and visionary leader to spearhead our clients' experimentation-led growth initiatives. The Optimisation Principal will be responsible for defining and driving the overall growth strategy in partnership with our client, cultivating a culture of rapid learning, and ensuring sustainable business impact through a rigorous, data-driven approach.

What you’ll be doing:

• Principal lead for all global Optimisation activity: Serve as the Principal lead for all global Optimisation activities, overseeing daily operations and strategic direction for the client. Develop a deep understanding of the client's business landscape and challenges to identify and drive high-impact, growth-focused solutions. Manage program resources, budgets, and timelines, ensuring the successful, on-schedule, and in-scope delivery of both tactical and strategic initiatives. Leverage a strong commercial acumen to optimise resource allocation, monitor throughput, and rigorously track Return on Investment (ROI). Contribute to strategic forecasting and provide comprehensive performance reporting. Cultivate and maintain robust, strategic relationships with all client stakeholders across global regions.
• Optimisation strategy: Champion Experimentation-Led Growth (ELG) across the organisation, fostering a mindset that moves beyond mere 'optimisation' to establish robust, evidence-driven operating systems. Define and implement a comprehensive ELG framework, methodologies, and best practices. Lead cross-functional teams to design, execute, and analyse experiments that drive key business metrics. Develop and scale an infrastructure for continuous testing, learning, and iteration. Translate complex data insights into actionable strategies that ensure sustained business impact.
• Technical planning and delivery: Lead the technical planning and execution of all optimisation programs, leveraging in-depth knowledge of the underlying technology stack. This includes advanced experimentation platforms, comprehensive analytics suites, Content Management Systems (CMSs), Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), and sophisticated recommendation and personalisation engines. Architect integrated solutions by understanding the capabilities, limitations, and interoperability of these technologies, ensuring they are strategically deployed to maximise impact and deliver against growth objectives.

What we want from you:

• Visionary Leadership & Strategic Thinking: Transform complex business challenges into growth-focused optimisation strategies; set ambitious goals, build roadmaps, and understand the market. Act as an influencer, fostering experimentation and continuous improvement; adept at leading, mentoring, communicating across levels, and driving change. Instil an Experimentation-Led Growth mindset, moving beyond basic A/B testing to a systemic, evidence-driven approach with scientific rigor and strong hypothesis generation. Navigate diverse market needs, cultural nuances, and regional complexities to implement effective global strategies.
• Deep Technical Expertise & Architectural Acumen: Profound knowledge of optimisation technologies and their integration for growth initiatives, including Experimentation Platforms (e.g., Adobe Target, Optimizely), Analytics Suites (e.g., GA4, Adobe Analytics, Amplitude), Content Management Systems (CMSs) (e.g., AEM, Sitecore), Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) (e.g., Segment, Tealium), Recommendation & Personalisation Engines (e.g., Dynamic Yield, Braze). Design integrated solutions, demonstrating how platforms work together seamlessly for business outcomes. Strong understanding of data infrastructure related to experimentation.
• Flawless Execution & Program Management: Manage large-scale global programs: Meticulous planning, execution, and oversight, ensuring on-time, on-budget delivery. Proficiency in agile/waterfall methodologies, resource allocation, and risk management. Define and implement efficient processes and repeatable frameworks for experimentation, technical delivery, and reporting.
• Data-Driven Acumen & Commercial Focus: Drive data-driven decisions: Leverage insights to identify opportunities, validate hypotheses, measure impact, and recommend strategy. Strong analytical skills, statistical understanding for A/B testing, and complex dataset interpretation. Sharp commercial acumen: Understand financial implications, tie initiatives to measurable ROI, and proficiency in forecasting & budgeting. Excel at performance reporting and compelling storytelling for diverse audiences.
• Exceptional Client & Stakeholder Partnership: Build strong global client relationships: Act as a trusted advisor, practicing active listening and expert expectation management. Collaborate seamlessly: Work across product, engineering, marketing, and data science teams, influencing without direct authority.

What we can offer you: Alongside the opportunity to work with some of the most exciting brands around the world, we’ll also prioritise your career development and help you grow your skills. We’ll empower you to make a difference, allow you to be yourself, and respect who you are. We offer a great benefits package including a discretionary bonus scheme, training opportunities, competitive pension, medical insurance, life assurance, social events, opportunities to buy and sell holidays, family-friendly policies, discounts with hundreds of retailers and much more.

Our culture thrives on our core values, designed for impact-driven individuals: Heart, Brains and Courage. We lead with Heart, fostering empathy and trust where genuine connections and human-centric work flourish. We empower your Brains for innovation, valuing relentless curiosity and collaborative intelligence to solve complex challenges. And we champion Courage, inspiring you to speak up, embrace experimentation, and advocate for bold solutions that push our thinking to be better than yesterday.

VML 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.