Director, Strategy

3720 - Director, Strategy

Role Summary and Impact

This is a fantastic opportunity to join WPP Media as a Strategy Director, shaping ambitious, insight-led media strategies that unlock growth for our clients. You will be a senior strategic partner, challenging the status quo, defining the role of communications and media in solving business problems, and turning complex opportunities into clear, compelling direction. Working across WPP Media, Production, Creative and Enterprise, you will lead annual planning and major brief responses, inspire award-winning thinking, and ensure strategies translate into distinctive, effective activation.

As the ultimate storyteller, you will author influential narratives, bring a clear point of view to clients and teams, and build trusted relationships across partner agencies. You will also champion data, technology, analytics, digital, performance and commerce, while creating a culture of learning, experimentation and high standards. Alongside client impact, you will contribute to agency growth through new business, incremental revenue opportunities and the development of future-facing strategic talent.

Key Responsibilities

• Media strategy and planning: Define the business challenge and the role communications and media can play in solving it. Lead annual planning and major brief responses, pushing the work to be distinctive, creative and award-worthy.
• Insight and discovery: Identify actionable audience, market and cultural insights that guide strategy, implementation, creativity and activation. Find the tension, jeopardy or opportunity in every brief and define clear sources of growth.
• Implementation, creativity and activation: Translate strategy into an integrated media approach covering channels, audiences, phasing, messaging and budgets. Advance earned, shared, owned and paid thinking, introducing new partners and approaches where they add value.
• Learning and measurement: Build a culture of continuous learning and experimentation. Oversee client measurement frameworks and establish clear planning and buying principles for the client or category.
• Data, technology and analytics: Ensure clients have a clear strategy for applying data, technology and analytics. Champion WPP Open and AI tools, and oversee the client’s Data Growth Plan and maturity.
• Digital, performance and commerce: Advance high-performing digital strategies that help clients grow, while increasing maturity across digital, performance and commerce.
• Communication and presentation: Shape compelling narratives for key presentations and special projects. Maintain the highest standards of strategic output and actively contribute points of view and provocations internally and externally.
• Commerciality and new business: Identify incremental revenue and profitability opportunities, take relevant products and propositions to clients, and play a leading role in new business pitches.
• People and culture: Challenge and inspire client leadership and planning teams. Coach and nurture junior and high-potential planners, strengthening strategic and planning craft across the agency.
• Client and agency relationships: Become a trusted partner to senior clients and build strong, integrated relationships with creative, social, measurement and other specialist agency partners.

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 and 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 and cultivating trust.
• Lead Optimistically by championing growth and development to mobilise the enterprise.
• Significant experience developing integrated media and communications strategies within an agency, consultancy or client environment.
• A strong understanding of marketing, advertising and the wider media ecosystem, including commercial, creative, audience, budget and measurement considerations.
• A track record of converting insight into clear strategic direction and effective activation across paid, owned, earned and shared channels.
• Confidence working with data, analytics, technology and AI-enabled planning tools to improve decisions and client outcomes.
• Strong knowledge of digital, performance and commerce, with the ability to connect these disciplines to broader brand and growth objectives.
• Exceptional written, verbal and presentation skills, with the ability to simplify complexity and influence senior stakeholders.
• Commercial acumen and experience identifying growth opportunities, developing proposals and contributing to or leading pitches.
• Strong people leadership, coaching and collaboration skills, with a commitment to developing diverse, high-performing teams.
• Excellent judgement, attention to detail and the ability to prioritise and remain calm across multiple high-profile projects.
• Honesty, integrity, curiosity and a constructive desire to find a better way.

Measures of Success

• Positive client feedback on strategy, planning, insight, measurement, experimentation and customer understanding.
• Strategic work recognised through relevant UK media, effectiveness and channel awards.
• Regular adoption of WPP Open and appropriate AI tools, alongside measurable progress in clients’ data maturity.
• Growth in digital scope and profitability, supported by strong client satisfaction scores.
• At least two proactive commercial proposals and meaningful contribution to at least one new business pitch annually.
• Strong feedback from clients, colleagues and partners, together with positive team engagement and year-end development outcomes.

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 and 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 employee resource groups and frequent in-office events that showcase team wins, share thought leadership and celebrate 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 an 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 read our Privacy Notice for more information on how we process the information you provide. While we appreciate all applications received, only candidates selected for interview will be contacted.

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