Business Director

About WPP Media 

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit wpp.com. 

WPP Media is WPP’s global media collective. In a world where media is everywhere and in everything, we bring the best platform, people, and partners together to create limitless opportunities for growth. For more information, visit wppmedia.com 

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. 

About EssenceMediacom: A Leading WPP Media Brand,

EssenceMediacom is a new breed of media agency. Grounded in analytics & insights and powered by data & technology, we believe in the power of media and creative to drive breakthroughs for the world’s best brands. We help clients understand the modern marketing paradox and discover the breakthroughs brands need to win with their consumers. We are designed for the new communications economy — built on data &

technology, built for people & algorithms, built around diverse schools of thought, built to test & learn at scale, and, crucially, built to evolve.

Role Summary and Impact

Reporting of the role: This role reports to – Client Leader

3 best things about the job: 

• Working with an exciting client known to be bold, ambitious, and creative.
• Working with a passionate, driven, and highly capable team.
• Opportunity to grow and learn with clients that lean forward with innovations.

In this role, your goals will be: 

In 3 months:

• Have a thorough understanding of the clients’ businesses (KPIs, key challenges, and how they differ from other brands).
• Understand the key tools and processes critical to the everyday running of the account.
• Managing the day-to-day output of the team with high quality and high responsiveness to client requests

In 6 months:

• Thorough knowledge of the media landscape of brands handled
• Establish relationships with key media owners.
• Embedded yourself into the internal team and understood the different specialist teams you work with
• Built a strong, collaborative relationship with your clients, acting as the senior contact across clients.
• Improve outputs and presentation of reviews/planning sessions
• Suggest improvements in ways of working or processes of any clients

In 12 months:

• Begin to consult with clients on their business and how EssenceMediaCom can influence business outcomes Drive incremental revenue and drive profitability for the team, including but not limited to fee and contract negotiations.
• Lead and deliver all client responses to brief the team in a strategic way
• Lead planning response from insight and strategy through to execution
• Provide enough and timely feedback/appraisal to direct reports in a thorough and professional manner

What your day job looks like : 

• Managing and being responsive to client requests, appropriately delegating tasks to individual team members.
• Guide team members to develop strategic thinking and media planning skills
• Work closely with the specialist teams to ensure you are up to date with their latest offerings
• Work closely with media partners on responses to briefs or pro-actives.
• Ongoing learning of the client’s category/competitive activity as well as the changing media landscape
• Attending meetings – internal, client and cross-agency
• Attending conferences/seminars to keep up to date with trends, insights, and clients’ business categories.
• Always questioning – using the insights at our disposal, either through the strategy team or business science, consider how this might affect the overall communications for clients.
• Take part in new business pitches and provide insightful and comprehensive communication solutions for the agency and its clients

Skills and Experience

What you’ll bring:

• This is a leadership role requiring proactivity and a determination to create change.
• You are expected to have experience in digital strategy, communications planning, digital consultancy, and execution wherever possible in an agency environment.
• Understanding of programmatic landscape viz, trends, technologies (DMP, DSP, SSP, etc.) – Preferred
• Curiosity – always asking meaningful questions, challenging the brief if necessary
• High attention to detail to ensure the team’s output is of the highest quality
• Proven experience in managing people and ability to adapt management style
• Strong team player
• Ability to navigate difficult client situations/manage expectations in a diplomatic way
• Enterprising – ability to identify and drive revenue opportunities

Minimum qualifications:

• 10-12 years of media agency/marketing/brand management experience
• Strong understanding of Digital media, Digital Planning, Performance marketing
• Leadership skills/potential
• Excellent communication, presentation, and negotiation skills
• Strong analytical skills (quantitative and qualitative)
• Passion for learning and openness to new challenges

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.