Business Director, Implementation Planning

About WPP 650

Join an award-winning team at the heart of UK government, where your work will genuinely shape lives. As part of WPP 650 you’ll be part of a supportive, collaborative environment that values curiosity, kindness, and growth. Together, we use behaviour change principles to design smarter services, influence better decisions, and help millions of people across the country.

Named WPP 650, after the 650 UK constituencies, the name is a reminder that our work must reflect the full breadth of the country, every community, every audience. No two days are the same. The challenges are complex, the problems worth solving, and the learning constant. You’ll tackle issues that matter, alongside talented colleagues who care deeply about what they do. It’s demanding – but always rewarding.

This is meaningful work with real-world impact – the kind you can point to with pride.

Role Summary and Impact

As an Implementational Planning Business Director, you lead integrated media excellence and strategic planning across multiple client accounts. This leadership role drives media transformation, developing our Implementational Planning offering and integrating all media strategies (brand to performance) across digital, traditional, audio, VOD, and AV. You foster innovation, manage commercial aspects, and develop talent, engaging confidently with senior stakeholders. You'll advise clients on adapting strategies within the WPP Open ecosystem, defining processes aligned with the OASIS (objective, audience, strategy, Implementation & scoring) framework, including robust media testing and leveraging WPP Open Intelligence. You oversee client portfolios' soft P&L, drive commercial plans, and ensure PCA insights are integrated into future strategy.

Reporting Structure: Reports to Head of Implementational Planning.

Key Responsibilities

• Line Management: Line manage a team of Account Directors, providing coaching, feedback, and development in integrated media, data analytics, and media testing.
• Strategic Leadership: Lead Implementational Planning evolution, identifying growth opportunities and driving media transformation projects, advising clients on integrated media strategies.
• Profile & Thought Leadership: Elevate Implementational Planning's profile through training, presentations, showcasing successful integrated media and testing initiatives; advise senior leadership on emerging trends.
• Process & Efficiency: Continuously review and improve planning, optimisation, and budget processes within WPP Open (including OASIS), ensuring clear inputs, outputs, and handovers with Comms Planners, Strategists, and activation teams.
• Commercial Acumen: Oversee soft P&L, drive revenue growth, manage team allocations, develop commercial plans, and support new business pitches.
• Relationship & Collaboration: Build strong relationships with senior clients, partners, and internal departments (Data & Analytics, Investment, Strategists, Comms Planners, Activation teams across all channels), ensuring deep collaboration to align implementational and overarching media strategies.
• Client Performance & Innovation: Partner with client teams, Comms Planners, and Strategists to lead integrated media conversations, driving critical projects with emphasis on rigorous media testing and innovation roadmaps.
• Measurement & Learning: Craft learning agendas for media testing, define KPIs, agree on robust reporting infrastructure leveraging WPP Open Intelligence, and integrate PCA insights into future strategy.

Skills and Experience

• Proven planning and buying experience across diverse media channels, with significant leadership and deep understanding of full-funnel brand/performance media.
• Mastery of integrated media strategies (digital, traditional, audio, VOD, AV), demonstrating channel connection and interaction.
• Expertise in designing, implementing, and analysing media testing frameworks, utilising WPP Open Intelligence.
• Passion for new/emerging channels & technologies and their business outcome potential.
• Excellent communication, confidently presenting complex integrated media strategies to senior stakeholders, connecting seamlessly with Comms Planners, Strategists, and wider teams.
• Highly numerate with strong analytical skills, able to interrogate data (e.g., TGI/YouGov, Google Analytics, ad servers, social analytics, data visualization tools), utilising WPP Open Intelligence, for actionable insights and media testing.
• Proven experience leading, coaching, and developing teams, fostering expertise in integrated media planning, data-driven insights, and effective media testing.
• Experience driving organic growth and supporting new business pitches, with an entrepreneurial mindset and understanding of P&L management in multi-channel media.
• Passion for learning, curious, and challenging the status quo, with a proactive, problem-solving approach to media excellence through the WPP Open operating model, and aligned with OASIS principles.

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.

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 particular 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.

Please note this is a UK based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location. Please read our Privacy Notice (https://www.wppmedia.com/pages/privacy-policy) for more information on how we process the information you provide.

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