SVP, Commercial - WPP Media UK

1743 - SVP Commercial – WPP Media UK

Reporting to: WPP Media UK Chief Commercial Finance Officer (CCFO)

About WPP Media

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

The UK is the largest market within the WPP Media EMEA region, with over 4,500 people employed within the WPP Media ecosystem. Marquee UK key clients include the likes of Amazon, UK Government, BT, Tesco, Coca Cola, Bayer, Dell, Unilever, M&S, Ford, Nestle, Mazda, Danone and Colgate. We have a bold ambition: to make WPP Media UK the undisputed leader in our industry. We are evolving our business operating model, our ways of working and placing data, technology and AI at the heart of everything we do for our people and our clients.

ONE WPP – Vision '30

Join us in shaping the future of our industry with Vision '30 – our ambitious strategy to lead in the AI era. We are revolutionizing our business to unlock limitless growth opportunities for our clients and ourselves, built on four core priorities:

1. Collaboration: Foster unprecedented levels of data collaboration across WPP and partners through WPP Open, turning every channel into a smarter opportunity.
2. Data & Technology: Leverage our AI-powered Open Intelligence solution, connecting vast data to uncover unique insights, deliver predictive performance and superior brand experiences through our globally consistent DPAM process.
3. Innovation: Drive true innovation by generating intelligence from trillions of privacy-by-default data points, focusing on the 'why' behind customer behaviour to create unparalleled competitive advantages.
4. People: Developing future-ready talent involves evolving our focus from traditional media planning to strategic business outcomes, advanced technology and real-time measurable results, as AI increasingly automates media investment by 2030

WPP Media is a single client centric company with a portfolio of go to market brands. Wavemaker, EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and T&P are our agency teams, these house multiple local and global clients. In addition, we have several dedicated client brands, such as OpenDoor (Amazon), MFG (Google), OpenMind (Nestle), OpenConnect (BT/EE) and Media Futures Group (Google). All of these teams are supported by consistent capabilities, enterprise level tools and systems and our market leading OPEN platform.

Role Summary and Impact

In partnership with WPP Media U.K. CCFO, Head of Commercial Growth and Agency Client President(s) and as part of the wider UK Commercial team, this position is integral to evolve, stabilise and grow our business within the highly competitive media landscape. The successful candidate will possess a robust set of problem-solving and analytical skills, coupled with an exceptional aptitude for influencing and collaborating effectively with senior internal and external stakeholders.

Commercial growth of WPP Media is the responsibility of the whole Commercial team. Our overall approach to new business at WPP Media UK is led by our Head of Commercial Growth. However, this role would contribute to that growth via delivering organic growth on existing clients and leading on certain new business opportunities.

The Senior Vice President (SVP) is a critical, impactful leader within WPP Media, demanding deep expertise and strong leadership. They will relentlessly optimise and innovate within their domain, translating high-level strategy into actionable plans, ensuring operational excellence and robust performance. This role involves executing strategic initiatives whilst tackling complex problems within defined strategic boundaries. Ultimately, their strong performance and impactful decisions directly contribute to critical functional goals, supporting our objectives and competitive advantage.

• Build & evolve commercial propositions for a portfolio of our existing clients (in conjunction with CCFO, Head of Commercial Growth & Investment teams) that maximises growth and profitability for WPP Media and its clients:
  • Pricing of team structures
  • Pricing vs benchmarks
  • Solutions and trading mix
  • Performance related fees and other incentive mechanisms
  • Liaise with client legal and procurement teams, g. during the contract drafting and review process; and
  • Manage other ad-hoc needs such as Local Market Addendums, Opt-in Agreements, NDA’s

• Finance, Commercial & Strategic business partner to an Agency Client President, to include proactive management of a portfolio of existing client accounts, providing commercial and financial support to the relevant client teams. For these clients, lead on:
  • Annual net sales target setting by account and timely tracking of performance versus target, ensuring alignment with CCFO and Head of Commercial Growth
  • Commercial elements of the quarterly business review process
  • Maximising the penetration of WPP Media services and solutions; and
  • Maintain close relationship with the client team to identify and manage potential issues, and offer commercial solutions / mitigations where relevant
  • Provide strategic counsel to the Agency President on the growth and evolution of client portfolio
• Drive commercial innovation and partner with the UK CCFO, Head of Commercial Growth in the evolution of the WPP Media UK Commercial offer.
• Actively pitch agreed new commercial offers to targeted clients to drive forward this change in Commercial approach
• Drive the pre-month end meetings in partnership with FP&A and Reporting & Controllership to ensure delivery against forecast
• Partner with FP&A to maintain an accurate rolling forecast for your clients, including the ownership of commentary for material variances as part of the Net Sales Tracker process
• Partner with Compliance and relevant stakeholders to drive improvements to OMI management, pass-back and release
• Monitoring and escalation of client working capital related balances for your portfolio of clients, partnering with the finance operations and controllership teams
• Negotiate and manage payment terms to the commercial advantage of WPP When necessary, prepare net working capital business cases (for extended payment terms) for Market CFO and Global CFO review and approval
• Partner with Resource Management to maintain appropriate staffing levels on your portfolio of clients, reviewing requests from the business to change staffing levels (e.g. replacement or new roles) prior to Market CFO, CCFO
• Scrutinise client profitability reporting and forecasting on your portfolio of clients, understand variances to planned staffing plan / profitability and take actions to optimise client Engage client leadership to drive to better client profitability and critically appraise time booked on your clients.
• Partner with the business to maximise the use of Understand and escalate offshore service issues to support continuous improvement
• Review of forecast and budget projections for your portfolio of clients to check for deliverability, and to ensure that significant risks and opportunities are understood and flagged
• Partner with the client and MM&D teams to maximise performance on performance related incentives
• Proactively track and manage unsecured credit exposure on your portfolio of Prepare Internal Credit Limit submissions where Coface credit insurance is not available.
• Support market-level transformation efforts that are relevant to your client portfolio, g. legal entity rationalisation and the resultant transfer of client contracts to WPP Media UK Limited.
• Partner with Commercial Compliance to ensure successful and timely delivery of client audits
• Partner in championing standardization across data, processes, and tools, including developing templates for new business pitches and streamlining financial reporting for all Clients.
• Partner in the development of tools and systems to provide critical financial and operational information to the management team and make actionable recommendations on both strategy and operations.
• Line management of your commercial finance team, including leading the annual review process for these individuals, pay reviews, personal development and training.

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.

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