CIO Ogilvy & AKQA Group

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

Working at WPP means being part of a global network of more than 115,000 accomplished people in 110 countries. WPP has headquarters in New York, London and Singapore and a corporate presence in major markets worldwide.

We create transformative ideas and outcomes for our clients through an integrated offer of communications, experience, commerce, and technology.

WPP and our award-winning agencies work with most of the world's biggest companies and organisations – from Ford, Unilever and P&G to Google, HSBC, and the UN. Our clients include 61 of the FTSE 100, 307 of the Fortune Global 500, all 30 of the Dow Jones 30 and 62 of the NASDAQ 100. WPP are the leader in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index and 20th in the FTSE 100 rankings for Women on Boards.

WPP is currently driving the industry’s largest business transformation across the marketing and advertising sector.  Dominic Shine has recently joined as our Global CIO and is driving a major transformation of our Enterprise Technology capabilities across the group.  Key to this transformation is the strengthening of the Global Enterprise Technology Leadership Team and the introduction of a new operating model which will see 2500+ technology professionals across the group come together to form an integrated global team that services and enables the ongoing transformation of our agencies and functions.

Along the journey we will ensure WPP Technology is a destination for tech talent, modernise our ways of working, shift to cloud and micro-service-based architectures, drive automation, digitise colleague and client experiences and deliver insight from WPP’s petabytes of data.

The CIO for Ogilvy & AKQA Group will align the agency strategies, roadmaps and ways of working with the other agencies under the Creative Archetype to ensure consistency across the creative brands in delivering market-leading, fit-for-purpose technology. The role will drive technology transformation, implement the future structure and embed new ways of working for Ogilvy & AKQA teams supporting those business units to own transformation and strategic outcomes.

This will be achieved by establishing strong working relationships with senior stakeholders across agencies, partners and technology teams to ensure strategies are aligned, demand is managed, cost is monitored, services are delivered, and value and impact are realised.

In our new operating model, you will lead and deliver within a matrix environment to ensure accountability to our agencies and collaboration between teams.  

Key Responsibilities:

 Strategic Leadership & Relationship Management

• Partner with and report to the CIO – Creative agencies to develop and deliver a technology strategy, and a roadmap of long-term (3-5 years) and short-term (1-2 years) plans which aligns with WPP’s vision and goals.
• Advocate the adoption of enterprise platforms while managing a portfolio of agency-specific solutions. Leading and empowering cross-functional teams to collaborate and deliver together.
• Cultivate and manage strong relationships with agency leaders, understanding demand and translating them into technology solutions that deliver reliable and cost-effective services.
• Lead and drive opportunities for greater efficiency through platform, process and resource optimisation.
• Lead and drive implementation of ‘target’ structure, culture and ways of working.
• In conjunction with the CIO – Creative, lead a CIO team to deliver technology transformation within your agency cluster, fostering a culture of simplification and continuous improvement.
• Lead on mergers, acquisitions and divestments within your respective agency group, defining technology, data strategy and transformation in partnership with relevant teams.
• Co-develop with Corporate CIO, a Technology Investment Roadmap, monitoring investment impact and value for your agency.

Team Leadership & Development 

• Ensure the Ogilvy & AKQA technology team has the right skills and capabilities, with WPP’s strategic direction, developing a workforce plan to attract, recruit, retain and develop capability globally.
• Provide task/activity direction to your CIO team and management oversight for TechOps Leads, Data Lead and Risk & Compliance. Due to our matrix structure, you will share management responsibility with another LT member.
• Proactively mentor and foster professional growth and career development for your CIO team.

Agency Platforms & Solution Architecture 

• Collaborate with respective CIOs and TechOps to identify, recommend, develop, implement, and support cost-effective technology solutions.
  • Create and deliver an agency-level technology roadmap, and manage an associated portfolio, for agency-specific platforms to deliver innovation and efficiency.
  • Partner with the Corporate CIO to ensure consistency and consolidation across agency platforms and adoption of enterprise platforms, aligning agency and enterprise roadmaps.
  • Work closely with WPP Tech leadership peers to create strategy that enables adoption of enterprise and business platforms across agencies alongside agency-based platforms.

Technology Demand Management & Programme Oversight

• Provide effective input into WPPs Technology transformation by providing context, risks and insights into your agency areas.
• Collaborate effectively with technology functions to ensure alignment across functions, leverage shared expertise, and drive enterprise-wide initiatives for your agency group.
• Meet agency technology demand through advisory/ engagement and end-to-end ownership of delivery across all functions
• Oversee development of technology business cases for new demand across regions and markets, ensuring savings are met and actions are taken to resolve issues about value creation.
• Oversee demand forecasting, planning and management, following governance requirements.
• Oversee the monitoring and reporting of demand performance, risk, and impact.

Financial Planning & Management 

• Conduct annual financial planning for Ogilvy & AKQA technology spend, global and functional targets and balancing demand and supply.
• Forecast, plan, submit and monitor your budget, providing support and insights for WPP’s overall Technology budget
• Oversee business case spend and manage financial targets; drive value realisation from respective platforms/ projects/ processes within the tower.
• Establish and monitor success metrics and KPIs, measuring technology strategic impact and value.

TechOps & Operational Service Assurance 

• Oversee assurance of service and address service demand; ensure effective collaboration with TechOps to establish robust means of service delivery and conflict resolution.
• Oversee assurance of technology risk and compliance for Ogilvy & AKQA

Experience

• 10 or more years technology business partnering; significant experience in the Advertising and Communications Sector; several years’ experience of leading global teams.

Skills 

• Technology leadership: extensive experience in technology leadership roles, demonstrating a deep understanding of the advertising and communications industry and experience of global team management and its unique environment.
• Strategy development and business planning: Experience in developing and executing successful technology strategies that align with business goals and drive tangible results including portfolio financial/budget planning and effective value/benefits tracking.
• Strategic Demand & Portfolio Management: Ability to translate complex business demand into effective technology solutions.
• Passion for technology and its power to transform businesses, coupled with a strong understanding of emerging trends and their potential impact.

Behaviours

• Collaborative Leadership:  Ability to positively influence without direct authority, leading and motivating teams within shared reporting structures.
• Crystal-Clear Communication: Promote transparent communication, actively listening to build agreement across diverse groups., ensuring clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations across teams. Able to encourage constructive dialogue to resolve differences.
• Empowerment & Accountability: Foster a culture of shared accountability, empowering team members to take ownership and make decisions while driving collective success.
• Navigating Complexity: Demonstrates flexibility in leadership style, managing competing priorities and dependencies. This requires empathy and perseverance to navigate complex relationship dynamics inherent to a matrix organisation. 
• Strategic & Systems Thinking: Understand the interconnectedness of teams and functions, anticipating the broader impact of decisions and optimizing resource allocation across the entire technology landscape. 

 

 

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