EMEA Product Lead

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.

Why we're hiring:

At WPP, technology is at the heart of everything we do, and it is WPP Enterprise Technologies' mission to enable everyone to collaborate, create and thrive. WPP Enterprise Technology is undergoing a significant transformation to modernise 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.

As the Regional Product Lead for Media Central, you will be a key driver in this transformation. Media Central is a media system and finance system built on D365 Business Central that services multiple markets in the region.

Your mission will be to create the strategic vision and roadmap for Media Central within your region. This will demand strong product management and business analysis skills, allowing you to deeply understand user needs and the rationale behind them. By carefully evaluating user requests and considering the opportunity cost of system enhancements, you'll ensure maximum return on investment for all development efforts.

Part of your role will involve educating GroupM stakeholders on the value of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach and guiding them towards embracing it. Effective scope management will be crucial to your success.

You will collaborate closely with our vendor to validate solution designs, ensure agreement on the overall product direction, and communicate these designs to GroupM partners. Your goal will be to identify and advocate for the optimal solution that drives the product vision forward.

We ask that you have a unique blend of knowledge and technical expertise. You have remarkable accuracy and foresight, coupled with the drive to turn your vision into a tangible reality.

What you'll be doing:

• Steer the direction of Media Central in your region with the Global Product Director
• Work with Media Central markets in your region to co-create a product roadmap with the Global Product Director
• Drive market requirement prioritisation using GroupM prioritisation methodology
• Ensure product priorities follows needs and the strategy
• Re-evaluate product priorities as the business environment evolves, recommending adjustments to the strategy as new priorities emerge
• Track delivery from Media Central product team to keep the teams informed when features will be made available to them and assess Media Central delivery performance
• To work with with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and stakeholders, Regional Solution Owners, Product Design Authority and Global Product
• Director for requirements, solution proposals, product direction and prioritisation
• Transform requirements into product features with the Media Central product team
• Validate solution designs from Media Central product team to ensure fit-for-purpose
• Influence market stakeholders on acceptance of MVP
• Ensure feature requests are balanced with ROI to maximize value
• Ensure requirements are clear, substantiated and can be communicated to different groups, including: Global Product Director, market SMEs, Product Design Authority, Media Central product team
• Escalate issues on scope definition and solution acceptance to Global Product Director, Product Design Authority and Regional Process Owner(s)

What you'll need:

• Essential:

  • Proven track record of successfully implementing finance systems within complex organizations.
  • Solid understanding of Agile methodologies and their practical application.
  • Deep knowledge of product management principles and best practices.
  • Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build consensus across diverse teams.
  • Demonstrable experience in both product management and project management roles.
  • Capacity to effectively manage and deliver multiple concurrent projects.
  • Strong analytical abilities coupled with meticulous attention to detail.
  • Hands-on experience with backlog management tools such as Azure DevOps or Jira.
  • Proven ability to collaborate effectively with external vendor product teams.

  Desirable:

  • Experience with Dynamics Business Central.
  • Experience within the Media industry.
  • A high level of self-direction and autonomy.
  • A passion for sharing knowledge and mentoring others.
  • Willingness to travel internationally.
  • Fluency in languages relevant to the region.

  Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
  • Formal qualifications in Management or Leadership are highly advantageous.
  • Project Management certifications (e.g., PMP) will be viewed favorably.

Who you are:

You're open: We are inclusive and collaborative; we encourage the free exchange of ideas; we respect and celebrate diverse views. We are accepting: of new ideas, new partnerships, new ways of working.

You're optimistic: We believe in the power of creativity, technology and talent to create brighter futures or our people, our clients and our communities. We approach all that we do with conviction: to try the new and to seek the unexpected.

You're extraordinary: we are stronger together: through collaboration we achieve the amazing. We are creative leaders and pioneers of our industry; we provide extraordinary every day.

 

What we'll give you:

Passionate, inspired people – We promote a culture of people that do extraordinary work.

Scale and opportunity – We offer the opportunity to create, influence and complete projects at a scale that is unparalleled in the industry.

Challenging and stimulating work – Unique work and the opportunity to join a group of creative problem solvers. Are you up for the challenge?

WPP is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion or belief, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, military/veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability. We believe in creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion and strives to recruit a diverse slate of candidates to help us achieve that goal.

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