Director, Business Engagement

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 100,000 talented people dedicated to doing extraordinary work for our clients. We operate in over 100 countries, with corporate headquarters in New York, London and Singapore.

WPP is a world leader in marketing services, with deep AI, data and technology capabilities, global presence and unrivalled creative talent. Our clients include many of the biggest companies and advertisers in the world, including approximately 300 of the Fortune Global 500.

Our people are the key to our success. We're committed to fostering a culture of creativity, belonging and continuous learning, attracting and developing the brightest talent, and providing exciting career opportunities that help our people grow. 

Why we're hiring:

We are hiring for a Director, Business Engagement to be a strategic partner to the WPP CEO, directly shaping and amplifying engagement with WPP's business stakeholders, including clients, investors, advisors, partners, and key industry and government stakeholders.  Reporting to the CEO’s Chief of Staff, you will help fortify these relationships, ensuring positive and impactful engagement that supports WPP's position as a valuable partner across its business ecosystem.

 

The role 

Working within the CEO's office, you will be responsible for designing and implementing a robust engagement framework for WPP’s important business relationships. This includes orchestrating a proactive rhythm of interaction, identifying opportunities to create valuable and meaningful connection, and ensuring timely follow-through of all actions and commitments. You will also prepare the CEO for engagements, providing comprehensive briefings on stakeholder context, objectives, and desired outcomes.

Beyond proactive relationship management, you will serve as a hub for the CEO, anticipating potential business challenges and stakeholder issues. This includes leading forward planning and advising on emerging situations from a broad business perspective.

You will also work closely with WPP’s internal and external communications team to help manage the CEO's strategic social media presence, ensuring a consistent and impactful voice across relevant platforms leading with client story telling.

This role requires an ability to reach across the entire WPP organisation, gathering diverse threads of intelligence, insights, and initiatives. Your contribution will be instrumental in reinforcing WPP's leadership position and fostering deeper, resilient partnerships across WPP’s business landscape.

 

What you'll be doing:

• Strategic Engagement Framework: Design and implement a robust framework for engaging WPP's most critical business stakeholders ensuring structured and impactful interactions
• Stakeholder Cadence & Relationship Management: Lead a proactive, positive rhythm of strategic interactions between the CEO and key stakeholders
• Value Creation & Connection: Identify and facilitate unique opportunities to deepen relationships and showcase WPP's capabilities across the business ecosystem
• Action & Accountability: Track and ensure the timely and effective follow-through of all stakeholder-related actions and commitments
• Business Foresight & Issues Management: Proactively identify potential business challenges, stakeholder issues, and market shifts, advising the CEO on strategic responses and contingency plans from a broad business perspective
• CEO Strategic Social Media: Work closely with WPP’s communication team to help manage the CEO's strategic social media presence, ensuring consistent and impactful messaging across relevant platforms
• Cross-Organisational Intelligence: Collaborate extensively across WPP's agencies, functions, and regions to gather intelligence, align strategies, and ensure a unified approach to key business relationships
• Strategic Briefing & Preparation: Prepare the CEO for engagements, ensuring comprehensive briefings on stakeholder context, objectives, and desired outcomes

 

Who you'll be working with:

You’ll work right across our business with leaders and teams from our agency networks, our country teams as well as our HQ teams including strategy, finance, technology, operations, communications and people.    

 

What you'll need:

We are looking for an experienced and capable individual with strategic acumen and an ability to influence at the highest levels.  You will build trust quickly, and drive tangible impact among senior leadership and key stakeholders. This role requires strong communication skills, both written and verbal, coupled with advanced AI and digital fluency, particularly in leveraging social media platforms for strategic executive positioning. The successful candidate will be an integrated thinker, adept at fostering seamless collaboration across diverse organisational functions to achieve collective objectives.

 

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 open-minded: to 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 aim to create a culture in which people can 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.

#LI-Onsite

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.

WPP 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.

Please read our Privacy Notice (https://www.wpp.com/en/careers/wpp-privacy-policy-for-recruitment) for more information on how we process the information you provide.