ET ( IT Financial Management) Platform Implementation Manager - 6 month FTC

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. 

We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. 
 
We have been building the world's most valuable brands for 50 years and have global reach across 100+ markets, with deep local expertise.
 
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. 
 
For more information, visit WPP.com.
 

Why we're hiring:

WPP's Enterprise Technology (ET) is embarking on a significant transformation programme to revolutionise how we plan, budget, forecast, and recharge technology spend across the Group. We are seeking an ET ITFM Platform Implementation Manager on a 6 month FTC basis, to play a pivotal, hands-on role in delivering our new Group-wide IT Financial Management (ITFM) and Technology Business Management (TBM) platform. This initiative will replace legacy manual processes, establishing a modern, scalable financial architecture for ET.

Reporting to the ET ITFM Platform Implementation Director, you will be responsible for driving the detailed design, configuration, testing, and business readiness of the platform. While the Director focuses on programme strategy and senior stakeholder engagement, you will translate design decisions into working system functionality – collaborating with vendors, gathering requirements from business and finance teams, and leading User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to ensure the platform meets ET's precise needs.

This ambitious programme encompasses FP&A planning, cost modelling, recharge allocation, and benchmarking, impacting approximately 700 operating companies and all WPP Networks. A critical milestone is the complete rebuild of the ET budget process for FY2027 (due July 2026), and you will be instrumental in building and testing its underlying models. The role demands close collaboration with all ET leadership teams and Network ET teams to ensure the platform design reflects real business needs and its outputs are embedded into ET’s planning and decision-making.

The ideal candidate will combine hands-on experience in enterprise system implementations with a solid finance and FP&A background. You will have a proven track record on large-scale, multi-stakeholder technology programmes within complex organisations. Comfort with intricate platform configuration – including building data models, defining allocation rules, writing test scripts, and validating outputs – is essential, as is the ability to facilitate workshops with business stakeholders. This is a delivery-focused role requiring both technical rigour and strong collaboration skills.

What you'll be doing:

As the ET ITFM Platform Implementation Manager, you will be responsible for the following core areas:

1. Platform Design & Configuration:

• Collaborate with the platform vendor and implementation partners to translate high-level solution architecture into detailed system design, configuration, and build.
• Develop comprehensive designs for cost models, allocation hierarchies, data mappings, and reporting structures within the ITFM/TBM platform, ensuring robust documentation and traceability.
• Configure and rigorously test platform modules – including cost modelling, service costing, recharges, and benchmarking – to ensure accurate and fully reconciled outputs.
• Create and maintain detailed functional specifications, capturing design decisions, business rules, and configuration standards.
• Support integration design with existing platforms (e.g., ERP, CMDB, cloud, and software asset management tools), partnering with ET technology and data teams to define, build, and test data flows.
• Contribute to defining data governance, integration standards, and reporting frameworks to ensure the platform delivers accurate, auditable financial data.

2. Business & Finance Requirements Partnership:

• Collaborate with ET Finance, Business Platforms, Technology Operations, CRC, and Network finance teams to elicit, document, and prioritise system and user requirements.
• Translate business requirements into functional platform specifications, ensuring the system design accurately reflects how teams plan, budget, forecast, and report.
• Facilitate requirements workshops and design sessions with business and finance stakeholders, capturing feedback and managing changes via a structured process.
• Validate that platform outputs – budgets, forecasts, allocations, and recharges – meet the exacting needs of finance and business stakeholders prior to go-live.
• Act as the crucial bridge between business users and the vendor/technical teams, ensuring requirements are fully understood and accurately reflected in the system design.

3. Vendor & Delivery Coordination:

• Serve as the day-to-day liaison with the platform vendor and implementation partners, ensuring design decisions are actioned and delivered against agreed specifications and timelines.
• Track vendor deliverables against the project plan, proactively flagging risks, delays, or quality issues to the Director.
• Review and quality-assure vendor work products, including configuration documents, test scripts, and data migration plans.
• Coordinate between vendor teams and internal stakeholders to resolve design queries, clarify requirements, and unblock dependencies.

4. Testing & Quality Assurance:

• Design and lead the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) programme, encompassing test strategy, planning, script development, and defect management.
• Collaborate with finance and business teams to recruit and coordinate UAT participants, ensuring comprehensive coverage across ET verticals and Networks.
• Execute and oversee System Integration Testing (SIT), ensuring data flows, integrations, and calculations perform as expected end-to-end.
• Own defect triage and resolution tracking, partnering with the vendor to prioritise and resolve issues prior to go-live.
• Personally validate key model outputs, reconciliations, and recharge calculations, ensuring accuracy of results, not merely process adherence.

5. Planning & Budgeting Support:

• Support the redesign and implementation of the ET budget process for FY2027, operating within the programme framework established by the Director.
• Develop and test budgeting and forecasting models within the platform, ensuring transparency at service, cost-centre, and operating-company levels.
• Implement automated allocation and recharge methodologies as designed, meticulously testing accuracy and completeness across all ET cost pools.
• Collaborate with ET Finance and Network finance teams on budget structure requirements, assumption validation, and output reconciliation.

6. Change Management & Adoption Support:

• Support the delivery of training programmes, user guides, and support materials to upskill finance and technology teams on the new platform and associated ways of working.
• Contribute to stakeholder communications, including progress updates, impact assessments, and readiness briefings.
• Drive adoption by demonstrating platform value to business and finance teams through hands-on walkthroughs, workshops, and post-go-live support.
• Contribute to knowledge transfer and documentation to ensure the platform can be effectively maintained and operated post-programme.

 

What you'll need:

We are seeking a highly capable individual with a robust blend of financial acumen, technical proficiency, and programme delivery experience.

Essential Experience & Qualifications:

• Financial Expertise: Ideally, you'll hold a professional finance or accounting qualification (e.g., ACA, ACCA, CA, CIMA, CPA). However, we welcome applications from those who can demonstrate an equivalent depth of financial expertise, gained through extensive experience in IT financial management, TBM, or finance transformation roles.
• System Implementation Track Record: A proven track record of significant, hands-on contributions to enterprise-scale system implementations within complex, global environments – particularly within IT finance, TBM, or ITFM domains. You'll be adept at platform configuration, data modelling, and rigorous testing.
• ITFM Principles: A solid understanding of IT Financial Management (ITFM) principles, encompassing service costing, cost allocation, technology benchmarking, and familiarity with TBM frameworks (e.g., TBM Council taxonomy).
• FP&A & Budgeting: Demonstrable experience in FP&A and budgeting, including the ability to build and thoroughly test complex budget models and allocation methodologies.
• Vendor Collaboration: Experience collaborating effectively with third-party vendors and implementation partners throughout system delivery lifecycles.
• Cost Allocation Environments: Specific experience in recharge and cost-allocation environments, ideally gained within a complex, multi-national group structure.
• Analytical Prowess: Strong analytical capabilities, with a proven ability to manage and extract insights from large, complex data sets.
• Project Management: Sound project management skills, evidenced by a track record of successfully managing multiple workstreams and consistently meeting deadlines, even under pressure.
• Technical Fluency: Technically astute, comfortable engaging with solution architects, data engineers, and platform vendors on intricate technical design and configuration decisions.
• Communication & Facilitation: Exceptional communication and facilitation skills, capable of leading impactful workshops and delivering clear presentations to stakeholders at all levels.
• Software Proficiency: Proficiency in Microsoft Excel is essential, alongside demonstrable experience with major ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle) and data visualisation tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau).

Personal Attributes:

• Execution & Accuracy: An execution-oriented individual with meticulous attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to data accuracy.
• Versatile: Equally comfortable delving into intricate platform configuration, data analysis, and rigorous testing as you are facilitating productive requirements workshops with business stakeholders.
• Problem Solver: A strong problem-solver, adept at navigating ambiguity to deliver practical, effective solutions.
• Collaborative: Highly collaborative, able to build strong working relationships and influence effectively across diverse organisational boundaries – including technology teams, finance, vendor partners, and business stakeholders.
• Proactive Ownership: Proactive and takes full ownership of deliverables, consistently seeing tasks through to successful completion.
• Adaptable: Adaptable and resilient, thriving in a fast-paced, evolving environment with competing priorities.
• Team Player: Capable of working autonomously whilst also being a strong team player, fostering collaboration across functions and geographies.
• Motivated: Genuinely passionate about the intersection of technology and finance, driven by the opportunity to build platforms that fundamentally transform an organisation's operations.

 

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. Are you up for the challenge?

#LI-Hybrid 

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.