Director, Operational Excellence

About WPP Media

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships – all united by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open – we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth. 

WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working.

For more information, visit wppmedia.com.

1314 - Director, Operational Excellence

About WPP Media

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

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

Role Summary and Impact

As the Director, Operational Excellence, you will be a critical driver of efficiency and innovation within WPP Media's Global Client Solutions (GCS) Operations unit. This role is central to defining, identifying, and implementing best-in-class operational practices across our global client portfolio. You will work to deeply understand how client teams operate, pinpoint areas for improvement, and lead initiatives that enhance both the quality and efficiency of our ways of working. Collaborating closely with senior operations leaders and client-embedded teams, you will play a key part in embedding operational excellence into the DNA of WPPmedia, directly contributing to superior client satisfaction and business performance.

Key Responsibilities:

• Define Operational Excellence: Lead the ongoing definition and articulation of what "operational excellence" means within the context of WPPmedia's global client operations, establishing clear standards and benchmarks.
• Identify Key Initiatives: Proactively identify, research, and champion key initiatives and opportunities for improving operational excellence across the Global Client Solutions (GCS) unit.
• Strategic Alignment & Prioritization: Collaborate closely with the Senior Operations team to align and prioritize operational excellence initiatives with broader strategic goals and critical business needs.
• Build Relationships with Client Operations Leads: Foster strong, collaborative relationships with operations leads embedded across GCS client teams to understand their challenges, gather insights, and facilitate the adoption of best practices.
• Contribute to High-Stakes Initiatives: Act as an integral member of the "Black Ops" team, contributing operational expertise and insights to high-stakes initiatives such as pitch defense, client operating model design, and strategic team restructuring.

• Facilitate Community Engagement: Actively contribute to and facilitate the client operations community by providing valuable content and insights for regular connects, fostering knowledge sharing and the dissemination of best practices.

• Process Improvement Leadership: Drive continuous improvement by analysing existing workflows, identifying bottlenecks, and implementing optimized processes that enhance both quality and efficiency for client teams.

How Success is Measured: In this role, your success will be evident through tangible progress and positive impact, specifically by:

• Successful identification and validation of key operational excellence initiatives that demonstrably address critical business needs.
• Effective implementation of the most important and high-impact initiatives, leading to measurable improvements in operational processes and outcomes.
• Establishment and integration of robust measurement frameworks to continuously track, evaluate, and report on the progress and impact of operational excellence efforts.

Skills and Experience

At WPP Media, we believe in the power of our culture and our people. It’s what elevates us to deliver exceptional experiences for both our clients and each other. In this role it will be critical to embrace WPP & WPP Media’s shared core values:

• Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity.
• Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust.
• Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise.
• Extensive experience working within client-facing teams, with a significant portion of that experience specifically focused on operations within the media, marketing, or agency sectors.
• Solid knowledge of research methodologies and analytical techniques used to evaluate and measure operational performance and identify areas for improvement.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively navigate and influence within complex, matrixed organizational structures.
• A deep understanding of how client teams collaborate and a proven capability to analyze and improve their ways of working, focusing on both quality and efficiency.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at various levels.

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 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.

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.

Please note this is a UK based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location

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