Account Director, Programmatic

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.

1694 - Programmatic Account Director

Role Summary and Impact

About Wavemaker:

Wavemaker positively provokes growth for clients by reshaping consumer decision-making and experiences through media, content, and technology. Our name is both our mission and our method. We do our best work for brave brands and people who relish being challenged to go further and faster, together.

The Team:
We are a team of 20+ people working on a mixture of exciting clients that include Audible, Danone, Paramount and Nationwide. We’ve won some exciting pieces of business this year and we are looking to grow our programmatic team with a focus on our programmatic self-serve practice.

The Role:
The Programmatic Account Director will be responsible for their team of managers and executives, both in Delhi and the UK. They will have oversight of the full campaign life cycle; in channel planning, managing set up, optimizing campaigns, ensuring delivery to Wavemaker standards, and ending in reporting the results directly to the client. We have a selection of brand uplift focused clients and those who are more focused on driving quality website traffic and a direct sale. Managing the execution of programmatic media activity across multiple buying routes, you will work closely with your team, as well as the Digital Planning team to deliver successful business outcomes for your clients.

Key Responsibilities:

• Campaign Management
• Strengthen the team’s delivery by introducing best practice templates and process documents.
• Understand client pressures, and priorities for upcoming period. Ensure that tangible actions are taken and delegated amongst the team to successfully deliver upon.
• Identify and deliver the products and solutions could answer your client’s business challenges that have been developed within the group. • Good understanding of wider digital media mix and ability to elucidate the role for programmatic amongst digital media, working with the Digital Planner to grow display spend for your clients. • Drive the in-channel learning and innovation agenda for the team, ensuring your team is taking advantage of alpha/beta opportunities. • Manage the shape of spend in your team to ensure maximum value driven.
• Full understanding of programmatic capabilities, and an ability to talk independently about opportunities in client meetings and with team

• Client and Partner Management
• Develop contact strategy with senior clients; appreciation of their objectives and different approaches required to drive forward the testing roadmap.
• Ensure the good reputation of yourself and the team.
• Oversight of client audit procedure for channel to make sure targets are met and potential issues solved and escalated.
• Lead senior-level meetings concerning campaign activity e.g., QBRs / Buying Reviews / next year’s Programmatic Strategy
• Maintain strong relationships with senior media owners, tech partners and other service providers
• Present confidently in new business pitches, department, and agency team meetings

• People Management

• Demonstrate strong leadership skills; be the point of escalation for your team and the wider department • Develop case studies for internal use and specialist external awards through a culture of sharing • Ensure best in class team training and creation of personalized development plans
• Strong working relationships with key senior stakeholders within the agency e.g., Head of Addressable
• Be an active member of the display team community, organizing social events and drive the collective knowledge base forward.

• Operational Excellence
• Manage your team to deliver flawless end to end campaign activation and client billing.
• Support on the day-to-day QA process, minimizing errors and ensuring consistent and accurate adherence to process with both teams locally and in the Global Hub
• Top negotiation skills to deliver unrivalled value for our clients and teams
• Zero finance queries stance, both MQS and unreconciled.

Skills & Experience

• Good experience in Display activation and driving continued excellence/innovation.
• Nice to have experience trading programmatic self-serve within core trading platforms, DV360, TTD and Amazon.
• Ability to translate technical and complex points to non-technical audiences and coach others to do the same.
• Management experience, teaching and developing more junior team members
• Analytically minded with an aptitude for handling large data sets to identify trends and actionable insights
• Ability to develop and execute comprehensive testing roadmaps– audience, media, creative
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, will be particularly important in building & developing stakeholder relationships; internal, client and supplier
• Ability to communicate effectively with people from all diverse backgrounds, cultures, countries.

Life at WPP Media & Benefits

Our passion for shaping the next era of media is powered by our commitment to Be Extraordinary, investing in our employees to inspire transformational creativity. We also Lead Optimistically, firmly believing in and Championing Growth and Development for every individual. This commitment allows WPP Media employees to leverage the extensive global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, build vital professional connections, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising. 

We Create an Open environment built on trust and respect, where everyone feels they belong and has opportunities to progress. This inclusive culture is fostered through a variety of employee resource groups and frequent in-office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our comprehensive benefits package reflects this commitment, including 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 characteristics. We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection in this open and supportive environment. 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

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

While we appreciate all applications received, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. 

#LI-Promoted

Please read our Privacy Notice for more information on how we process the information you provide.