Director, Strategic Partnerships - Joint Business Planning

Director, Strategic Partnerships, Joint Business Planning

About WPP Media

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

The UK is the largest market within the WPP Media EMEA region, with over 4,500 people employed within the WPP Media ecosystem. Marquee UK key clients include the likes of Amazon, UK Government, BT, Tesco, Coca Cola, Bayer, Dell, Unilever, M&S, Ford, Nestle, Mazda, Danone and Colgate. We have a bold ambition: to make WPP Media UK the undisputed leader in our industry. We are evolving our business operating model, our ways of working and placing data, technology and AI at the heart of everything we do for our people and our clients.

ONE WPP – Vision '30

Join us in shaping the future of our industry with Vision '30 – our ambitious strategy to lead in the AI era. We are revolutionizing our business to unlock limitless growth opportunities for our clients and ourselves, built on four core priorities:

1. Collaboration: Foster unprecedented levels of data collaboration across WPP and partners through WPP Open, turning every channel into a smarter opportunity.
2. Data & Technology: Leverage our AI-powered Open Intelligence solution, connecting vast data to uncover unique insights, deliver predictive performance and superior brand experiences through our globally consistent DPAM process.
3. Innovation: Drive true innovation by generating intelligence from trillions of privacy-by-default data points, focusing on the 'why' behind customer behaviour to create unparalleled competitive advantages.
4. People: Developing future-ready talent involves evolving our focus from traditional media planning to strategic business outcomes, advanced technology and real-time measurable results, as AI increasingly automates media investment by 2030

We empower ambitious experts to deliver extraordinary work by challenging ordinary thinking. If you are passionate about an AI-driven future, thrive in a collaborative and data-centric environment, and are driven to deliver unparalleled growth, we invite you to be part of our transformative journey.

WPP Media is a single client centric company with a portfolio of go to market brands. Wavemaker, EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and T&P are our agency teams, these house multiple local and global clients. In addition, we have a number of client specific brands built to service specific clients. These include OpenDoor (Amazon), MFG (Google), OpenMind (Nestle), OpenConnect (BT/EE) and Media Futures Group (Google). All of these teams are supported by consistent capabilities, enterprise level tools and systems and our market leading OPEN platform.

Role Summary and Impact

The Director is a key role within WPP Media, responsible for leading a defined area of the business and ensuring operational excellence through effective planning, execution and team leadership. They translate broader functional priorities into practical action, delivering results through others and driving improvements across processes, client service and commercial performance. This role requires strong leadership, sound judgment and the ability to manage complexity within a clearly defined area

Capability Description

As the Director, Strategic Partnerships, Joint Business Planning, you will support the development and delivery of key strategic partner relationships, helping to align partner investment, capabilities and joint plans with WPP’s growth priorities. You will work closely with senior internal stakeholders to strengthen governance, improve coordination and ensure that strategic partnerships are delivering practical value for clients and the business.

This role will focus on the day-to-day management and operational delivery of partnership activity, including supporting Joint Business Plans, coordinating partner-facing initiatives, tracking delivery against commitments and identifying opportunities to improve value extraction. You will work across a range of partners and internal teams to ensure that agreed actions are progressing and that commercial, client and operational priorities are aligned.

You will also help support the development of WPP Media’s data and technology partner ecosystem, ensuring effective coordination of partner plans, commercial activity and internal adoption of partner solutions. The role requires strong relationship management, attention to detail and the ability to bring together multiple stakeholders to deliver consistent outcomes.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead the delivery of Joint Business Plans with strategically important, multi-touch partners that are integral to the WPPMedia ecosystem.
• Translate partner plans into clear workstreams, owners, timelines and measurable deliverables.
• Monitor progress against agreed actions, resolving blockers and escalating risks where required.
• Deep understanding of your partner portfolio, managing the relationship and communication with the partners and internal stakeholders.
• Support coordination of governance and tracking for partner plans to ensure commitments are being met and opportunities for value creation are identified.
• Lead the governance process for assigned partner plans, including business reviews, action tracking, stakeholder updates and performance reporting.
• Maintain clear visibility of commitments, risks, dependencies and opportunities across partner activity.
• Ensure senior stakeholders have timely, accurate information to support decision-making.
• Monitor progress against agreed actions, resolving blockers and risks if required.
• Commercial Value and Growth
• Track value delivery across assigned partners.
• Identify opportunities to unlock client growth, improve adoption of partner capabilities and support new business or innovation initiatives.
• Work with commercial and client teams to ensure partnership activity is connected to measurable business outcomes.

Skills and Experience

• Experience in strategic partnerships, commercial roles, business development or client-facing roles within the media, advertising or technology sectors
• Strong understanding of the media and digital advertising landscape
• Experience supporting joint plans, partnership activity or cross-functional commercial programmes
• Good relationship management skills with the ability to work effectively across internal and external stakeholders
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and coordinate activity across teams
• Commercial awareness and an understanding of how partnerships create value for clients and the business
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Ability to influence and collaborate without direct authority
• Experience working with data, technology or platform partners would be beneficial
• Ability to lead or manage a team and support day-to-day delivery
• Comfortable operating within defined frameworks while identifying opportunities to improve processes and outcomes

Measures of Success

Within 6 Months: Gain a comprehensive understanding of WPP Media and our broader business strategy, plus you will have started to think about incorporating Vision '30 into your operational roadmap and key initiatives. Understand our business challenges and be able to articulate those beyond your immediate remit (macro level, country level, departmental level). Your team will acknowledge clear direction and support plus initial stakeholder feedback should reflect proactive engagement. A key measurable is that you should have also initiated discussions and actions to begin improving processes within your business area leveraging data/AI thinking, where relevant.

Within 12 Months: Demonstrate consistent delivery across strategic partnership activity, showing the impact of your leadership on operational performance and stakeholder engagement. You’ll receive positive feedback from internal and external stakeholders on the quality of coordination, delivery and commercial support, alongside positive 360-degree feedback on your leadership and contribution to WPP Media and Vision '30. You will have improved team ways of working, supported stronger partnership outcomes and contributed to client growth, partner activation or new business activity aligned to Vision '30 capabilities. Maintain strong stakeholder confidence and demonstrate effective team development.

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 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 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