Director, Operations

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 .

About WPP Unite

WPP Unite is a specialized unit within the WPP network, designed to deliver integrated, transformative marketing solutions for some of our most strategic clients. We bring together talent and capabilities across disciplines—media, creative, strategy, commerce, and analytics—to operate as one unified team.

Our focus is not only on delivering exceptional work, but on continuously evolving how we work. We build and scale modern operating models, workflows, and tools that drive efficiency, transparency, and measurable impact across the business.

About the Role

As an Operations, Director at WPP Unite, you will play a critical role in ensuring the seamless, efficient, and profitable delivery of complex marketing solutions. This role is responsible for driving both the day-to-day execution and operational rigor across a client account or portfolio, with a focus on delivery excellence, workflow consistency, with an eye towards financial performance.

Reporting into the Operations capability, you will partner closely with the Account Leads and cross-functional discipline teams to manage projects end-to-end, ensuring alignment to defined processes, timelines, and ways of working. You will be responsible for translating business needs into structured plans and workflows, proactively managing risks, and maintaining visibility across all workstreams.

In addition to delivery, you will support the rollout and adoption of new workflows, tools, and operating models—helping teams embed more consistent, scalable ways of working. Your experience in fast-paced environments will enable you to navigate complexity, drive accountability, and continuously improve how work is executed.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

Your core responsibilities will span strategic delivery, operational excellence, financial stewardship, and team leadership:

Strategic Delivery & Project Leadership:

End-to-End Project Delivery: Manage the full lifecycle delivery of business-critical projects across U.S.-based teams, from initial intake through execution and closeout

Project Planning & Scoping: Support the development of clear project scopes, timelines, and plans. Translate business needs into structured, actionable workflows that align with established processes

Cross-Functional Coordination: Partner with cross-discipline teams (e.g., Strategy, Media, Creative, Analytics) to ensure alignment on timelines, deliverables, and dependencies, helping teams stay on track to meet milestones

Risk & Issue Management: Proactively identify risks and issues, escalating as needed and working with stakeholders to resolve challenges quickly and effectively

Stakeholder Communication: Maintain clear and consistent communication across stakeholders, ensuring visibility into progress, timelines, and key decisions

Quality & Ways of Working: Support adherence to defined processes and workflows, helping to reinforce consistency and quality in how work is delivered. Provide feedback to improve ways of working over time

Operational Excellence & Work Quality:

Process Adherence & Improvement: Develop a strong understanding of workflows and operating models across disciplines. Identify opportunities to improve efficiency and work quality, and support the implementation of process enhancements within your projects

Team Support & Guidance: Provide day-to-day guidance to team members on workflows, tools, and ways of working. Reinforce best practices and support teams in delivering high-quality, consistent work

Cross-Team & Partner Alignment: Help ensure internal teams, clients, and external partners understand and follow established processes and workflows, supporting effective collaboration across teams

Strategic Thinking & Business Impact:

Business Context & Application: Build a strong understanding of the client business, project goals, and broader market context to ensure work is delivered effectively and aligned to objectives

Insight Contribution: Leverage project data, delivery learnings, and team feedback to surface insights and opportunities for improvement

Opportunity Identification: Identify gaps, inefficiencies, or risks within projects and workflows, and escalate or recommend solutions to the appropriate stakeholders4. Financial

Stewardship & Business Performance Management:

Project Financial Management: Support the profitable delivery of work across assigned projects by managing scope, timelines with an eye toward resource management

Scope & Forecast Support: Assist in maintaining project scopes, estimates, and forecasts

Financial Tracking & Visibility: Monitor project financials (e.g., burn, utilization, pacing), flag risks or variances, and communicate updates to stakeholders in a timely manner

Team Alignment on Scope & Effort: Help ensure teams are working within defined scope and timelines, escalating risks and supporting course correction when needed

Team Leadership & Development:

Work Quality Support: Contribute to maintaining high standards of work quality by reinforcing best practices, workflows, and consistency across projects

Team Collaboration: Foster a collaborative and positive team environment

Operations Alignment: Stay connected to broader Operations initiatives and help ensure alignment to shared processes, tools, and standards

Skills & Qualifications:

Experience: 8–10+ years of experience in Project Management or Operations, with a proven track record of managing complex, multi-disciplinary projects in a fast-paced agency environment

Commercial Acumen: Understanding of project financials, including scope, resourcing.

Digital Expertise: Experience managing digital projects across media, creative, or integrated marketing, with an interest in how tools and technology are evolving ways of working

Analytical Capabilities: Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret project data and communicate insights clearly to internal teams and stakeholders

Project Management Methodologies: Proficiency in project management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid), with the ability to apply them in practical, flexible ways

Technical Aptitude: Experience using project management tools (e.g., Wrike preferred, Asana, Jira, Monday.com), along with collaboration tools (Slack, Microsoft Teams) and G Suite/O365

Essential Soft Skills:

Interpersonal & Relationship Management: Strong interpersonal and relationship management skills, with the ability to work effectively across teams and build trust with stakeholders at all levels

Collaboration & Influence: Ability to collaborate across cross-functional teams and positively influence outcomes, driving alignment and accountability within project teams

Communication & Presentation: Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey project updates, risks, and complex information to stakeholders

Problem-Solving & Decision-Making: Proactive and solutions-oriented, with the ability to identify issues, navigate ambiguity, and support effective decision-making

Organization & Time Management: Highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, prioritize