About WPP Media

WPP Media is a leading global force in media investment management, bringing together some of the world's most innovative and effective media agencies. We are dedicated to delivering exceptional value and transformative growth for our clients by leveraging cutting-edge data, technology, and strategic insights. As part of the wider WPP network, we operate at the forefront of the advertising and communications industry, shaping the future of media and connecting brands with audiences across the globe. We foster a dynamic, collaborative, and innovative environment where our people are empowered to do their best work and drive meaningful impact.

Discover more about WPP Media here:WPP Media | WPP

The Opportunity: Global Growth Squad Director

We have an exciting opportunity to join our newly evolved Global Group Growth & Marketing Team. Split across two key locations, London and New York, the London-based team will focus on international market opportunities, while New York will concentrate on US-centric global prospects.

As Global Growth Squad Director, you will be instrumental in the seamless and strategic management of global and multi-market pitches at both network and agency level. Sitting within one of several dedicated pitch squad teams, you will partner closely with the squad lead across all pitch workstreams, ensuring efficiency and excellence from inception to close.

This is a truly exceptional opportunity for an ambitious and proactive individual to excel in a pivotal role, taking full ownership of the end-to-end pitch process and significantly contributing to the wider team's collective new business and client retention efforts.

Key Responsibilities:

You will be an experienced Director, ideally with more than five years of relevant experience in the media industry, and a proven track record of delivering high-quality pitch responses effectively and efficiently. Core responsibilities include:

• Strategic Pitch Leadership:Support the squad lead (and on occasion, independently lead) the strategic management and execution of large global and multi-market opportunities, ensuring all elements align with client objectives and WPP Media's propositions.
• Expert Consultation:Provide strategic consultation and expert guidance to local market growth and pitch teams, fostering best practices and consistent quality.
• Brief Interrogation & Team Orchestration:Critically analyse and interrogate pitch briefs, then expertly organise and direct the team to deliver outstanding results ahead of schedule, adding significant strategic value at every stage of the pitch process.
• Content Creation & Oversight:Oversee, contribute to, and often lead the creation and submission of RFIs/RFPs/other written documents and compelling pitch presentations.
• Proposition Integration:Ensure WPP Media's and individual agency propositions are strategically woven throughout our pitch responses, tailored to specific client needs and challenges.
• Innovative Collateral Development:Lead the creation of a wide range of innovative pitch content and collateral, from producing engaging videos to developing impactful pitch theatre assets, collaborating closely with our in-house design studio and external freelance support.
• Cross-Group Collaboration:Foster strong, collaborative relationships across the WPP Media group and individual agencies to ensure cohesive and integrated pitch efforts.
• Financial Oversight:Support the proactive financial management of pitches, including tracking and managing allocated budget costs.
• Growth Team Contribution:Support the wider growth team with strategic prospecting efforts, identifying and nurturing potential new business opportunities.
• Thought Leadership Development:Contribute to the creation of insightful thought leadership pieces for the wider global growth and marketing team.
• Team Management & Development:Line manage and actively develop the Squad Project Manager, fostering their growth and ensuring their success.

In the first 100 days, you would have:

• Become fully accustomed to our network and agency propositions, understanding their unique value.
• Fully adopted the ‘WPP Media Way to Win’ process across all projects, demonstrating its effective application.
• Shown the confidence and ability to seamlessly support on large-scale global and multi-market pitches, and independently lead smaller-scale global opportunities.
• Displayed excellent leadership skills across all workstreams under your ownership.
• Gained positive feedback from key stakeholders and peers, demonstrating your collaborative and impactful approach.

In the first year, you would have:

• Built strong, influential relationships across WPP Media and the wider agencies.
• Successfully contributed towards the WPP Media annual new business targets and COMvergence rankings, demonstrating tangible impact.

Ongoing, you will:

• Continuously seek and implement new and better ways to optimise the pitch process, building more compelling pitch narratives through the innovative utilisation of our tools and technology.
• Consistently push yourself further, taking on a key leadership role across increasingly larger and more complex workstreams, driving continuous professional growth.

What You’ll Bring:

• Proven Experience:Significant experience in a client-facing or growth role within a media agency environment.
• Drive & Proactivity:A highly detail-oriented, proactive, and results-driven individual with a strong drive for execution and delivery.
• Exceptional Organisation:Extremely organised, with the ability to confidently prioritise tasks and manage multiple workstreams simultaneously.
• Collaborative Spirit:A strong team player with the ability to build robust and productive relationships across all departments within the group and agencies, optimising pitch team performance.
• Resilience Under Pressure:Brilliant time management skills and the confidence to deliver high-quality work consistently when working under pressure.
• Decisive Leadership:A decisive and confident leader in group settings, adept at setting clear expectations and proactively flagging potential issues before they arise.
• Communication Excellence:Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and persuasively.
• Compelling Storyteller:Confidence in shaping content for written submissions and presentations, coupled with a deep understanding of what constitutes clear, compelling, and impactful storytelling.
• Creative Innovator:A creative mindset, always seeking new and interesting ways to deliver high-quality pitch theatre and differentiate our proposals.
• Action-Oriented:An innate bias for making things happen – you don't wait for direction or hold out for answers that may not exist, you find solutions.
• Agency Acumen:A strong grasp of media agency culture and a proven track record of working effectively in an agency environment.
• Flexibility & Travel:Willingness to travel frequently, often at short notice, to support global pitch efforts.
• Growth Mindset:A hunger to learn, continuously improve, and embrace new challenges.
• Leadership Capability:Strong management and mentorship skills for your direct line report.

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.