Associate Director, Paid Social, GCS

2714 - Associate Director, Paid Social - GCS 

About WPP Media

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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

The role exists to support a new client win and a growing digital media specialist team where we are looking for an experienced Paid Social Account Director who will play an instrumental role in further developing our offering by being a leader in the ongoing client engagement, managing key campaign activity for the client and supporting the Digital Lead to implement the strategic vision of the account and team.

The candidate will report to the Digital Lead and will be supported by three direct reports within this Paid Social portion of the wider client team. The ideal candidate will have proven experience of successfully leading, planning, executing and optimising Paid Social campaigns via best practice and innovation for increased performance. They will need to demonstrate knowledge of native platform suppliers and 3rd party providers, as well as developing an understanding of their available products and services. You will provide strategic direction to a dedicated team and serve as a key client contact, driving continuous, timely optimization and proactively identifying opportunities to maximise campaign performance and deliver unparalleled Paid Social excellence for our client.

Key Responsibilities: 

Campaign Management

• Oversee and ensure best-in-class Paid Social campaign activation across relevant accounts, ensuring campaigns are operating at the highest standard and delivering highest quality output for our clients.
• Develop and implement innovative Paid Social strategies, specifically tailored based on the clients briefed objectives (both Branding and Conversion) and audiences, with a strong focus on platforms like such as Meta (Facebook/Instagram), TikTok, X (Twitter), Reddit and Pinterest.
• Ensure that the team is using templates to prove methodologies for optimisation approach for key Paid Social tactics and optimisation logs.
• Act as an escalation point for your direct team on activation issues and challenges, particularly concerning platform policy adherence (e.g. Sensitive/Mature content) and any conflict between best practice and client requirements.

Client and Partner Management

• Ultimate responsibility for client interaction and the success of the relationship, with a focus on nurturing key strategic relationships, and team operations/deliverables.
• Agree and set business objectives for each client and review campaign performance against these objectives.
• Create/design comprehensive Paid Social strategies for the client portfolio, ensuring strategy is clear and most appropriate to the client's objectives, KPIs and client's industry.
• Drive revenue growth through spotting new optimisation opportunities, services or products and delivering excellent results.
• Develop strong relationships with key platform representatives (e.g., Reddit, Meta, X, TikTok, etc.) and other service providers to guide the team in developing their understanding of the evolving Paid Social ecosystem.
• Drive understanding of the products and solutions that could be relevant for clients that have been developed within the group, particularly new features on core social platforms.

 People Management

• The ability to manage, motivate and train individuals, in line with business requirements, resource, and development needs.
• Experience managing a team comprised of both onshore and offshore talent.
• Ensure individuals workloads are managed and prioritised in line with client needs and SLAs.
• To be responsible for the team’s development (their performance reviews, and tasks & objectives), and to be tied into their own objectives.
• Highlight great teamwork, and client initiatives. Demonstrate examples of Paid Social best practice to the wider team, and contribute to department and wider agency PR and communications.

Operational Excellence

• The appropriate use of tools to drive accountability in Paid Social buying, operational efficiencies, and actionable business insights, with the scoping of agreed client outputs.
• Ensure financial accuracy, integrating the planning and buying process, and reconciliation of spends, including client terms and Paid Social fees, via buying templates and processes.
• Maintain standards and process throughout the end-to-end campaign lifecycle, whilst always implementing appropriate improvements when they arise
• Develop productive relationships with key internal departments and help develop new revenue opportunities through matching client needs to resource and facilitate introductions.
• Understand and promote the function and value of the other departments within the Agency and its partners within the group.

Skills & Experience

• Passionate about Paid Social activation and driving continued excellence. With proven experience in multi-channel Paid Social campaign activation and management.
• Proven experience in managing large-scale, complex campaigns on Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest and X (Twitter).
• Experience in developing and leading client relationships, particularly within the Consumer Technology space.
• Exceptional people management skills, including support and development of junior team members.
• A comprehensive understanding of how Paid Social can integrate with other digital and offline channels for a holistic campaign approach.
• Ability to translate technical and complex points about social platforms and campaign performance to non-technical audiences and coach others to do the same.
• Ability to develop and execute comprehensive testing roadmaps in the Paid Social space – audience, media, creative, and platform-specific features.
• Experience navigating and adhering to specific platform policies and advertising regulations, especially for sensitive topics

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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