Senior Associate Director, Search

WPP Media; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Retirement plans

Vision and dental insurance

Paid time off

Mental health days

Job summary

WPP Media in the United Kingdom seeks a Senior Associate Director, Search to lead client-paid search campaigns, ensuring best-in-class performance and strategic guidance across Google Ads, SA360, and other SEM portfolios. You will mentor a growing team, align with NA/EMEA/APAC regions, and drive a high‑impact activation roadmap.

You will own prioritisation, governance, and excellent client relationships, while delivering insights and thought leadership to elevate our search practice across

Qualifications

• Demonstrated progression in a role managing a staff of 5+
• Strong written and verbal communication skills across all platforms
• Expert organisational skills, great attention to detail
• Provides high-level oversight through strategic reviews of all tactics
• Concrete knowledge of all areas of digital marketing and media
• Ability to adhere to and meet deadlines and project manage multiple requests
• Excellent client relationship and management skills
• Proven problem-solving skills and ability to think outside of the box for creative solutions
• Ability to lead and motivate team members in a positive light
• Detail oriented and responsive, deadline-driven with strong quantitative reasoning skills
• Delivers results against priorities proactively with little or no senior input

Responsibilities

• Lead capacity planning & resource management for the team
• Own media activation best practices, adherence, and automation across regions
• Build relationships with key clients and collaborate on activation roadmap
• Act as senior strategic advisor to clients and drive campaign growth
• Deliver actionable recommendations to improve performance
• Ensure adherence to controls and best practices across platforms
• Escalate conflicts between best practice and regional needs
• Be primary contact between Media Activation team and stakeholders
• Maintain strong stakeholder communications and independence
• Showcase thought leadership and POVs throughout the year
• Provide feedback to support team development and recognition
• Contribute to regional paid search strategy and campaign wrap-ups

Skills

Staff management

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Strategic oversight

Digital marketing knowledge

Project management

Client relationship management

Problem-solving

Leadership

Quantitative reasoning

Deadlines / delivery

Tools

Google Ads

SA360

SEM tools

Job description

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 ourpioneeringagentic 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.

3151 - Senior Associate Director, Search - UK

Role Summary and Impact

The SEM Senior Associate Director acts as our client’s senior partner and expert for all paid search for an area of business. This role is responsible for delivering best in class media campaigns to meet our client’s KPIs, including managing Google Marketing’s very own Google Ads, SA360, and other SEM portfolios. Success in this role involves providing strategic insight across a breadth of products and channels, partnering with our client and planning leads on projects, owning best practice and optimization strategies, and inspiring a large team (including ultimate responsibility for quality of work within this team).

Some of the things we’d like you to do

• Support Activation lead and Client Services in capacity planning & resource management for the team
• Be the ultimate owner of media activation best practices, adherence, and automation for your team, while coordinating with the NA/EMEA/APAC teams to ensure consistency and excellence across regions
• Develop strong relationships with key clients, fostering strong relationships and collaborating to deliver innovative thinking and inform our future activation product roadmap
• Supports the strategic vision and drives the overall growth of campaigns, acting as the senior strategic advisor to key clients.
• Delivers actionable, top-level recommendations that empower the team to drive continuous performance improvement and exceed client expectations.
• Ultimate accountability for adherence to controls and best practices across all relevant platforms and help to manage regional development of search best practice
• Escalating any potential conflicts between best practice and what is best for their region
• Be the primary contact point of contact between the Media Activation team and regular stakeholders both internal & external
• Develop strong relationships with your client, and key suppliers, leading team communications with these stakeholders. Be able to communicate with clients on subjects outside your remit, and provide them with useful insight, working independently
• Showcase thought leadership pieces & POVs throughout the course of the year to galvanise and elevate the role within wider industry as an expert
• Deliver quarterly, semi-annual, or annual updates on work quality as it relates to owned workstreams
• Be an inspiring and motivational Leader, leading by example while encouraging and coaching juniors on the team
• Gain a more strategic understanding of the client’s business and KPIs, and keep up to date with latest Industry news and be proactive in spotting trends, product releases, and other opportunities which could enhance our activity
• Contribute to the wider regional paid search strategy & goals, provide strategic insight to individual campaign wrap-ups
• Provide timely and actionable feedback to the team to aid in their development, improvement, and progress. Provide awareness and recognition for jobs well done

Skills and Experience

• Demonstrated progression in a role managing a staff of 5+
• Strong written and verbal communication skills across all platforms
• Expert organisational skills, great attention to detail
• Provides high-level oversight through strategic reviews of all tactics
• Concrete knowledge of all areas of digital marketing and media
• Ability to adhere to and meet deadlines and project manage multiple requests
• Excellent client relationship and management skills
• Proven problem-solving skills and ability to think outside of the box for creative solutions
• Ability to lead and motivate team members in a positive light
• Detail oriented and responsive, deadline-driven with strong quantitative reasoning skills
• Delivers results against priorities proactively with little or no senior input

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 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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