Head of Social & Influence

Ogilvy UK; Dublin; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Hybrid working

Generous annual leave

WPP network perks

Stunning office location

Career mobility opportunities

Job summary

Ogilvy in Dublin is seeking a Head of Social & Influence to define and lead our social offering. You will drive a social-first, metrics‑driven strategy, explode campaigns across channels, and build a scalable, revenue‑generating practice within a hybrid Dublin model.

You’ll report to the CEO, sit on the SLT, and shape the AI roadmap while mentoring a high‑performing team. This role blends creative leadership with commercial execution in a dynamic agency environment.

Qualifications

• Social-first mindset with a track record in influencer marketing.
• Change management and transformation leadership skills.
• Tech and AI-forward mindset with curiosity to drive adoption.
• Experience navigating high-level client relationships in relevant sectors.
• Commercial and strategic acumen with data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Blow campaigns out of the water on social channels with a social-first lens.
• Inject social thinking early in the creative process across owned, earned, paid, and shared media to drive viral, social-first moments.
• Build the business by turning social and influence into a profitable revenue stream.
• Identify untapped social opportunities within our current client roster and active briefs, pitching and winning organic growth.
• Define the right suite of technologies (monitoring, reporting, ROI) to prove impact and protect commercial health of the practice.
• Lead the AI roadmap and ensure ethical, compliant use of AI across the network.

Skills

Social strategy

Influencer marketing

AI in marketing

Change management

Leadership

Data-driven decisions

Stakeholder management

Commercial acumen

Job description

Ogilvy, part of WPP, has been creating impact for brands through iconic, culture‑changing, value‑driving ideas since the company was founded by David Ogilvy 75 years ago. It builds on that rich legacy through Borderless Creativity – innovating at the intersections of its advertising, public relations, relationship design, consulting, and health capabilities with experts collaborating seamlessly across over 120 offices in nearly 90 countries.

About WPP

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting‑edge media intelligence and data solutions, world‑class creativity, next‑generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.

Location: Wilson Hartnell 6 Ely Place, Dublin 2 (Hybrid)

The Opportunity

At Wilson Hartnell we design the brands, campaigns, and relationships that shape every aspect of Irish and global culture. We are the largest and longest‑established PR agency in Ireland, social by nature, entrepreneurial in spirit, and constantly challenging the status quo.

From our beautiful offices in Ely Place we work with iconic local and international brands, including Guinness, Baileys, Coca‑Cola, AIB, IKEA, Boots, Specsavers, and TK Maxx, covering key sectors in Health, Sport, and Corporate.

We have a brilliant, dynamic team that already knows the “what” of influencer marketing. What we need now is a trailblazing leader to define the “how.”

We are looking for a Head of Social & Influence to be our ultimate Social Lead. You are someone who doesn’t just understand social; you know how to explode it.

This is a pivotal, M‑shaped leadership role. Operating with high autonomy and reporting directly to the CEO, you’ll sit on the Senior Leadership Team. You will need the strategic vision to build our social offering into a powerhouse commercial revenue stream, the tech‑forward curiosity to lead our AI roadmap, the gravitas to educate our team, and the hands‑on drive to deliver best‑in‑class campaigns.

What You’ll Do

Bring the Social‑First Lens & Intervention

• The Social Exploder: Take our market‑leading PR and comms campaigns and blow them out of the water on social channels. You’ll look at every brief, concept, and campaign through a distinct social‑first lens.
• Social Intervention: Inject social thinking into the creative process early, seamlessly integrating campaigns across owned, earned, paid, and shared media to turn PR ideas into viral, social‑first moments.
• Build the Business: Turn social and influence from a supporting capability into a highly profitable, scaled commercial revenue stream.
• Spot the Opportunity: Identify untapped social opportunities within our stellar current client roster and active briefs, pitching and winning organic growth.
• Tech & Tool Definition: Take ownership of defining the right suite of technologies (for monitoring, reporting, and evaluation) to prove ROI and protect the commercial health of the practice.

Lead our AI Roadmap & Tech Evolution

• AI Maturity & Adoption: Spearhead the agency’s AI roadmap for social and influence. You’ll drive the maturity, adoption, and integration of generative AI tools to enhance productivity and elevate campaign outcomes.
• Ethical AI & Compliance: In partnership with the wider Ogilvy and WPP network, enforce guidelines for the correct, ethical, and responsible use of AI (respecting copyright and client confidentiality).

Education, Upskilling & People Leadership

• Lead the How: Our team already strong in influencer marketing foundations. Your job is to educate and upskill them on tracking metrics, data‑driven methodologies, and building native, scroll‑stopping social content.
• Fostering Talent: Manage, mentor, and inspire the sub‑team assigned to social and influence work, building a high‑performing, future‑proofed team.

Ruthless Prioritisation & Stakeholder Management

• Considered Boundaries: When you’re the best at what you do, everyone wants a piece of your time. You will be pulled in all directions by different practice heads. You must possess the stakeholder mastery to set firm boundaries, focusing your energy only where it yields the highest commercial and creative return.

What You’ll Need

We aren’t looking for a pure theorist, nor are we looking for a junior community manager. We need an M‑shaped profile who brings:

• Social‑First & Influence Passion: A proven champion of social media and creator culture with a track record of maximising project potential.
• Change Management & Transformation Skills: A leader capable of guiding teams, clients, and internal stakeholders through organisational growth and capability evolution.
• Tech & AI Forward Mindset: A keen interest in emerging technologies, with the curiosity and capability to drive AI adoption and team‑wide AI upskilling (prompt engineering, generative AI).
• PR & Comms Context: Experience navigating complex, high‑level client relationships, particularly across Sport, Health, or Corporate sectors. You know how to operate in regulated environments without losing creative edge.
• Commercial & Strategic Acumen: A strong affinity for data‑driven decision‑making, with the ability to translate analytics and social listening into profitable campaigns.
• Discretionary Performance Bonus: Annually reviewed, aligned with business growth.
• Hybrid Working: A balanced hybrid model (typically 3 days in our beautiful Dublin office, 2 days remote).
• Health & Wellness: Comprehensive private health insurance and Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• Generous Annual Leave: Plus additional Ogilvy/WPP days and wellness days off.
• WPP Network Perks: Access to global learning & development frameworks, WPP discounts, and international career mobility opportunities.
• Stunning Office Location: Located at 6 Ely Place, a gorgeous Georgian building in the heart of Dublin 2, close to top food, culture, and transport links.

We are an equal opportunity employer and we’re committed to creating an inclusive, welcoming environment for everyone who wants to work at Ogilvy. For us, diversity, equity and inclusion is integrated into everything we do. Your race, colour, ethnic, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, have no bearing on our hiring decisions, but we encourage everyone to feel free to express their true selves in an environment we are consistently striving to make as inclusive as possible.

We aim to facilitate an accessible and positive application experience for all candidates. If you require any adjustments from us to support you through the process or expect to require any adjustments to working conditions to be able to best perform in the role, please let us know. We are happy to consider all reasonable adjustments.

If you live with a disability and you would like to take advantage of our offer of a guaranteed interview under the Disability Confident Scheme, please ensure you fill out our voluntary Equal Opportunities Questionnaire when applying.