Associate Programme Director

AKQA Media; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

AKQA Media is looking for an Associate Programme Director in Amsterdam to lead a portfolio of technology-led production programmes, ensuring timely and budget-compliant delivery. The role involves direct client engagement, managing project financials, and defining delivery strategies, with a focus on integrating AI and CGI technologies. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in digital production, strong stakeholder management skills, and a commitment to fostering a high-performance team culture.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience delivering complex digital production programmes in fast-moving, technology-led environments.
• Confident in working with business metrics, forecasting models, and financial principles.
• Strong alignment with human-centred design, creative craft, and outcome-driven delivery.

Responsibilities

• Oversee a portfolio of projects ensuring delivery on time and within budget.
• Act as primary client interface, building trusted senior relationships.
• Own project financial performance, including budgeting and forecasting.
• Define delivery approaches and lead estimation and scoping for programmes.
• Identify and mitigate delivery risks, maintaining high standards.
• Coach and develop delivery teams, fostering a high-performance culture.

Skills

Extensive experience in digital production programmes

Strong grounding in CGI

Expert understanding of Agile and Waterfall methodologies

Strong commercial awareness

Excellent stakeholder management skills

Ability to translate technical concepts into business narratives

Experience mentoring multidisciplinary teams

Job description

Overview

At AKQA (part of WPP), we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create ideas, products, and services that shape culture and drive meaningful outcomes. With an entrepreneurial and collaborative spirit, we design adaptive digital experiences that combine creativity, technology, and craft.

Role

The Delivery team sits at the heart of everything we do, ensuring work is delivered with precision, care, and commercial clarity. As Associate Programme Director for the Amsterdam office, you will lead a portfolio of complex, technology-led production programmes, including work shaped by AI and advanced CGI techniques.

You will steward programme health end-to-end, balancing client ambition with agency capability, and building delivery models that are efficient, scalable, and future-facing. A key part of your role is helping evolve how AI-enabled workflows and modern production methods are applied across creative output.

You will partner with clients as a trusted advisor, helping them navigate opportunity, complexity, and change - while leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver work of exceptional quality. In doing so, you will help shape how emerging technologies are meaningfully integrated into delivery practice.

Based in central Amsterdam, you will collaborate across AKQA’s European studios in a culture built on ownership, curiosity, and craft, working alongside specialists who push the boundaries of creative technology and production.

ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Oversee a portfolio of projects (up to €2M), ensuring delivery on time, within budget, and aligned with AKQA standards across modern production and technology-enabled workflows.
• Act as primary client interface, building trusted senior relationships and advising on delivery strategy, including the effective use of AI and CGI where relevant.
• Lead end-to-end delivery of complex digital programmes, ensuring excellence in execution, strong coordination across teams, and resolution of delivery challenges.
• Own project financial performance, including budgeting, forecasting, and risk of overrun. Understand key cost drivers such as compute, tooling, and rendering, and contribute to portfolio-level planning.
• Define delivery approaches (fixed-price and T&M), leading scoping, estimation, scheduling, and SoW creation for complex programmes. Work closely with resource managers to ensure the right blend of specialist capability is applied.
• Partner with internal teams and clients to shape solutions and support new business opportunities, contributing to growth in AI-enabled production and advanced CGI work.
• Identify and mitigate delivery risks, including ethical considerations, data usage, and production complexity. Maintain high standards through structured reviews and continuous improvement of tools and ways of working.
• Coach and develop delivery teams, strengthening capability in modern production pipelines and emerging technologies, while fostering a high-performance, collaborative culture.

QUALITIES & CHARACTERISTICS

• Extensive experience delivering complex digital production programmes in fast-moving, technology-led environments.
• Strong grounding in CGI, animation, real-time, or generative production workflows.
• Expert understanding of programme and project management across Agile, Hybrid, and Waterfall approaches.
• Proven ability to manage budgets, forecasting, and commercial delivery with strong attention to value and efficiency.
• Confident in working with business metrics, forecasting models, and financial principles.
• Strong commercial awareness with a focus on ROI, delivery effectiveness, and long-term value creation.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, including engagement at senior and executive level.
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, compelling business narratives.
• Experience mentoring and developing multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong understanding of emerging technologies, ethical considerations, and modern production models.
• Strong alignment with human-centred design, creative craft, and outcome-driven delivery.
• Strong understanding of creative technology, AI ethics, and emerging production models
• High affinity with human-centred design, creative craft, emerging technologies, and OKR-driven outcomes