Account Director, Programmatic

About WPP Media

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 our pioneering agentic 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.

For more information, visit wppmedia.com .

1543 Account Director, Programmatic – Government New Media Unit (NMU)

About WPP Media

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit wpp.com.

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.

About WPP 650

Join an award‑winning team at the heart of UK government, where your work will genuinely shape lives. As part of WPP 650, you’ll be part of a supportive, collaborative environment that values curiosity, kindness and growth.

Named after the 650 UK parliamentary constituencies, WPP 650 reflects our responsibility to serve every community across the UK. The work is complex, fast‑moving and meaningful — influencing behaviour, improving public services and delivering outcomes that matter.

Role Summary & Impact

As Programmatic Director for the Government New Media Unit (NMU), you will own the rapid, data‑led delivery of always‑on, tactical and reactive biddable media activity across search and social for central government.

Operating within an agile, test‑and‑learn delivery model, this role prioritises speed, accountability and continuous optimisation, while ensuring all government governance, compliance and assurance requirements are met.

This role sits within a new, fully integrated, end‑to‑end client marketing team and acts as a test bed for the Government’s ambitious media and marketing transformation programme. The successful candidate will help define and embed a new operating model for how government delivers responsive, high‑impact paid media.

Operating Model & Ways of Working

The NMU is designed to deliver a highly agile and responsive service, operating across three defined speeds of delivery:

• Always‑on activity
  Continuous delivery, optimisation and performance management
• Tactical activity
  End‑to‑end delivery (brief, creative, booking, live) within approximately two weeks
• Reactive activity
  24‑hour turnaround, from brief to creative development and live execution, responding to policy updates, announcements or external events

The Programmatic Director will play a role alongside the VP and other digital leads on the account in enabling, governing and scaling this model within WPP Media and WPP 650.

Key Responsibilities

• Line Management:
• Line manage a team of junior Programmatic team members (e.g., Programmatic Account Managers, Programmatic Executives), providing coaching, mentorship, and support for their development and career progression.
• Campaign Management:
• Build effective programmatic media plans to organize campaign actions and goals.
• Oversee and ensure best-in-class campaign activation across relevant accounts, ensuring campaigns operate at the highest standard and deliver top-quality output for clients.
• Take a proactive role, supervising campaign activation and optimisation rigor, while also supporting global hub, executives, and managers across your clients.
• Create templates and proven methodologies for optimisation approach for key trading tactics and optimisation logs.
• Client and Partner Management:
• Build strong, effective relationships with clients, maintaining trust and respect.
• Demonstrate an understanding of media and technology developments that influence client business.
• Drive revenue growth through spotting new optimisation opportunities, services, or products and delivering excellent results.
• Develop strong relationships with media owners and other service providers to select the most appropriate suppliers for campaigns.
• Understand relevant products and solutions developed within the group.
• People Development:
• Motivate and train individuals, being a key stakeholder in the development of junior staff.
• Support and nurture junior & global hub employees, ensuring their training and development needs are constantly evaluated and fulfilled.
• Clearly outline tasks and objectives with team members, with specific deliverables and timelines for progression.
• Highlight great teamwork and client initiatives; demonstrate examples of Programmatic best practice to the wider team and contribute to department and agency PR.
• Operational Excellence:
• Utilise appropriate tools to drive accountability in programmatic buying, operational efficiencies, and actionable business insights, including scoping agreed client outputs.
• Ensure financial accuracy, integrating the planning and buying process, and reconciliation of spends, including client terms and programmatic fees, via buying templates and processes.
• Maintain standards and processes throughout the end-to-end campaign lifecycle.
• Proactively seek opportunities to develop and enhance understanding and knowledge of the programmatic landscape, latest tech platforms, vendors, and suppliers.

Skills and Experience

• Programmatic Expertise: Passionate about programmatic activation and driving continued excellence. Proven experience in programmatic multi-channel campaign activation and management.
• Platform & Technical Proficiency: Confidence in core trading platforms (DV360, TTD, Amazon) and ad serving technologies, with experience in troubleshooting tags.
• Analytical & Strategic Acumen: Strong understanding of optimisation levers & testing approaches. Ability to develop and execute comprehensive testing roadmaps in the Programmatic space (audience, media, creative).
• Leadership & People Management: Proven Project Management, Leadership, and People Management experience, including being a key stakeholder in the development of junior staff, motivating, and training. Ability to lead and manage a hybrid team.
• Client & Stakeholder Management: Proven ability to build strong relationships with clients, media owners, and other service providers. Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships both internally and externally.
• Communication & Influence: Ability to translate technical and complex points to non-technical audiences and coach others to do the same. Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Mindset: Proactive, self-motivated, and eager to expand knowledge of the programmatic landscape and industry trends.

At WPP Media, we believe in the power of our culture and our people. It’s what elevates us to deliver exceptional experiences for both our clients and each other. In this role it will be critical to embrace WPP & WPP Media’s shared core values:

Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity. Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust. Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise.

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

Please read our Privacy Notice () for more information on how we process the information you provide.

#LI-Promoted

Please read our Privacy Notice for more information on how we process the information you provide.