Manager, Activation

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.

2180 - Manager, Activation

Role Summary and Impact 

ABOUT WPP & OPENDOOR 

At WPP, we’re constantly reinventing the future of creativity on an ever-broader canvas, bringing together unrivalled talent, resources and skills to provide an integrated offer of communications, experience, commerce and technology. 

Over the last decade, we have developed a dedicated global client practice with the mission of accelerating WPP’s impact for our largest clients by bringing them the best of WPP. Each team is custom-built around a client’s specific needs and challenges, providing easy access to the right capabilities. And that’s why we’ve built OpenDoor for Amazon. 

OpenDoor is a unique integration of the best of WPP and Amazon – building on their respective strengths and visions. Whether at WPP or at Amazon, every project is an OpenDoor on new possibilities. Anything and everything can be an opportunity for our people to drive impact – for them to innovate, learn, thrive, and occasionally fail too. 

The unique OpenDoor partnership model is built to deliver next level Productivity, fueled by our industry-leading approach to People, Platforms, and Process. OpenDoor spans across all WPP agencies and disciplines such as media, business consultancy, communications and brand strategy, tech and commerce, public relations, and production. 

OpenDoor’s values are built from Amazon’s own 16 Leadership Principles, and WPP’s core values of Open, Optimistic and Extraordinary. Together, when WPP’s Creative Transformation meets Amazon’s next-level customer centricity, our people come together to challenge and impact what’s done today and build a better future. 

By joining OpenDoor, not only are you joining a cross-function team partnering with one of WPP’s top five global clients, but you are also taking a step to challenge yourself and the world around you every day, working in the most unusual way on some of Earth’s most ambitious opportunities in marketing, tech, media, business, and creativity. 

About the role

Media is the beating heart of the agency.  
The place where creativity meets commerciality, and where specialists bring unrivalled work to life. 

The Media Manager will have a crucial role within the team, responsible for the delivery of excellence in market media planning and buying and low budget media partnerships. 

For this position, you take much higher and wider level of responsibility in the planning and buying delivery of your, specialist, media campaigns across your client(s).  

You are trusted to produce accurate work and prioritize tasks with minimum supervision.  

While your technical skills remain important, managing requires new skill sets and in this role you will need strong interpersonal expertise. There is also much more involvement alongside your AD with PRFs /Audit delivery.   

Some of the best things about this role… 

• Hitting your commercial targets. 

• Pride in seeing your coaching progress others.  

• Planning full campaigns, within your specialist media, incorporating new ideas and drawing on insights.   
   

Skills and Experience 

Campaign Management 

• Manages the assigned teams to implement media campaigns. Applies best practice to campaign management and interpretation of data.  

• Acts as the escalation point for issues.  

• Manages and takes ownership of campaigns from start to completion.  

• Delivers accurate planning and reporting in line with strategic and commercial objectives.  

• Understands the role of the medium as part of the overall campaign and applies smart use of campaign planning or market opportunities. 

Media Investment Planning 

• Applies advanced data analytics to understand client challenges and media investment strategies, presenting findings to relevant stakeholders.  

• Resourceful in finding relevant data sources where available (third party data, existing client data) to support presentations.  

• Applies strategic thinking when working with clients and third parties to achieve desired outcomes.  

• ​​​​​​​Supports in providing media investment and campaign insights for quarterly or annual business reviews.

Demonstrating Value 

• Gains a thorough understanding of what the client/agency values and expects through formal and informal feedback from multiple stakeholders.  

• Understand the value of the product, how it delivers versus audience and the strategic objective.  

• Interprets data relative to the performance of products against client needs & expectations to ensure the customer recognises and receives value, setting the right KPI's and metrics.

Multitasking 

• Balances several projects and tasks simultaneously with minimal error and without losing track of important details or deliverables.  

• Determines the relative impact and urgency of individual tasks.  

• Supports others in setting priorities and eliminating issues; aligns own priorities with the objectives of the company and the department.

Operational Excellence 

• Oversees team to ensure accuracy of work including planning.  

• Ensures sharing of knowledge and skills of tools to always ensure efficiency and accuracy endeavouring to reduce manual work for the rest of the team.  


• Ensures accuracy of financial and commercial tasks prioritising reconciliation and tasks which drive net working capital to the business including a timely resolution of reconciliations and queries. 

Life at WPP Media & Benefits 

 Be Extraordinary, investing in our employees to inspire transformational creativity. We also Lead Optimistically, firmly believing in and Championing Growth and Development for every individual. This commitment allows WPP Media employees to leverage the extensive global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, build vital professional connections, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising.  

We Create an Open environment built on trust and respect, where everyone feels they belong and has opportunities to progress. This inclusive culture is fostered through a variety of employee resource groups and frequent in-office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our comprehensive benefits package reflects this commitment, including 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 characteristics. We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection in this open and supportive environment. 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 (https://www.wppmedia.com/pages/privacy-policy) for more information on how we process the information you provide. 

While we appreciate all applications received, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.  

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