Senior Associate Director, Search

Posted One Month Ago
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London, Greater London, England, GBR
In-Office
Senior level
AdTech • Marketing Tech
The Role
Leads paid search strategy, activation quality, optimization, automation, and campaign performance for major clients. Oversees regional best practices, capacity planning, stakeholder and supplier relationships, client advising, strategic recommendations, reporting, and thought leadership. Manages and develops a team of at least five, ensuring high-quality delivery, adherence to controls, and continuous improvement across search campaigns and platforms.
Summary Generated by Built In

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.

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 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

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Skills Required

  • Progression in a role managing a staff of five or more
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Expert organizational skills and attention to detail
  • Ability to provide high-level oversight through strategic reviews of tactics
  • Concrete knowledge of digital marketing and media
  • Ability to meet deadlines and project manage multiple requests
  • Excellent client relationship and management skills
  • Proven problem-solving skills and creative solution development
  • Ability to lead and motivate team members
  • Quantitative reasoning skills and responsiveness
  • Ability to deliver results proactively with little or no senior input

WPP Compensation & Benefits Highlights

The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about WPP and has not been reviewed or approved by WPP.

  • Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing support includes a global Employee Assistance Programme and company-wide initiatives, with modern multi‑agency campuses and on‑site amenities positioned as part of the experience. This indicates a holistic focus across mental, physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing.
  • Retirement Support — Retirement offerings commonly include a US 401(k) with employer matching, though specifics can differ by operating company. This provides a recognizable savings framework that many candidates expect in large employers.
  • Parental & Family Support — Family benefits can be above average in parts of the network, such as VML’s paid parental leave for adoptive and foster parents. These signals suggest meaningful support for certain family‑forming needs.

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The Company
HQ: London
90,589 Employees

What We Do

WPP is a creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities.

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