Trading & Investment Director

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. For more information, visit wppmedia.com

About OpenDoor: A Leading WPP Media Brand

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.

Role Summary and Impact

We are searching for a talented and enthusiastic individual to join our OpenDoor team as a Trading & Investment Director. This is a Full-time position based in London. This role plays a crucial part in supporting WPP's mission to deliver consistency, delivery excellence and best in class service for Amazon in every country across its diverse businesses, including XCM, Prime Video, and RMI.

RESPONSIBILITIES

As a Trading & Investment Director, you will have a direct responsibility in the control and management of investment across the agency to ensure client, deal, and new business delivery, which in turn will maximise commercial success.

The role has a remit involving new business process management, agency investment management, value management, and GroupM trading relationship management. A requirement of relationship management and clear communication across multiple teams and stakeholders, to have a clear sight and knowledge of how we maximise investment strategy for sustained growth.

• Building relationships across multiple departments to understand investment shape and threats/opportunities across OpenDoor.
• Build knowledge of the investment deals with suppliers and required deal volumes and specifics.
• Understanding the investment shape pressures across OpenDoor and supporting the Investment team in delivering the required shape and volumes required as per deals.
• Ensuring forecast accuracy across regional and global teams.
• Ownership of a fortnightly trading meeting, where both value and investment are openly discussed across all media Directors and Media Leads. Ensuring full attendance and discussion points are followed up upon.
• Understanding contractual pricing guarantees with the client. 
• Coordinating with Media Directors and Leads to understand current tracking positions and reacting with value management accordingly.
• Supporting the Trading Manager in the laydown of value to ensure all clients deliver on pricing guarantees. While aligning to GroupM value allocation.
• Ensuring that value delivery is in line with expectations and controlled with sales houses.
• Working with coordination channel directors to ensure that there is open and clear communication of expectations with our media partners.
• Building a relationship with suppliers, including regular meetings, to ensure communicated expectations are being met.

Skills and Experience

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.

• Strong numerical & advanced Excel skills
• Knowledge and understanding of the key value calculations and media performance evaluation techniques associated with year on year cost analysis
• Keen eye for detail with an ability to pull a compelling story from the numbers.
• Excellent client relationship skills with the ability to communicate complexity across multiple geographies and cultures.
• Confident presenting to senior clients and senior internal management
• Solid understanding of client marketing and procurement functions

BONUS POINTS

• Regular updates of market forecasts, allowing media teams to quickly access accurate market knowledge withing customisable dashboards.
• Working with media teams to uncover additional process automation and time-saving opportunities.

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 (https://www.wppmedia.com/pages/privacy-policy) for more information on how we process the information you provide.

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