Senior Business Partner North America

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

Working at WPP means being part of a global network of more than 100,000 accomplished people in 110 countries. We create transformative ideas and outcomes for its clients through an integrated offer of communications, experience, commerce, and technology. WPP and our award-winning agencies work with most of the world's biggest companies and organisations – from Ford, Unilever and P&G to Google, HSBC, and the UN. Our clients include 61 of the FTSE 100, 325 of the Fortune Global 500, all 30 of the Dow Jones 30 and 62 of the NASDAQ 100.

WPP has headquarters in New York, London and Singapore and a corporate presence in major markets worldwide. We are quoted on the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. Key performance indicators for WPP (2020) include Billings of £46.9bn and Revenue of £12bn.

WPP IT provides IT services for WPP, the world’s largest communications services group. As a creative transformation company, WPP is helping its clients transform the future through extraordinary work. WPP IT is an integral part of that journey and we are proud to provide technology for some of the world’s most creative brands.

GroupM is the world’s leading media investment company responsible for more than $63B in annual media investment through agencies Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence and m/SIX, as well as the outcomes-driven programmatic audience company, Xaxis and data and technology company Choreograph. GroupM’s portfolio includes Data & Technology, Investment and Services, all united in a vision to shape the next era of media where advertising works better for people. By leveraging all the benefits of scale, the company innovates, differentiates and generates sustained value for our clients wherever they do business.

The GroupM IT team in WPP IT are the technology solutions partner for the GroupM group of agencies and are accountable for co-ordinating and assuring end-to-end change delivery, managing the GroupM IT technology life-cycle and innovation pipeline.

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Why we're hiring:

We're looking for the next generation of senior technology leaders. You'll be bright, energetic, and be a strategic thinker by nature. You'll lead technology in your region, working with senior leaders to establish a forward-thinking and multi-year technology strategy, that drives innovation, differentiation and simplification.

You'll have a similar role in another company or be ready to step up into this role because your experience means you're ready for the challenge of leading a region for the world's largest media buying company

You'll join the regional management team and be the voice of technology and their strategic technology partner.

You'll develop and agree the strategy for the region, evolve roadmaps and work with global product teams to deploy in your region.

You'll lead country-based teams of strategic business partners who are your voice in your market and work with you to deliver the technology strategy.

You'll drive simplification, always. Your mindset is one where you align to strategy by default and deviate from it by active decision.

You'll have outstanding people skills, be a clear communicator and know when the right approach is to be pragmatic.

You'll be passionate about delivering for our staff and customers, taking a considered approach around when to agree tactical technology fixes.

Where needed, you'll agree the development of local products, with an eye to them scaling for greater benefit around GroupM.

What you'll be doing:

• Owns and manages strategic relationships with senior and local agency stakeholders, representing their business within WPP IT and vice versa
• Capture and shape business demand for new or changed products and services in their agency ‘patch’ – ensuring their needs are considered and proposals are shaped, sized, aligned and prioritised
• Liaise in particular with the GroupM Portfolio Lead – and relevant supporting WPP IT functions – to collate, size and align technology demand in support of value-based outcomes, engaging back with stakeholders on WPP IT prioritisation decisions
• Act as a point of escalation and un-blocker for their patch’s business context – supporting IT project delivery, technical decisions, etc. – but re-routing any service or support challenges via the GroupM Operations Assurance function / Service Management Lead.
• Maintain a lens on the value and commercial impact of both proposals and the reality of WPP IT activity and plans as it relates to their patch – working with IT Operations and the Portfolio Lead to ensure transparency of value contribution and IT spend
• Work with stakeholders across their patch and WPP IT strategic programmes, to proactively ensure delivery – and to secure the engagement required to realise the value of the GroupM portfolio
• Develop and maintain a view in their patch of stakeholder alignment; delivery challenges; Agency business risks and strategies, and in-flight initiatives – able to engage readily in ongoing planning and roadmap discussions with the GroupM Portfolio Lead, Architecture and strategic programmes
• Collate and manage a transparent plan to support visibility and focus on interdependencies, delivery risks and assumptions for all WPP IT work in their patch

What you'll need:

• Significant senior stakeholder relationship management and planning capability
• Significant knowledge of change management and business adoption of digital solutions
• Demand management – qualifying, shaping & sizing solution concepts, plans
• Developing data-driven insights, analysis and strategic advice
• Developing portfolio plans, budgeting and investment cases, and value realisation activity
• Significant archetype business knowledge and experience
• Portfolio or programme management experience
• Experience of developing business or functional strategic plans and roadmaps

Who you are:

You're open: We are inclusive and collaborative; we encourage the free exchange of ideas; we respect and celebrate diverse views. We are accepting: of new ideas, new partnerships, new ways of working.

You're optimistic: We believe in the power of creativity, technology and talent to create brighter futures or our people, our clients and our communities. We approach all that we do with conviction: to try the new and to seek the unexpected.

You're extraordinary: we are stronger together: through collaboration we achieve the amazing. We are creative leaders and pioneers of our industry; we provide extraordinary every day.

What we'll give you:

Passionate, inspired people – We promote a culture of people that do extraordinary work.

Scale and opportunity – We offer the opportunity to create, influence and complete projects at a scale that is unparalleled in the industry.

Challenging and stimulating work – Unique work and the opportunity to join a group of creative problem solvers. Are you up for the challenge?

Job posted September 2022

WPP is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion or belief, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, military/veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability. We believe in creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion and strives to recruit a diverse slate of candidates to help us achieve that goal.

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