--- title: 'Associate Director, Search-Paid at WPP Media' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/associate-director-search-paid-wpp-media-manchester-kbbvdtb0sje8' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-11-05' --- # Associate Director, Search-Paid at WPP Media - **Company:** WPP Media - **Location:** Manchester, United Kingdom - **Posted:** 2026-10-06 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-05 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/wppmedia/jobs/5444792008 ## Job description ## 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. 3831 - Associate Director, Search-Paid - Manchester ## Role Summary and Impact As a Senior Search Associate Director, you will serve as the strategic lead for paid search across a portfolio of high profile clients.  You will own the direction and effectiveness of search activation while shaping how search integrates into broader media strategies. Operating as a senior leader within the Search team, you will set the vision for your client group alongside the Director, influence cross departmental processes and decision making. You will also play a key role within the WPP Media Search Community driving thought leadership, representing the agency with partners, and helping to define best in class standards together with the network. ## Key Responsibilities Performance Management - Take full strategic ownership of paid search performance across large spending client portfolio, setting ambition and direction in partnership with senior client stakeholders. - Develop paid search best practices, ensuring adherence to controls and processes. - Act as the escalation point for paid search strategic problems, proactively identifying risks, opportunities, and growth pathways. - Champion innovation by testing and scaling new Google/Microsoft products and AI capabilities. Client & Partner Management - Operate as the most senior day-to-day search lead, and strategic partner to client stakeholders. - Influence broader integrated planning conversations, ensuring search has a seat at the table in defining brand and performance outcomes. - Represent WPP Media with platform partners, contributing to joint business plans, beta programmes, and capability building initiatives. People Management - Reports to the Search Director - Directly manage and develop a team, setting high standards for delivery, communication, and craft expertise. - Support on resource shaping, succession planning, and long-term team capability development. - Contribute to recruitment efforts for your team, acting as an ambassador for EssenceMediacom and WPP Media - Shape the culture of your team through clear leadership behaviours, coaching, and championing collaboration across offices and markets. Operational Excellence - Drive operational and process excellence, ensuring your team is efficient, effective and fully utilising WPP Media’s suite of AI tools, tech, and automation capabilities. - Contribute to commercial planning and identify opportunities for service evolution, scope expansion, and new revenue opportunities with clients. - Ensure full governance and compliance across financial, operational, and activation workflows. ## 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. - Deep platform expertise with Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and SA360, with a strong - Significant experience leading complex search clients, either with multi-market, high profile or growth clients. - Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders - Strong track record in developing and managing people - Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional workstreams and collaborate effectively with Media, Planning, Data, Analytics, and Creative. - Deep platform expertise with Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and SA360, with a strong understanding of how AI, automation, and audience signals are evolving performance marketing. 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 #LI-Promoted Please read our Privacy Notice (https://www.wppmedia.com/pages/privacy-policy for more information on how we process the information you provide. #LI-Promoted Please read our [Privacy Notice](https://www.wppmedia.com/pages/privacy-policy#:~:text=WPP%20Media%20Privacy%20Notice%20for%20Recruitment) for more information on how we process the information you provide. ## About WPP Media ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: WPP Media is WPP's global media collective that combines AI, data, and creative to deliver intelligent growth for the world's leading brands. - **Entity Type**: Division of Public Company (WPP plc – LSE: WPP, NYSE: WPP) - **Headquarters**: New York, United States - **Founded**: Not publicly available (parent WPP plc founded 1971; WPP Media formed as a unified media collective in recent years) - **CEO**: Brian Lesser (CEO, WPP Media) ## Core Business - **Industry**: Advertising Services, Media Planning & Buying, Marketing Technology - **Target Customers**: B2B and B2C enterprise brands across all sectors; global clients include major Fortune 500 companies - **Mission or Purpose Statement**: "Intelligent growth for the AI era" – helping brands harness data, AI, and media to drive measurable outcomes. ## Products & Services - **Open Media Studio (OMS)**: An end-to-end media delivery platform integrated with WPP Open, enabling scaled creative, production, data, commerce, and personalized media execution. (SaaS/Platform) - **Open Intelligence**: An AI-enabled data solution that unifies fragmented data across ecosystems into predictive marketing intelligence, supporting privacy-first activation. (Data & Analytics Platform) - **Data and Technology Consulting**: Consulting services for data strategy, technology architecture, advanced analytics, audience insight, cloud integration, and platform adoption. (Service) - **Media Management & Delivery**: Expert activation, smart investment, strategic partnerships, and proprietary media solutions powered by AI and advanced analytics for personalized advertising at global scale. (Service) - **Service and Strategy**: Dedicated teams offering deep sector expertise, creative strategy, and business outcomes aligned with client goals. (Service) ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed separately (parent WPP plc market cap approx. £8 billion as of July 2025) - **Key Metric**: $65 billion in managed media annually (from wppmedia.com) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: WPP is publicly traded; works with hundreds of global brands including many Fortune 500 companies. Key technology partners include major cloud and AI providers. - **Growth Signals**: - 40,000+ media experts worldwide - 160 offices across 80+ markets - 1,600+ active job postings (LinkedIn, July 2025) with +8.7% monthly job growth - Strong investment in AI-first capabilities and privacy-forward data unification ## Competitive Advantages - **Scale**: One of the largest media buying organizations globally, managing $65B in media. - **AI Integration**: End-to-end platform (OMS + Open Intelligence) deeply embedded with AI for predictive analytics, automation, and personalization. - **Integrated Ecosystem**: Unique ability to unify media, data, creative, production, and commerce under one roof. - **Global Reach**: 40k+ experts in 80+ markets providing local insights with global execution. - **WPP Network**: Access to 100,000+ experts across WPP's integrated agency network. ## Strategic Focus - **AI-Driven Growth**: Embedding AI across all capabilities to deliver smarter, faster, more measurable outcomes. - **Privacy-First Data Unification**: Building Open Intelligence as a secure, cross-ecosystem data platform that respects consumer privacy. - **Talent Development**: Investing in AI-enabled learning frameworks and internal mobility to future-proof skills. - **Sustainability & Inclusion**: Part of WPP's broader commitment to building better futures for people, planet, clients, and communities. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Described as open, optimistic, and extraordinary – with emphasis on collaboration, innovation, and challenging the status quo. - **Growth**: AI-enabled learning framework, cross-team mobility across WPP’s global network of 100k+ experts. - **Work Environment**: Hybrid/office-based roles across 160 offices; global opportunities in 80+ markets. - **Perks**: Competitive compensation, performance-based rewards, access to cutting-edge AI tools, and work with leading global brands. - **Team**: Join a collective of 40k+ media experts, data scientists, technologists, and creatives. ## Sources 1. [wppmedia.com](https://www.wppmedia.com/) 2. [WPP Media Company Info](https://www.wppmedia.com/company-info) 3. [WPP Media Careers](https://www.wppmedia.com/careers) 4. [WPP Media – What We Do](https://www.wppmedia.com/what-we-do) 5. [WPP Media LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/wpp-media) 6. 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