Managing Director, WPP Creative & Agency Growth Activation

Role Mandate

Drive ES growth activation through WPP Creative and agency client teams by helping them recognize, qualify and advance ES-relevant client opportunities.

Why This Role Exists

Many ES opportunities will emerge from existing agency relationships before they look like formal transformation briefs. This role gives agencies a senior partner who can spot the ES opportunity and move it toward qualification.

Core Responsibilities

• Build active relationships with WPP Creative and agency leadership teams in major hubs.
• Identify where existing agency work can expand into ES-led transformation, CRM, content, commerce, data, AI or platform opportunities.
• Help agency client teams recognize the signals that indicate an ES opportunity may exist.
• Develop account-specific ES opportunity briefs and define the next best action.
• Support agency teams in early client conversations where ES credibility or framing is required.
• Route qualified opportunities into the appropriate ES activation support, Pillar Lead, Consulting / Advisory or Pursuit Excellence path.
• Capture repeatable patterns and plays that can be scaled across agency relationships.

Candidate Profile

• Managing Director-level agency or client growth leader with strong knowledge of creative and integrated agency operating models.
• Able to work through agency leadership without appearing to take over the client relationship.
• Comfortable translating creative and brand-led conversations into broader ES growth opportunities.
• Commercially sharp, collaborative and able to navigate multi-agency politics.
• Strong brief-writing, client narrative and meeting-preparation skills.
• Modern, AI-enabled working style with pace and precision.

Key Relationships

• Head of WPP Network Growth and wider Growth leadership.
• WPP Creative, WPP Media, WPP Open and agency client teams.
• GCLs and priority account teams where ES opportunities are present.
• Growth Architecture & Enterprise Sales for complex or ambiguous opportunities.
• ES Pillar Leads, Consulting / Advisory, Alliances, Pursuit Excellence and Growth Operations.

Success Measures

• Number and value of qualified ES opportunities sourced through WPP Creative and agency relationships.
• Adoption of ES opportunity spotting by agency client teams.
• Speed and quality of opportunity briefs generated from agency signals.
• Conversion from agency signal to ES activation request or pursuit.
• Agency leadership confidence in the value and ease of engaging ES.

First 90-Day Focus

• Map priority WPP Creative / agency leadership relationships and live opportunities.
• Create a simple ES opportunity-spotting guide for agency client teams.
• Qualify the first wave of agency-sourced signals and route them into ES.
• Build two to three repeatable agency-to-ES growth plays.