Account Director, Programmatic

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 . 1548 - Account Director, Programmatic - NMU About WPP 650 Join an award-winning team at the heart of UK government, where your work will genuinely shape lives. As part of WPP 650 you’ll be part of a supportive, collaborative environment that values curiosity, kindness, and growth. Together, we use behaviour change principles to design smarter services, influence better decisions, and help millions of people across the country. Named WPP 650, after the 650 UK parliamentary constituencies, the name is a reminder that our work must reflect the full breadth of the country, every community, every audience. No two days are the same. The challenges are complex, the problems worth solving, and the learning constant. You’ll tackle issues that matter, alongside talented colleagues who care deeply about what they do. It’s demanding – but always rewarding. This is meaningful work with real-world impact – the kind you can point to with pride. Role Summary and Impact As Programmatic Account Director for the Government New Media Unit (NMU), you will own the rapid, data led delivery of always on, tactical and reactive biddable media activity across search and social for central government. Operating within an agile, test and learn delivery model, this role prioritises speed, accountability and continuous optimisation, while ensuring all government governance, compliance and assurance requirements are met. This role sits within a new, fully integrated, end to end client marketing team and acts as a test bed for the Government’s ambitious media and marketing transformation programme. The successful candidate will help define and embed a new operating model for how government delivers responsive, high impact paid media. Operating Model & Ways of Working The NMU is designed to deliver a highly agile and responsive service, operating across three defined speeds of delivery: Always‑on activity Continuous delivery, optimisation and performance management Tactical activity End‑to‑end delivery (brief, creative, booking, live) within approximately two weeks Reactive activity 24‑hour turnaround, from brief to creative development and live execution, responding to policy updates, announcements or external events The Programmatic Director will play a role alongside the VP and other digital leads on the account in enabling, governing and scaling this model within WPP Media and WPP 650. Key Responsibilities Agile Delivery & Optimisation Own and deliver rapid, data‑led biddable activity across all three operating speeds Lead iterative test‑and‑learn cycles, including sprints, daily optimisation and rapid hypothesis testing Operate effectively within short planning horizons (weekly or bi‑weekly), adapting to evolving priorities and incomplete briefs Capture, embed and scale learnings at pace across the NMU and wider government ecosystem Ways of Working & Continuous Improvement Continually review, refine and optimise ways of working to increase speed and agility across: Planning Campaign setup In‑flight optimisation Reporting and post‑campaign evaluation Apply foresight, pre‑mediation and proactive setup to remove friction and enable rapid delivery Contribute to the development of playbooks, guardrails and best‑practice frameworks for agile government biddable delivery The role will be split across the clients location and WPP 650. It will predominantly be an in person and not virtual role. Governance & Decision‑Making Ensure all government governance, compliance and assurance requirements for biddable media are met and documented Balance speed with risk management through clear guardrails, approval thresholds and escalation routes Exercise fast, confident decision‑making within defined autonomy, acting as a trusted senior lead for clients Budget & Performance Accountability Manage multi‑million‑pound budgets (£40m+) with accountability for ROI, effectiveness and value for money Embed real‑time, data‑driven performance management, drawing on platform signals, social insight and trend analysis Advise on and implement evaluation frameworks, test roadmaps and structured learning agendas Innovation & Transformation Re‑imagine government communications through innovative paid and owned media approaches Address share of voice challenges and support activity to counter misinformation where required Actively…