Account Director, Paid Search

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 . 1820 - Paid Search Account Director - UK Role Summary and Impact 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. As a Paid Search Account Director, you will provide strategic leadership within the Media Activation team, driving Paid Search excellence for key clients. This leadership role delivers category-defining capabilities and services across Paid Search, ensuring optimal campaign performance and maximizing in-channel effectiveness and data integrity. You will lead and develop Paid Search activation teams, cultivate strong client and supplier relationships, and define advanced Paid Search strategies that align with business objectives and drive growth. Your expertise will provide rigorous and innovative recommendations across Paid Search, ensuring continuous optimization and adherence to best practices, and strategically weaving Paid Search into overall cross-channel campaign strategies. Reporting Structure: Reports to Paid Search Business Director (Lead). Key Responsibilities Line Management: Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, and development to direct Paid Search activation teams (including Account Managers and Account Executives), fostering excellence and professional growth. Support capacity planning and resource management, leading recruitment for your immediate team and assisting with wider team recruitment. Strategic Paid Search Leadership: Develop and lead advanced Paid Search strategies for client portfolios, ensuring clear alignment with business objectives, KPIs, and industry context. Provide strategic insight for client product areas within Paid Search, and proactively spot trends, product releases, and opportunities to enhance activity. Oversee the development and creation of Paid Search best practices, with ultimate accountability for adherence to controls and effective oversight of designated campaigns. Develop thought leadership pieces and case studies to galvanise the role of Paid Search within the wider media community. Client & Partner Relationship Management: Develop strong relationships with key clients and suppliers, leading team communications with these stakeholders and providing useful insight independently. Lead efforts to gather and disseminate client intelligence to understand and meet their business needs, navigating critical business changes and complex issues. Manage team members to deliver consistently across multiple Paid Search campaigns. Operational Excellence & Innovation: Oversee operational excellence, including financial accuracy, data integrity, and end-to-end campaign management processes across Paid Search. Act as an escalation point for activation issues, troubleshooting, and resolving conflicts between best practice and client requirements. Drive innovation by building annual learning agendas and comprehensive test plans for assigned portfolios, fostering continuous optimization. Contribute to agency-wide continuous improvement projects regarding processes and quality standards. Lead through vision, values, and model leadership behaviours while championing and facilitating change. Commercial Acumen: Demonstrate strong commercial acumen, leading on the delivery of services in line with client objectives, service level agreements, and terms of business. Develop ways of working that maximise client output whilst minimizing operational input. Skills and Experience Deep Paid Search Expertise: Extensive experience in digital media, with specialization in Paid Search (Google Ads, Bing…