Business Manager, Strategic Operations - Systems

Business Director, Strategic Operations - Systems

London, United Kingdom

As the Business Director for First Party Systems
, you will lead the delivery and operational management of WPP Media’s first-party systems domain, with a primary focus on WPP Open and Open Media Studio
. Reporting to the VP, Systems, you will translate the agreed systems strategy into an executable delivery plan for the first-party portfolio and ensure its successful implementation across the business.

This senior leadership role is responsible for driving the adoption, rollout, and continuous improvement of the first-party ecosystem, including client workspace enablement, Open Media Studio systems transformation, and the migration from legacy systems such as Campaign Management 1.0, MAP, and Synthesis into Campaign Management 2.0.

You will lead the day‑to‑day execution of the first-party systems workstream, manage specialist resource within the domain, and partner closely with senior stakeholders across operations, tech, and business teams to ensure the platform architecture is effectively embedded and used. Your mission is to ensure the WPP Media first-party systems domain runs with precision, delivering the stability, efficiency, and capability required by the operating model.

• Oversee delivery of the first-party systems portfolio, with a primary focus on WPP Open and Open Media Studio.
• Translate the agreed systems strategy into an executable delivery plan for the first-party domain.
• Manage the rollout, adoption, and continuous improvement of first-party systems initiatives.
• Lead the transition from legacy systems, including Campaign Management 1.0, MAP, and Synthesis, into Campaign Management 2.0.
• Ensure all milestones, dependencies, risks, and implementation activity are actively managed across the workstream.

• Work closely with the VP, Systems to ensure priorities are clear and delivery remains aligned to the wider systems strategy.
• Serve as a day‑to‑day operational lead for first-party systems, partnering with business leaders and technology teams (Data & Tech, Enterprise Tech), translating business needs into technical requirements and ensuring system stability and performance.
• Implement and manage programs that drive a user‑centric approach, partnering with agency leaders to gather feedback, measure satisfaction, and ensure the first‑party technology stack is enabling their success.

• Establish and maintain governance, reporting, and delivery controls for the first-party systems workstream.
• Support user training, adoption, and continuous improvement across the first-party systems environment.
• Drive the optimisation of processes and ways of working within Open and OMS, ensuring systems deliver measurable efficiencies, reduce costs, and simplify operations.
• Ensure the first-party ecosystem is intuitive, efficient, and fit for purpose.
• Support future‑facing thinking on how the first-party stack evolves, including AI‑enabled ways of working where relevant.

• Strategic Program Management: Ability to manage a complex portfolio of concurrent delivery work across first-party systems, including large‑scale migrations, adoption activity, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Operational Excellence: Strong focus on driving efficiency, performance, and user adoption across the first-party systems environment.
• Team Leadership & Development: Proven ability to lead, mentor, and coordinate a team of systems specialists and delivery leads.
• Financial Acumen: Good understanding of financial principles, with experience supporting budgets, business cases, and investment decisions related to systems delivery.

• Senior Stakeholder Partnership: Ability to build strong, collaborative, and influential relationships with senior business leaders.
• Technical Credibility: Practical understanding of first-party enterprise systems, data governance, IT infrastructure, and media operations workflows.
• Pragmatic Decision-Making: Ability to make sound high-stakes operational decisions, often…