Why we're hiring:

At WPP, technology is at the heart of everything we do, and it is WPP IT’s mission to enable everyone to collaborate, create and thrive. WPP IT is undergoing a significant transformation to modernise ways of working, shift to cloud and micro-service-based architectures, drive automation, digitise colleague and client experiences and deliver insight from WPP’s petabytes of data.

The Regional Product Lead will build the strategy and roadmap plan for Media Central for the region. You will have good product management and business analysis skills to understand what users are asking for, why they are asking for it and the opportunity cost for system enhancements. All these considerations need to be weighed to arrive at a conclusion that maximizes the Return on Investment (ROI) for the effort required for development.

You will need to, at times, educate GroupM stakeholders on what constitutes a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and why they should go for it. Scope management will be an important component of your role.

You will also be required to validate the solution design from the vendor and communicate this to GroupM partners. Finding the optimal solution that aligns with the overall product direction will be fundamental.

You will have a unique blend of business and technical knowledge with incredible accuracy, foresight, and the drive to make your vision a reality.

Media Systems are used for the scheduling, ordering, tracking, measurement, and reporting of media transactions executed on behalf of GroupM’s clients with Media Vendors. Media Systems may also implement, or be integrated with systems providing, tactical planning, electronic trading, optimisation, or finance functionality.

Finance systems drive our necessary finance functions such as billing, payment, closing and reporting.

What you'll be doing:

• Steer the direction of Media Central in your region with the Global Product Director
• Work with Media Central markets in your region to co-create a product roadmap with the Global Product Director
• Drive market requirement prioritisation using GroupM prioritisation methodology
• Ensure product priorities follows needs and the strategy
• Re-evaluate product priorities as the business environment evolves, recommending adjustments to the strategy as new priorities emerge
• Track delivery from Media Central product team to keep the teams informed when features will be made available to them and assess Media Central delivery performance
• To work with with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and stakeholders, Regional Solution Owners, Product Design Authority and Global Product
• Director for requirements, solution proposals, product direction and prioritisation
• Transform requirements into product features with the Media Central product team
• Validate solution designs from Media Central product team to ensure fit-for-purpose
• Influence market stakeholders on acceptance of MVP
• Ensure feature requests are balanced with ROI to maximize value
• Ensure requirements are clear, substantiated and can be communicated to different groups, including: Global Product Director, market SMEs, Product Design Authority, Media Central product team
• Escalate issues on scope definition and solution acceptance to Global Product Director, Product Design Authority and Regional Process Owner(s)

What you'll need:

• Essential:

  • Proven track record of successfully implementing finance systems within complex organizations.
  • Solid understanding of Agile methodologies and their practical application.
  • Deep knowledge of product management principles and best practices.
  • Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build consensus across diverse teams.
  • Demonstrable experience in both product management and project management roles.
  • Capacity to effectively manage and deliver multiple concurrent projects.
  • Strong analytical abilities coupled with meticulous attention to detail.
  • Hands-on experience with backlog management tools such as Azure DevOps or Jira.
  • Proven ability to collaborate effectively with external vendor product teams.

  Desirable:

  • Experience with Dynamics Business Central.
  • Experience within the Media industry.
  • A high level of self-direction and autonomy.
  • A passion for sharing knowledge and mentoring others.
  • Willingness to travel internationally.
  • Fluency in languages relevant to the region.

  Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
  • Formal qualifications in Management or Leadership are highly advantageous.
  • Project Management certifications (e.g., PMP) will be viewed favorably.

Who you are:

You're open: We are inclusive and collaborative; we encourage the free exchange of ideas; we respect and celebrate diverse views. We are accepting: of new ideas, new partnerships, new ways of working.

You're optimistic: We believe in the power of creativity, technology and talent to create brighter futures or our people, our clients and our communities. We approach all that we do with conviction: to try the new and to seek the unexpected.

You're extraordinary: we are stronger together: through collaboration we achieve the amazing. We are creative leaders and pioneers of our industry; we provide extraordinary every day.

 

What we'll give you:

Passionate, inspired people – We promote a culture of people that do extraordinary work.

Scale and opportunity – We offer the opportunity to create, influence and complete projects at a scale that is unparalleled in the industry.

Challenging and stimulating work – Unique work and the opportunity to join a group of creative problem solvers. Are you up for the challenge?