Business Director, Performance Planner

2259 - Business Director, Live Planning

Role Summary and Impact 

Mindshare delivers Good Growth for its clients. As “Growth Architects," we drive growth that benefits all stakeholders — better for people, planet, and business — by using media with intention. This approach creates more meaningful connections with consumers, increases consumer trust in the brand, and delivers better outcomes for all stakeholders. 

Role Objective

We are recruiting for a Business Performance Director who is an exceptional and driven performance media planner, to join our Implementational Planning team. The Performance Director is responsible for translating client business goals into high-impact, cross-channel performance plans that drive measurable outcomes. You will shape the tactical performance direction across Search, Social, Programmatic, Affiliate and emerging platforms—translating strategy into activation frameworks that accelerate client growth.

You will be working on the Ford account in the UK. We work in a unique ‘full service’ model meaning that the media teams collaborate closely with creative and account management teams within the Ford agency structure (primarily working with VML).

Therefore we foster a fully integrated team approach across media, creative and client, working together across the agency and client locations - 2 days (Mon-Tue) at Ford’s Dunton office (a short taxi from Shenfield on the Elizabeth Line- Travel costs are covered), 1 day (Thurs) at Rose Court in London and 2 days (Weds and Fri) are flexible at the location of your choosing.

More detailed information below:

Key Responsibilities:

Performance Strategy

• Design the connections system and cross-channel activation plan, collaborating closely with Search, Social, Programmatic, Affiliate and Data teams.

• Ensure continuous, proactive knowledge sharing so activation teams are informed, aligned and delivering consistently.

• Lead the performance planning approach and drive workstreams that elevate our digital performance product.

• Leverage analytics outputs (MMM, MTA, Adobe Analytics, platform insights) to guide planning and optimisation.

• Provide expert advice on data activation—including audience strategies, first-party data usage, and signal strengthening.

• Develop experimentation agendas, test-and-learn frameworks, and feed insights back into activation planning.

Relationship Management:

• Maintain strong partnerships across Ford UK, VML, Channel teams, central agency teams, and other cross-agency partners.

• Act as primary strategic liaison with VML teams for responsive inputs, creative assets, and delivery management.

• Ensure consistent, transparent communication across all campaign developments and changes.

Campaign and Budget Management:

• Own the strategic management and adaptive allocation of annual always-on performance campaigns including budget management

• Identify potential campaign risks and proactively manage mitigation strategies to safeguard performance.

• Ensure campaigns deliver effectively against set KPIs, adapting strategies in real-time as needed.

• Oversee & contribute regularly to reporting as relevant to clients

Innovation and Collaboration:

• Collaborate closely with central strategy teams to integrate local initiatives with broader strategies.

• Continuously explore and introduce innovative media solutions to enhance campaign effectiveness. Working closely with planning & activation teams.

• Champion digital innovation and emerging media platforms to maintain Ford UK's competitive advantage.

• Continuously & proactively taking learnings to clients shared from channel teams

Skills and Experience 

At WPP Media, we believe in the power of our culture and our people. It’s what elevates us to deliver exceptional experiences for both our clients and each other. In this role it will be critical to embrace WPP & WPP Media’s shared core values:

• Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity.

• Skills & Tags

  gorustaidataanalyticsproductdesignmarketing