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Group Director, Performance (15-month contract)WPP Media · Toronto, Canada
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WPP Media

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Group Director, Performance (15-month contract)

🗓️ Posted 2026-07-27 Toronto, Canada Hybrid Ceo General Management
💰 Salary Not shared 📊 Market 15,000 CAD–20,833 CAD/mo

About the Company

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 . WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit wpp.com. WPP Media is WPP's global media collective. In a world where media is everywhere and in everything, we bring the best platform, people, and partners together to create limitless opportunities for growth. For more information, visit wppmedia.com 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:

About the Role

At the heart of our agency's mission is a commitment to connecting our clients' business goals directly to high-impact media execution, ensuring every media dollar spent is accountable to meaningful business outcomes. We are seeking a Group Director (GAD), Performance for a 15-month contract . In this senior leadership role, you will own the strategic direction and commercial success of a highly prominent, fast-paced automotive client account. You will act as the key senior strategic partner to executive-level client stakeholders, ensuring that their performance media investments consistently drive measurable business outcomes (from brand favorability down to dealership leads and sales) through innovative, data-driven, and full-funnel omnichannel strategies. You will directly manage and mentor one direct report (Performance Director), while playing a critical leadership role across a wider matrixed team. Crucially, you will act as the strategic bridge between the client and our activation teams, working closely with specialists across Search, Social, and Programmatic to ensure that every campaign tactic, channel optimization, and platform execution flawlessly ladders back up to the overarching strategy and the client's core business KPIs.

Responsibilities

  • ● Strategic Client Partnership: Serve as the primary senior strategic contact and trusted advisor for senior automotive client stakeholders, translating complex auto business challenges into impactful performance media solutions.
  • ● Outcomes-Based Analytics Integration: Partner closely with client and agency Analytics teams to connect the dots across the data ecosystem. Lead the effort to integrate digital platform analytics with client CRM and dealer sales data to establish a single, unified view of performance and true business outcomes.
  • ● Omnichannel Strategic Oversight: Oversee the development and execution of comprehensive, full-funnel performance strategies. You will ensure a robust omnichannel approach across Search, Social, Programmatic, and Commerce media.
  • ● Activation Integration & Alignment: Work closely with and lead the channel Activation teams. Ensure there is no disconnect between strategy and execution, guiding teams to optimize towards business outcomes rather than just platform metrics.
  • ● Team Leadership & Mentorship: Line-manage, mentor, and support the career development of your direct report, the Performance Director, while fostering a collaborative, high-performing environment across the wider integrated account team.
  • ● Commercial & Portfolio Health: Manage the commercial health, profitability, and organic growth of the account during this 15-month period, ensuring optimal budget allocation, forecasting, and ROI.
  • ● Performance Innovation: Drive the adoption of advanced measurement, cookieless audience targeting solutions, and testing roadmaps tailored to the evolving automotive landscape.
  • ● Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate seamlessly with brand Planning, Analytics, Solutions, Creative and external client agency partners to ensure integrated, seamless strategic delivery.

Requirements

  • ● We are looking for an experienced, adaptable performance leader who can step into a high-profile account and make an immediate impact. To be successful in this role, you will need:
  • ● Automotive or High-Value Consideration Experience (Highly Desirable): A strong understanding of the automotive industry's unique purchase funnel, dealership dynamics, and lead-generation strategies.
  • ● Strategic Team Leadership: Proven experience line-managing senior strategists (Director-level) and leading large, multi-disciplinary matrixed teams.
  • ● Activation Collaboration: A deep understanding of Search, Social, and Programmatic platforms, with a proven ability to direct and influence activation specialists to ensure tactical execution aligns with business-level KPIs.
  • ● Omnichannel Full-Funnel Strategy: Mastery in designing connected, full-funnel strategies that move consumers seamlessly from awareness/consideration down to conversion.
  • ● Senior Client Relationship Management: Exceptional ability to command the room, navigate complex client organizations, and influence C-suite/VP-level stakeholders.
  • ● Advanced Analytics & Data Integration: Deep understanding of marketing analytics with proven experience bringing together disparate data sources-specifically platform performance analytics, CRM databases, and offline/dealer sales data-to construct a single, outcomes-based view of campaign performance.
  • ● Financial & Budgeting Acumen: Strong financial management skills, including portfolio budgeting, forecasting, and resource allocation.
  • ● Stakeholder Communication & Influence: Exceptional storytelling and presentation skills, with the ability to translate complex digital performance data into clear business outcomes.
  • ● vs. Planning: While Planning defines the overall high-level media investment and brand positioning, you will own the accountable, full-funnel performance strategy that connects those plans to measurable dealer leads and sales.
  • ● vs. Biddable/Activation: While the Activation teams execute inside the platforms, you will partner closely with them to guide optimizations, ensuring their day-to-day work is tied directly to the client's business goals.
  • ● vs. Analytics: While Analytics models the data and designs attribution frameworks, you will translate those insights into strategic actions that optimize the client's media investment.