Global Network Growth Managing Director

Who We Are
VML is a global creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce to create connected brands that drive growth. Guided by a Human First philosophy, VML is known for its innovative work for brands and consistently ranks among the world’s leading creative companies, including the WARC Creative 100. VML’s global network spans 55+ markets with principal offices in Buenos Aires, Kansas City, London, New York, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore.
VML is part of WPP, the trusted growth partner for the world's leading brands. Powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform WPP Open, WPP unites cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, creativity, production, enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel.
For more information, please visit www.vml.com and follow along on LinkedIn #WeAreVML.
The Role
As the Growth Managing Director, you will own a defined enterprise growth domain and are personally accountable for hunting, triaging, shaping and progressing live WPP Enterprise Solutions opportunities within it. Large organisations create ambiguity. Your job is not to manage it internally; it is to resolve it commercially.
This is an active commercial role, not a strategic advisory one. You sit close to live client work, and your value is measured by the momentum you create: turning relationships, market signals and direct client needs into qualified, moving ES opportunities. You are a senior commercial operator who does not wait for a brief to arrive in its final form or for the organisation to clear a path before you act. You find the signal, you qualify it, you shape it, and you drive it forward.
This role is as much for the person ready to step into full commercial ownership as it is for the seasoned enterprise growth operator. What we are looking for is not a specific tenure; it is a specific kind of commercial maturity.
Core Responsibilities
Identify & Qualify:
Lead a defined area of Enterprise Growth, such as WPP Media, WPP Creative, GCL / Top Accounts, WPP Open / Data / AI, Enterprise Growth Architecture, Commercial Architecture or Solution Architecture and take personal accountability for everything that moves within it
Actively identify and pursue ES growth opportunities through WPP relationships, direct client signals, agency teams, GCLs, platform opportunities, partner motions and enterprise transformation needs, not waiting for leads to come to you, but going to find them before anyone else has
Work directly and consistently with client leaders, GCLs, agency leaders, media and creative leadership, consulting teams, partner teams and ES capability owners; building the kind of trust that means you are called first, not copied in later
Shape & Pursue:
Assess opportunity fit, revenue potential, urgency, readiness, route to client, stakeholder access, competitive context and activation requirements, with the rigour and speed to know quickly what to pursue, what to park and what to pass on
Create clear problem statements, opportunity briefs, points of view, value hypotheses, stakeholder maps and pursuit recommendations, giving live opportunities the strategic structure and narrative they need to move forward with confidence
Lead discovery, workshops, executive conversations, proposal direction, credentials, pilots and pitch development where needed, owning the early stages that determine whether an opportunity gains real traction or quietly loses momentum
Own & Build:
Bring together ES capabilities across CRM, commerce, CX, content, data, AI, platforms, media, measurement, marketing technology and managed services; assembling the right combination of expertise around a live opportunity rather than defaulting to a generic response
Maintain ownership of next actions and commercial momentum until the opportunity is ready for formal pursuit, activation, handoff or expansion, ensuring nothing stalls because no one was accountable for the next step
Identify repeatable themes, playbook needs, case study requirements and market signals that help WPP Enterprise Solutions scale its growth motion, contributing to the system that makes the next opportunity easier to find, shape and win
Who you are
You are a senior growth leader equally at home in a strategy conversation, a client meeting, a commercial negotiation and the execution that follows, because for you, these are not separate modes; they are the same job
You build trust quickly with senior stakeholders and navigate complex global matrix environments without losing pace or clarity, moving across lines of authority and geography as a natural part of how you work, not as an obstacle you manage around
You bring genuine domain fluency in one or more of media, creative, consulting, platforms, marketing technology, CRM, commerce, data, AI, content or transformation, enough to be credible in client conversations, not simply directionally informed
You can spot opportunity patterns before they become obvious, qualify what deserves your energy and resist the temptation to turn ambiguity into internal process noise
You are high-agency, collaborative and commercially mature, able to move across teams, create momentum and make things happen without waiting for perfect structure or explicit permission
What you'll need
You bring typically 12 to 15 or more years of experience across enterprise growth, strategic account growth, consulting, technology transformation, digital transformation, media transformation, agency leadership, enterprise sales or client leadership, with a career that has consistently placed you at the point where commercial decisions are made, not downstream of them
You have direct experience originating or shaping opportunities with measurable revenue potential, and you can point to them specifically, not just describe them in aggregate
You understand how enterprise clients buy transformation, technology, marketing, data, customer experience and managed services solutions, not as an academic proposition, but from having sat across the table from the people making those decisions and learned how they actually think
Your background may have been built inside WPP operating companies, major agency networks, consulting firms, systems integrators, digital transformation firms, technology companies, media networks or platform businesses. What matters is whether that background taught you how to find opportunity, qualify it honestly and move it forward in a complex, high-pressure commercial environment
You have a proven ability to work across senior clients and internal stakeholders across multiple disciplines and markets, and a track record that reflects genuine accountability for commercial outcomes, not just meaningful involvement in them
We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.
WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.
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