Senior Manager, Investment

3 best things about the job

1. Unrivaled industry networking: Build relationships with top-tier digital vendors, media owners, and cross-functional internal teams; become a key connector in the ecosystem.
2. Macro-level market intelligence: Be at the forefront of new media solutions, ad-tech innovations, and shifting market trends.
3. Advanced commercial and financial acumen: Deepen hands-on expertise in negotiation, commercial finance, data analysis, and compliance.

In three months:

• Gain a strong understanding of WPP Media’s SOPs, compliance standards, and investment priorities.
• Map and prioritize the digital vendor landscape; begin building relationships with key partners and client teams.
• Establish trackers for commercial deals, entitlements, rebate/QRF, and compliance documentation.
• Begin analyzing vendor billing data and reconciling against internal records; surface initial variances and fixes.

In six months:

• Provide sound analyses to support business decisions and 2026 negotiation strategies.
• Support in negotiating supplier contracts; ensure documentation and controls are in place.
• Deliver timely, accurate reporting with auditable back-up; reduce reconciliation variances.
• Standardize vendor onboarding workflows; improve cycle time and SOP adherence across vendors.

In twelve months:

• Independently negotiate vendor deals within set parameters and finalize contracts.
• Deliver year-end financial reconciliation and audit-ready documentation; maintain high compliance rates.
• Demonstrate measurable efficiency gains in onboarding and process facilitation; improve stakeholder satisfaction.

 

Role Summary and Impact

• Build, maintain, and elevate strategic relationships with key digital vendors to secure top-tier service, early access to new inventory/betas, and favorable support.
• Support in negotiating commercial agreements; manage day-to-day governance, documentation, tracking, and performance of all commercial deals.
• Lead vendor onboarding and educate partners on WPP Media SOPs and ways of working; continuously optimize workflows to remove friction and improve outcomes.

Internal Collaboration & Client Support:

• Serve as a point of contact for agency/client teams on vendor capabilities, deal entitlements, onboarding status, and escalation management.
• Facilitate processes and streamline communication across vendors, client teams, finance, legal, and operations to clear roadblocks and accelerate delivery.
• Track deliveries across Key partners and work closely with planing team for deliveries.

Compliance & Reporting:

• Reconcile vendor billing and performance data with internal records; investigate and resolve variances; ensure accuracy and audit readiness.
• Calculate, track, forecast, and deliver accurate rebate/QRF reports to Finance; maintain complete and compliant documentation.
• Enforce strict adherence to WPP Media compliance processes and paperwork requirements; partner with regional and global teams to mitigate risk and support audits.

Provides direct high-level analytic support:

• Build analysis using industry/vendor research data and proprietary tools to inform negotiation strategy and investment decisions.
• Contribute ideas and concepts in meetings on investment strategy, value creation, and process improvement.
• The WPP Media Investment Manager must prioritize in a fast-paced environment, work independently with minimal supervision, and be highly capable with data tools, contracting, spreadsheets, reporting, negotiations, and general management.

Skills and Experience

• 6-10 years’ experience in digital media, media investment, partnerships/vendor management, or commercial operations within an agency, publisher, platform, or ad-tech environment.
• Digital media knowledge across planning/activation, optimization, and vendor-facing negotiations; strong understanding of the local digital media landscape.
• Demonstrated negotiation and partnership experience with major digital vendors (platforms, publishers, DSPs, retail media).
• Strong financial acumen: billing reconciliation, accruals, forecasting, rebates/benefits, and contract/IO fundamentals.
• Proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets (pivots, lookups) and comfort with BI/reporting tools (e.g., GA, Power BI).
• Ability to build trusted relationships with agencies and vendors; support agency teams in meeting stretch targets with proper controls.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; well-organized, flexible, and comfortable with changing environments and new ways of working.
• Able to work independently with minimal supervision; strong project management and documentation discipline.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, Economics, or related field (or equivalent experience).