Senior Director, Strategy, India

About WPP Media 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. About WPP Media 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: - Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity. - Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust. - Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise. YOUR ROLE IN A NUTSHELL As Senior Director, AI Strategy, India, you will lead the end-to-end adoption of AI across MFG's Google business in India. You will translate regional strategy and approved AI capabilities into practical local action—building market capability, advising Tier 1 campaigns, embedding agentic solutions into business-as-usual workflows and developing or localizing tools where India's requirements. You will be the primary in-market AI strategy partner for MFG practice leads and Google Media Lab, while also working with Product Marketing Managers, Brand Social teams, senior marketing stakeholders and agency partners. Your success will be measured not by experimentation alone, but by scaled adoption, responsible use and demonstrable improvements in productivity, quality and campaign outcomes. The ideal candidate combines senior media and stakeholder leadership with practical AI fluency. You can spot valuable use cases, mobilize cross-functional specialists, guide teams through change and turn successful market innovation into repeatable solutions for wider use. REPORTING OF THE ROLE ● AVP, AI Strategy, APAC and India market leadership RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ROLE Market AI Strategy & Stakeholder Leadership ● Own the India market AI roadmap and delivery plan, aligned with APAC priorities, Google's marketing objectives and local business needs. ● Serve as the primary AI strategy partner to India MFG practice leads and the local Google Media Lab lead, identifying opportunities and resolving adoption barriers. ● Partner with Google PMMs and Brand Social stakeholders to extend appropriate WPP AI solutions across media, creative and non-media Product Area workstreams. ● Provide senior stakeholders, including local marketing leadership, with clear points of view and strategic direction on market-level AI initiatives. ● Act as the AI bridge between MFG, other WPP agencies and relevant external agency partners to align delivery against shared media AI OKRs. Enablement, Campaign Deployment & Adoption ● Design and deliver localized, hands-on training, workshops and onboarding for cross-functional teams, supported by market-relevant playbooks and prompt libraries. ● Advise Tier 1 campaign teams on selecting and deploying verified AI agents and workflows across the campaign lifecycle. ● Embed approved solutions into BAU processes, building team confidence and capability rather than relying on one-off demonstrations. ● Track active usage, training coverage, workflow migration and WPP Open monthly active users; use the findings to target further enablement. Local Innovation, Governance & Measurement ● Identify India-specific workflow gaps and architect, localize, pilot and maintain appropriate AI tools or custom agents using relevant local context and data inputs. ● Evaluate the quality and consistency of AI outputs and convene media, data, creative and technology SMEs to improve solutions. ● Capture successful Speedboat MVPs and market innovations, document learnings and work with the regional team to graduate scalable solutions into the central repository. ● Apply regional measurement frameworks to quantify time savings, output quality, campaign value and business ROI; report progress and recommendations to market and regional leadership. MEASURES OF SUCCESS In 3 months, you will have: ● Established strong relationships with India MFG practice leads, Google Media Lab, PMM and Brand Social stakeholders, local SMEs and the APAC AI Strategy team. ● Assessed current AI maturity, Tier 1 campaign opportunities and priority workflow gaps, producing a focused India adoption roadmap. ● Established baseline usage, training, compliance and impact reporting. In 6 months, you will have: ● Delivered localized cross-functional enablement and embedded verified AI workflows into priority live campaigns. ● Launched at least one India-specific localization or pilot with clear evaluation criteria and governance controls. ● Created a dependable feedback loop between India practitioners and the regional product and transformation teams. In 12 months, you will have: ● Demonstrated measurable growth in active AI usage, local training coverage and priority workflows migrated to WPP Open. ● Produced evidence of campaign-level productivity, quality or business impact from scaled AI adoption. ● Graduated successful India-led innovations for wider APAC consideration and established a sustainable local AI champion network. WHAT YOU WILL NEED Core Experience & Qualifications ● 12+ years of experience in media, advertising, digital strategy, transformation, marketing technology or a related field, with substantial senior leadership experience in India. ● Proven success leading large-scale change, capability building or technology adoption across cross-functional teams. ● Deep understanding of India's media and marketing landscape and of end-to-end campaign strategy, planning and activation. ● Experience managing senior client stakeholders and influencing teams without direct authority; Google business experience is a strong advantage. ● A Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience. Technical Skills & Knowledge ● Strong practical fluency in generative AI, AI agents and their application to media, creative and operational workflows. ● Hands-on familiarity with WPP Open, Gemini or comparable AI, media and data platforms. ● Working knowledge of prompt and context engineering, agent testing and evaluation, data governance and responsible AI practices. ● Ability to frame use cases, mobilize technical SMEs and translate adoption and impact data into executive decisions. Leadership & Personal Attributes ● Market Leadership: Builds credibility quickly and can set a clear transformation agenda for senior client and agency stakeholders. ● Enablement: Makes technical concepts accessible and builds lasting practitioner capability through practical learning. ● Collaboration: Brings together media, creative, data and technology specialists to solve operational problems. ● Commercial & Strategic Judgment: Prioritizes scalable use cases with clear campaign or business value. ● Execution & Adaptability: Takes ownership from opportunity identification through deployment, measurement and iteration in a fast-changing environment Life at WPP Media & Benefits Our passion for shaping the next era of media includes investing in our employees to help them do their best work, and we’re just as committed to employee growth as we are to responsible media investment. WPP Media employees can tap into the global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, grow their networks, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising. We have a variety of employee resource groups and host frequent in-office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our benefits include competitive medical, group retirement plans, vision, and dental insurance, significant paid time off, preferential partner discounts, and employee mental health awareness days.   WPP Media 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. 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 around four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process. #LI-Promoted Please read our Privacy Notice for more information on how we process the information you provide.