Director, Engineering

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

About Choreograph: A Leading WPP Media Brand

Choreograph is WPP’s global data products and technology company. We’re on a mission to transform marketing by building the fastest, most connected data platform that bridges marketing strategy to scaled activation.

We work with agencies and clients to transform the value of data by bringing together technology, data and analytics capabilities. We deliver this through the Open Media Studio, an AI-enabled media and data platform for the next era of advertising.

We’re endlessly curious. Our team of thinkers, builders, creators and problem solvers are over 1,000 strong, across 20 markets around the world.

Role Summary and Impact

As our Director of Engineering, you will lead the development of state-of-the-art agency tools and systems and manage a team of highly talented software engineers. You will take our technological capabilities in business operations to the level of world-class thought leadership and ultimate efficiency.

The role is of high visibility and scope. At Choreograph, you will collaborate with a group of quick-witted, humorous, and extremely dedicated coworkers and clients who are all passionate about digital media. The Choreograph work environment is inviting. You will work in an open, modern space where you will often find groups in casual brainstorming sessions sharing ideas and strategies for new initiatives. Everyone has a voice at Choreograph, and we are open to new ways of thinking, especially those that will contribute to the overall success of Choreograph. Opinions and ideas are always welcomed, in fact, they are encouraged!

We believe in the power of digital media to transform the way businesses and consumers interact. You must believe it as well.

• Oversee technology development team(s) focused on business processes, workflows, integrations, and efficiencies in a highly dynamic environment requiring agility of development.
• Hire, train, manage, and mentor software engineers through continuous interaction and regular performance reviews. Identify appropriate goals and development opportunities for team members. Must also be able to attract and retain top-tier talent.
• Manages the license agreements needed for the team to run in terms of tools and infrastructure
• Sits in different meetings across different departments, like product, engineering, and business to provide technical clarities to Product/Business and business needs to Engineering.
• Able to remove any blockers for engineers in terms of code, resources, clarification, etc.
• Able to chime in for code reviews and design discussions on general coding practices and futureproofing.
• Deliver sustainable, performing, and cost-efficient software components fulfilling product requirements in time, budget, and quality.
• Be a champion of agile development, fostering the culture and pushing your people to rise to the occasion and deliver products on time
• Provide estimates for planned tasks – identify project dependencies/anticipate and resolve conflicts that may pose a risk to successful completion
• Responsibility for full SDLC (Planning, Engineering design, Development, QA, CI/CD, and Production Support)
• Provide 2nd-level support for production systems.
• Collaborate with other engineering managers, architects, and operations to develop overall standards, process documentation, impact assessments, and operability.
• Manage and resolve escalations

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.
• Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust.
• Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise.

• At Least 3+ years’ experience in leading teams & 5+ years’ experience as a software developer
• Strong knowledge of software architecture, API design, API Management, and scalable systems
• Strong experience in the following:
• Automating business workflows and proven experience with system integrations
• Jira, Confluence, and DSP integrations
• Either Python or .net and at least passing familiarity with the other
• Either Angular or React and at least passing familiarity with the other
• SQL, GCP, Docker
• Event driven and micro-frontend architecture styles and patterns
• Enterprise scale, high concurrency, and high availability technologies and architectures
• Managing globally distributed teams
• Experience with building LLM-based software solutions

You have a passion for:

• Working with users and an ability to normalize user requirements
• Looking for novel and creative solutions to complex problems
• Coding not only of a formal spec but also a problem statement
• Effective delegation, recognizing gaps in knowledge or experience, and pursuing proper training
• Agile, Continuous Integration, automation, and Delivery as well as Componentized design
• You can communicate well with business users, product managers, and senior leadership
• Experience working in agencies or ad tech industry is a strong plus

Success Attributes

1) High energy and passion for the job

2) Motivated, self-starter, self-reliant, resilient, and ambitious

3) Comfortable and thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial 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 particular 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.

Please read our Privacy Notice (https://www.wppmedia.com/pages/privacy-policy) for more information on how we process the information you provide.

While we appreciate all applications received, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.