Associate Director, Data Engineering, UK

As Associate Director, Engineering you will be joining the BI & Data Management division of WPP Media's Data, Technology and Analytics team. This role involves leading client projects and overseeing the strategic development of solutions that aggregate diverse data sources into a single, unified view. You will act as a subject matter expert and strategic lead for the Measure data platform, a unified system for data connection, ingestion, transformation, and reporting, built on a technology stack including Adverity, GCP, and PowerBI.

Responsibilities

In partnership with others in the BI & DM team, design, build, and implement robust data engineering solutions and data pipelines, with high standards for data quality, reliability, and performance; Serve as senior technical liaison and strategic partner to planning teams, client stakeholders, and cross-functional departments, translating business specifications into precise technical requirements for implementation; Design and enforce robust validation and auditing processes to ensure the highest levels of data integrity, consistency, and reliability across all platforms; Oversee the development and maintenance of data pipelines and data models to power dashboarding solutions delivered via the Measure platform, taking ownership of advanced data model design, dashboard deployment strategies, innovation, and change management; Lead initiatives to identify, evaluate, and integrate new data sources and technologies to enhance the Measure platform's capabilities and drive continuous improvement; Mentor and guide direct reports on BI best practices, advanced data modeling, Power BI development, data governance, and effective client engagement

Requirements

Experience in designing, architecting, and implementing complex data integration strategies, transforming disparate datasets into unified, high-value data models for advanced analytics and visualization; Extensive experience with cloud data platforms, specifically Google Cloud Platform (GCP) services; High proficiency in SQL for data manipulation, transformation, and analysis, with an emphasis on optimization and best practices; Demonstrated experience in designing, building, and maintaining complex and scalable data pipelines (ETL/ELT); Experience with data transformation tools like dbt; Experience working with data ingestion tools like Adverity; Deep understanding and practical application of data modeling techniques; Extensive experience working with digital marketing, media campaign data, ad serving technologies, and/or web analytics data, with the ability to guide a team in this domain; Excellent communication, interpersonal, and stakeholder management skills; Strong strategic thinking, project management, and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on delivering impactful, high-quality solutions

Nice to have

Experience working with dashboarding tools (PowerBI preferred); Proficiency in a scripting language like Python; Exposure to CI/CD practices for data pipelines; Experience with project management tools such as Jira and Confluence; Basic understanding of data governance principles

Benefits

Competitive medical, group retirement plans, vision, and dental insurance; Significant paid time off; Preferential partner discounts; Employee mental health awareness days; Access to the extensive global WPP Media and WPP networks; Employee resource groups and in-office events