Senior Director, Global Talent Operations

Title: Global Sr. Talent Operations Director, MFG

Location: NYC

Reports to: SVP Global People Partner, MFG

Position Type: Full-time

About Media Futures Group

Media Futures Group (MFG) is a bespoke team within GroupM and WPP that delivers on our commitment to Google for a more strategic, creative and integrated media approach established to drive better business results.

The MFG team is made up of best in class digital, offline, and integrated media experts who work together to enhance media and creative’s contribution to Google’s business. MFG is powered by EssenceMediaCom, and other constituent parts of GroupM and WPP around the world. The MFG team operates in a seamlessly integrated way across strategy, planning, investment, creative, business sciences and analytics, data and technology. The profile of people who work in MFG are world class, committed to establishing a new high water mark in the media industry.

MFG is committed to the growth of our people as a means to unleash the potential of Google’s business. We are invested in whole-person wellbeing, values and behaviors that reflect our mission and purpose, and providing the tools and systems needed to do the best work of your career. This is a team empowered by limitless possibilities.

About The Role

The Global Sr. Talent Operations Director is responsible for overseeing our most critical agency Talent function across Media Futures Group. Our talent pool is chiefly composed of EssenceMediacom employees, with additional temporary and permanent support from GroupM, WPP, and partner OpCo’s when and where needed.

This role is about the big picture. Talent functions work best when they are strategically in concert with one another, focused on long term strategic needs, guided by constantly evolving priorities, and bringing cross-agency teams together under common goals.

Talent Operations is responsible for setting the strategic agenda for how we staff our business. It’s equally as in the weeds as it is high level. When done right, this role contributes to meaningful influence over the success of our business as a result of how we’re staffed.

In the context of MFG as part of a larger network across WPP and GroupM, our partners are made up of centralized teams, individual contributors, and a range of specialists. This role is responsible for bringing those worlds together in a way that best serves our people and Google. A combination of leadership, strategic relationship management, being a master facilitator, and empowering the team will be your secret sauce.

Some of the things we’d like you to do:

• Lead and facilitate the global MFG Talent Operations offering, serving as a central point of contact for all staffing-related activities. This will include direct line management of dedicated team members, and accountability of partner agency team members.
• As part of the above leadership, ensure global consistency and alignment in all MFG Talent Operations processes and deliverables across regions. What works in one region may not work exactly the same in another, however the outcomes and delivery should be consistent and predictable.
• Own the regional staff plans in partnership with Finance. Ensure timely and accurate management of all people-related details. These are sophisticated internal and external facing tools, which require highly detailed data being maintained. Translate relevant updates into our bespoke global MFG people data repository (Global Staff Changes doc).
• Lead MFG’s Global Resource Management function. As part of this, set clear performance standards and KPI’s. Ensure SOX & EEOC, and GDPR compliance; serve as an escalation point and decision maker for issues and questions along the hiring process, and throughout internal mobility and resourcing processes.
• Provide leadership and direction for staffing our offshoring teams, which make up a meaningful part of our workforce. Support consistency in onboarding and information sharing related to new hires. Serve as an escalation point when needed for talent related processes.
• Accountable for maintaining, analyzing and publishing the following, both internally and externally: Utilization & billability reports, hiring and vacancy status reports, staff forecasting, allocation and capacity planning, executive trend summaries, and other ad hoc reports as requested.
• Work with Discipline and Client leads across all of MFG to continually assess account needs and priorities; ensure we are able to deliver against those priorities through both internal and external hiring efforts.
• Build bridges and ensure compliance with GroupM’s centralized services where appropriate, ensuring the right flow of information and partnership helps us to fulfill our People ambitions as one team.
• Develop meaningful and trusting relationships with Regional and Global MFG leadership; extend those relationships to your team so that work and priorities are clearly aligned to what is happening across the business at any given time.
• Provide leadership across all network agencies supporting MFG, so that the team can effectively maintain a globally centralized and up to date allocations database for MFG in each region, and monitor bandwidth and maximize utilization across team resources.
• Partner with fellow MFG and EM Talent leads to continually assess the training needs of employees on an ongoing basis; ensuring the Talent team is briefed on the needs, and encouraging employees to seek out training or development should their capabilities fall short of what they’re required to do.
• Work with line managers and mentors to identify and assess team members’ interests and development areas, and look to assign them to work and/or training to support their career path.
• As a senior member of the talent team, serve as an escalation point, and at times a hands-on lead, for employee relations issues, learning interventions, and external offer negotiation.
• From time to time, step in to support offer negotiation and compensation packages. Consistently support the use of our Application Tracking System (Jobvite) and related processes from a resourcing standpoint; when needed, create cross-agency processes that allow the full team to achieve shared goals through different systems.
  
  

Requirements

Extremely well organized, process-driven and dedicated, with a can-do attitude. Specifically:

• Previous experience of operating as a Senior Manager within a Talent function
• Experience in an agency and/or holding company environment, supporting the delivery of media campaigns that were delivered on time, on budget and which met client expectations. Must possess a strong understanding of how digital media campaigns are delivered and staffed.
• A proven track record of RM experience, and in managing resources effectively; including the ability to report on effort and resolve scheduling challenges and conflicts that arise along the way
• Excellent and proven negotiation skills and abilities
• Knowledge and understanding of competency-based interviewing techniques
• A strong verbal and written communicator, able to build strong relationships with people at all levels of seniority
• Assertive conflict‐resolution and problem‐solving skills
• An ability to bring the best out of people; helping them develop their capabilities and improve their confidence, whilst motivating them to succeed and helping them maintain focus when necessary
• A strong work ethic; able to work under pressure and juggle multiple responsibilities to meet deadlines and deliver results
• Exceptional diligence and attention to detail and resourcefulness and quick, practical thinking in a demanding environment
  
  

The base salary for this position at the time of this posting may range from $125,000 to $295,000. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including business needs, experience, level of responsibility and qualifications. We offer a competitive benefits package, please visit https://www.wpp.com/careers/wellbeing/benefits-at-wpp-in-the-us for more details.

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