Data Engineering Director

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients, and communities.

Working at WPP means being part of a global network of more than 100,000 talented people dedicated to doing extraordinary work for our clients. We operate in over 100 countries, with corporate headquarters in New York, London and Singapore.

WPP is a world leader in marketing services, with deep AI, data and technology capabilities, global presence and unrivalled creative talent. Our clients include many of the biggest companies and advertisers in the world, including approximately 300 of the Fortune Global 500.

Our people are the key to our success. We're committed to fostering a culture of creativity, belonging and continuous learning, attracting and developing the brightest talent, and providing exciting career opportunities that help our people grow.

Why we're hiring:

The Director of Data Engineering leads the delivery of enterprise-scale data products across WPP’s key analytics pillars: Financial Analytics, Corporate Analytics, People Analytics, Client Analytics, and Agency Insights. This role is both strategic and hands-on, with accountability for execution excellence, team leadership, and the successful implementation of solutions using Azure, Databricks, and modern data engineering practices.

You will work in close partnership with the Senior Enterprise Data Architect, Business Analysts and PMO during the planning and design phases, contributing delivery and engineering insights to shape scalable, performant, and cost-efficient solutions. Once high-level designs (HLDs) are confirmed, you will take full ownership of delivery through a multidisciplinary team of engineers and DevOps specialists.

Your team also includes local capability in AI/ML engineering, used where needed to support delivery of data products. Broader strategy, research, and model development in AI/ML remains aligned with the organisation's wider data science and AI roadmap.

What you'll be doing:

• Lead a multidisciplinary team of engineers and DevOps specialists through building, testing, deployment, documentation, and hyper-care to end-of-life.
• Lead on resource planning for delivering data products along with PMO.
• Deliver scalable data products aligned to the defined architecture and business goals.
• Where required, integrate local AI/ML engineering capabilities into the delivery of data products, ensuring production readiness and compliance with broader AI/ML standards.
• Partner with the Senior Enterprise Data Architect and Business Analysts to shape and review high-level designs, offering delivery focused input during the planning phase.
• Influence design decisions based on engineering feasibility, performance expectations, and delivery timelines.
• Own the transition from design to build, ensuring all delivery requirements are clearly understood, scoped, and documented.
• Oversee CI/CD workflows and infrastructure as code (IaC) implementations across all data and integrated ML/AI pipelines.
• Implement MLOps practices where models are involved in product delivery, ensuring versioning, monitoring, and retraining processes are in place.
• Champion automation and release reliability across environments.
• Embed data quality, validation, and lineage into all pipelines.
• Implement governance controls and metadata tagging in line with organisational architecture standards.
• Define and monitor KPIs across delivery workflows (e.g., refresh latency, uptime, incident response).
• Ensure observability and alerting are in place for data and model related components.
• Implement architecture defined cost optimisation strategies across data workloads.
• Monitor usage and flag inefficiencies in engineering implementation.
• Mentor engineers and DevOps and support development of AI/ML skills where relevant to product delivery.
• Work with PMO to align on resource planning, capacity, and prioritisation.
• Act as the delivery lead across data product workstreams, engaging regularly with PMO, BAs, and Architecture teams.
• Represent engineering at leadership and governance forums, including the Architecture Review Boards.
• Serve as the engineering counterpart to the Senior Enterprise Data Architect, contributing to feasibility assessments and platform alignment.
• Provide architectural guidance during delivery while remaining aligned to the enterprise data strategy
  
  

What you'll need:

• Proven ability to lead data and platform teams across both consulting and in-house environments, with a strong focus on delivery discipline, platform reliability, and team maturity.
• Experience driving enterprise data strategy, standardising integration and governance practices, and aligning technical delivery with business goals at global scale.
• Deep experience as a Data and Solution Architect, having owned high-level and low-level designs across different domains.
• Adept at balancing innovation with standardisation, driving reuse and simplicity in architectural patterns without compromising delivery timelines.
• Experienced in defining cost-optimised, cloud-native architectures — especially on Azure — and translating them into stable, performant implementations.
• Advanced capability in Azure Cloud Scale Analytics, including Databricks, ADF, Azure SQL, and Data Lake, with hands-on delivery of robust pipelines and production-ready data products.
• Strong experience building DevOps automation pipelines using GitHub, GitHub Actions, and Infrastructure-as-Code (Bicep, Terraform), with a focus on security, scalability, and reusability.
• Experience running always-on, multi-tenant data environments with attention to audit, lineage, and access control.
• Comfortable working with AI/ML capabilities within Databricks and Azure ML as part of integrated data products.
• Experienced in coordinating with central AI/ML functions, while embedding local MLOps practices (versioning, monitoring, retraining) into data engineering workflows when needed.
• Hands-on delivery leadership in environments subject to SOX compliance, financial reporting, and enterprise audit requirements.
• Track record of implementing robust governance, metadata management, and RBAC enforcement in high-scrutiny contexts.
• Trusted advisor to senior business and technology leaders, with the ability to bridge the gap between architecture, engineering, and business priorities.
• Extensive experience working with PMO, BAs, architects, and cross-functional stakeholders to align on scope, prioritisation, and delivery readiness.
• Known for growing high-trust, high-performance teams through mentorship, structure, and role clarity.
• Experienced in setting up Centres of Excellence, delivering technical enablement, and leading cultural transformation in engineering ways of working.
• Strong communicator with the ability to translate between technical and non-technical audiences.
• Highly organised, with a pragmatic and delivery-oriented mindset.
• Comfortable working across business and technical boundaries to unblock teams, prioritise delivery, and maintain momentum.
  
  

Who you are:

You're open: We are inclusive and collaborative; we encourage the free exchange of ideas; we respect and celebrate diverse views. We are open-minded: to new ideas, new partnerships, new ways of working.

You're optimistic: We believe in the power of creativity, technology and talent to create brighter futures or our people, our clients and our communities. We approach all that we do with conviction: to try the new and to seek the unexpected.

You're extraordinary: we are stronger together: through collaboration we achieve the amazing. We are creative leaders and pioneers of our industry; we provide extraordinary every day.

What we'll give you:

Passionate, inspired people – We aim to create a culture in which people can do extraordinary work.

Scale and opportunity – We offer the opportunity to create, influence and complete projects at a scale that is unparalleled in the industry.

Challenging and stimulating work – Unique work and the opportunity to join a group of creative problem solvers. Are you up for the challenge?

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.

WPP 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.

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