Vice President, Client Services

Overview

Lead the strategic intelligence agenda and media strategy for an assigned category, serving as a senior strategic partner to client brand and marketing teams within WPP Media.

What you'll do

• Lead the strategic intelligence agenda for your assigned category, synthesising competitive media activity, consumer behaviour, cultural trends and business dynamics into clear, actionable strategic narratives for client and internal teams.
• Build deep, trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders across brand and media, driving strategic discussions that connect media investment to brand equity and business outcomes.
• Develop and own the media strategy for your category portfolio, grounded in planning rigour, informed by data and connected to the broader business agenda, ensuring strategy translates consistently from brief to plan to outcome.
• Maintain a current and nuanced understanding of the competitive media landscape, consumer media behaviour and emerging cultural trends, and translate these into timely, actionable recommendations.
• Build bespoke strategic analyses, deep-dive studies and intelligence frameworks using media data, consumer research tools and secondary sources, turning complex data into clear points of view.
• Partner with Central planning, data and activation teams to ensure strategic intent is reflected at every stage of the media investment cycle, and contribute to agency thought leadership and category best practice.
• Monitor competitive activity, consumer signals and cultural trends to identify strategic opportunities and risks for your category brands.
• Build and present strategic analyses and recommendations for client brand and planning reviews, connecting media thinking to business outcomes.
• Work with planning and data teams to ensure category strategy is reflected accurately in media plans and measurement frameworks.
• Scan secondary research, social listening tools and consumer survey platforms to build and update category intelligence.
• Add strategic nuances to CCBT, MOC and AOP discussions, developing the category point of view that shapes investment decisions.
• Collaborate with Central strategy and intelligence teams to build category-specific frameworks, tools and best practices.

What you'll need

• 10–14 years of experience in media strategy.
• 3–6 years in core media planning at a leading media agency.
• Solid grounding in planning mechanics, including channel strategy, audience and reach thinking, platform dynamics and ROI frameworks.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and deliver senior-level strategic recommendations to category heads, marketing directors or equivalent, with confidence and clarity.
• Strong experience working on large FMCG or consumer brand accounts, with an understanding of how brand strategy, consumer insights and media investment connect to business outcomes.
• Excellent analytical capability, working across multiple data sources (media, consumer, competitive, business) to synthesise a clear and actionable point of view.
• Outstanding communication skills, able to simplify complexity, build compelling narratives and present to senior internal and external audiences.
• A proactive, independent working style, bringing the agenda rather than waiting for the brief.
• Postgraduate degree in Marketing, Business, Communications or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience with a demonstrated foundation in media planning and a track record of strategic leadership.
• Experience managing senior client relationships independently.

Nice to have

• Domain expertise in one of the following categories: Beauty & Wellbeing, Home Care, Personal Care or Foods & Nutrition.
• Experience on the brand or strategy side at an FMCG or digital media/tech company.
• Familiarity with AI-powered intelligence tools, social listening platforms and emerging media research methodologies.
• Experience contributing to brand planning, AOP or marketing strategy discussions beyond the media brief.
• Working knowledge of 1PD strategy, audience intelligence frameworks and data-driven planning approaches.

Details

• Location: Mumbai, India.
• Work mode: hybrid, with teams in the office around four days a week.
• Reports to: Head — Strategy & Intelligence.