Head of Ad Technology & Operations APAC

Overview of job GroupM is the world’s largest media investment company and are a part of WPP. In fact, we are responsible for one in every three ads you see globally. We are currently looking for a APAC Head Ad Operations to join us. In this role, you will be responsible for guiding a growing team in the local markets to support the next phase of Ad Operations development in biddable and non-biddable activation. The ideal candidate has operated in a complex Ad Operations businesses, is focused on flawless campaign execution, has managed highly technically skilled teams and has delivered successful results in a solutions-first environment. At GroupM APAC, our people are our strength, which is why fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion is important to us. Reporting of the role This role reports to: Primary report to GMS Regional Head. Secondary report to Global GMS AdOps lead 3 best things about the job: 1. Be a member of a high performing team focused on technology, data, partners and platforms, a key strategic growth area for GroupM and WPP. 2. To deliver world class thinking and practice area specialization to Agency clients on platform-driven activation services 3. The opportunity to learn and collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders across all GroupM agencies and business units in APAC In this role, your goals will be: In three months: · Established working relationships with your team across the region and broader stakeholders to understand current state and needs · Developed a roadmap of programme development for Adops and prioritised the key rollout phases In six months: · Created a training programme for development and upskilling the Adops teams · Tracked progress of the roadmap activities, report on progress and next steps · Identified opportunities for further enhancements In 12 months: · Successfully upgraded the capabilities of Adops teams against defined agreed metrics · Reviewed the full year activities · Created a plan for second year rollout What your day job looks like at GroupM: GroupM Services Responsibilities The GroupM Services team adopt a collaborative and customer-centric approach in delivering high value and innovative solutions for our Agencies and Agencies’ clients, including the activation and execution of dynamic media campaigns. Responsibilities include but are not limited to: · Building, deploying and ensuring rollout and adherence to best standard operational guidelines/practice across APAC markets for effective campaign delivery · Working with local market Ad Operations leads to identify any operational issues/areas of improvement and develop a plan to implement corrective measures. Continued collaboration on working to improve Ad Operations to ensure flawless execution and best in class delivery. · Manage the operational implementation of new ad products, in partnership with product innovation teams, including designing and implementing test environments, identifying resources, and ensuring that new products only go live with appropriate delivery capabilities in place. · Act as APAC point of escalation for vendor issues related to extended resolution time when issues are encountered. Collaborate with Partnership team to ensure vendors are accountable to relationship expectations such as the adherence to SLAs. · Work closely with the Global Head of Ad Operations to ensure regional direction of the Ad Operations practice aligns with the global strategy and provide feedback on regional experiences to ensure the global strategy aligns with regional needs. · Maintain solid relationships with cross-functional regional practice leads including but not limited to Search, Social, Programmatic and Ecommerce to ensure executional alignment across GroupM Services · Keep on top of industry trends in online advertising and ad operations including attendance of industry events and providing through leadership as it pertains to Ad Operations. · Make sure we as a region innovate and surface best in class local work that can be scaled regionally or globally. This can be around process, automation, quality improvement or intelligence (data quality driving better reporting and insights) Individual Responsibilities: · Build a community of Ad operations experts across the region, mentoring development, fostering learning and sharing to build confidence and capabilities · Support in-market adops excellence practice (inc. operational workflow efficiency, naming convention, quality assurance and process standardization) that delivers best in class tracking and data operations for measurement (i.e. tagging)· Demonstrate aptitude across digital operations and deliver technologies (such as AdServers, DSP, DCO) to maximize campaign performance efficiency and performance · Support agencies clients and new business requirements · Identify, support or lead workstreams to drive efficiencies including automation (such as use of APIs/custom scripts or any third-party tools)· Effectively communicate and simplify technical explanations to senior GroupM Agency’s stakeholders and/or clients · Collaborate to strengthen partnership across technology players such as AdServers, reputable third-party AdTech companies and vendors in order to apply innovative product solutions across campaign delivery · Represent GMS Ad Operations at industry events/forums · Drive consistent performance feedback to the team members What you’ll bring: · A minimum of 10 years’ experience and at least 3+ years building and managing an Ad Operations team in a digital environment. · A proven and respected industry Ad Operations lead with a strong digital pedigree. · Ability to clearly communicate complex and technical issues to variety of internal and external stakeholders. · Expert with leading ad servers and web analytics tools and strong industry knowledge of the Ad Operations environment. · Experience working in a global staff environment, as well as leveraging outsourced Ad Operations resources. · Experience of overseeing traffickers and managing a technically led Ad Operations team in order to maximize efficiencies and reduce response times. · Knowledge of programmatic and commercial SSPs as well as DMP and DCO platforms and established relationships with media partners, verification companies and large digital players like Google/FB · Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills and a motivator. · Proficient with Microsoft Suite of Office Product · Leadership skills demonstrated as the ability to anticipate and remove barriers to productivity, drive teams towards clear goals, take effective decisions and challenge the status quo. · Strive for excellence demonstrated by setting high standards for yourself and others, holding teams accountable, focusing on continuous optimization while mitigating risks. · Passionate about digital media, AdTech, marketing tools and technologies and eager to keep learning · Ability to build and maintain a productive collaboration across teams · Persuasive and effective communicator, ability to operate in matrix organisation · Ability to read/write SQL qQuery, consulting databases and effectively read/write HTML/Javascript More about GroupM Nexus GroupM makes advertising work better for people. GroupM Nexus comprise world-leading addressable specialists who provide media activation services and proprietary solutions that limit risks and guarantee outcomes. Underpinned by our digital media philosophy – everything that can be addressable, should be, as long as it translates into value for our clients – GroupM Nexus offer addressable solutions across Search, Social, Programmatic, Ad Ops, and eCommerce. As the largest media investment company in the world, we are agency partners to 1 out of 2 Top 100 global brands, representing more than $50 billion in media spend globally. More about GroupM GroupM - GroupM leads and shapes media markets by delivering performance enhancing media products and services, powered by data and technology. Our global network agencies and businesses enable our people to work collaboratively across borders with the best in class, providing them the opportunity to accelerate their progress and development. We are not limited by teams or geographies; our scale and diverse range of clients lets us be more adventurous with our business and talent. We give our talent the space, support and tools to innovate and grow. Discover more about GroupM at Follow @GroupMAPAC on Twitter Follow GroupM on LinkedIn - About GroupM Singapore GroupM Singapore operates in one of the most dynamic and exciting environments in the world. Although it is a small domestic market, there is a vibrant media industry which is undergoing rapid evolution as digital technology reshapes the way marketing supports advertisers’ needs. Being at the crossroads of Asia means, that aside from the local clients and media owners, we also have a high proportion of multi-national clients, renowned brands and media owners. Making GroupM Singapore the Number One organisation to join and develop your career in media investment. GroupM is an equal opportunity employer. We view everyone as an individual and we understand that inclusion is more than just diversity – it’s about belonging. We celebrate the fact that everyone is unique and that’s what makes us so good at what we do. We pride ourselves on being a company that embraces difference and truly represents the global clients we work with.