Program Director-Audience Based Marketing at VML in Detroit, MI

Who We Are VML, part of WPP, is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and human first, award-winning work for blue chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. The agency is recognized by the Forrester Wave™ Reports, as a Leader among Marketing Creative and Content Service Providers, Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. In addition, VML’s specialist health network, VML Health, is one of the world’s largest and most awarded health agencies. VML’s global network is powered by 26,000 talented people across 55+ markets, with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, Detroit, London, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney. About WPP WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com. Who We Are GTB, part of WPP, is a global precision-marketing agency, creating ideas that inspire people to act. Founded in 2007 to accelerate performance for the world’s most iconic brands, GTB is part of WPP’s industry-leading network of companies driving creative transformation. GTB works across six continents with offices worldwide. Job Summary The ABM Program Director is responsible for leading the day-to-day program management of Ford’s Audience Based Marketing (ABM) operating model across vehicles and campaigns. This role ensures the ABM workflow runs smoothly from audience discovery through activation, in-flight optimization, and final performance readouts—coordinating cross-functional teams across media, creative, strategy, analytics, site/experience, and CRM. ABM is an audience-first, always-on approach that uses defined audience briefs, personalized creative/messaging, and continuous learning to drive measurable business outcomes. The Program Director will be the operational hub that keeps timelines, dependencies, deliverables, and stakeholder alignment on track across channels including Digital OLA/Display, Paid Social, Digital Video, Ford.com experiences, and CRM. Key Responsibilities ABM Program Operations & Governance Own the ABM “operating system” (cadence, workstreams, documentation, templates, status reporting) to ensure consistent execution across multiple vehicle teams. Stand up and maintain clear roles/responsibilities across stakeholders (strategy, analytics, creative, media/platform, web/experience, CRM, account leads). Establish and manage recurring meeting cadences (ABM oversight, channel workstreams, cross-functional weekly reviews, performance readouts). Integrated Timeline & Delivery Management (Cross-Channel) Build and maintain the master integrated ABM plan across phases including: discovery, audience development, strategy development, end-to-end concepting, production, campaign launch, optimization, and analysis. Manage dependencies and approvals across teams to ensure channel deliverables ship on time and aligned to audience strategy. Track and coordinate delivery across key ABM workstreams (e.g., OLA/display + social “always on,” shopper/ARM video, landing page/site experience, and CRM). Audience-First Execution Enablement Coordinate development and circulation of audience briefs to replace (or complement) nameplate-led briefs, ensuring each audience has clear messaging territories, journey considerations, and channel implications. Partner with strategy and analytics teams to maintain the learning agenda, test/control design considerations, and measurement framework. Ensure audience-led creative and experience work stays aligned to strategic intent and brand standards across all channels. In-Flight Performance Management & Continuous Learning Partner with analytics and media/platform teams to manage weekly performance reviews, cross-channel reporting, and optimization tracking. Maintain visibility into KPIs (e.g., efficiency, engagement, site actions/hand-raisers, and other agreed ABM success measures) and ensure actions from performance learnings are implemented. Track continuous improvement actions (creative iterations, audience refinements, channel adjustments) and confirm operational follow-through. Stakeholder & Partner Management Serve as a central point of coordination across Ford stakeholders and agency partners (including media/platform teams, CRM partners, and channel leads). Facilitate clear decision-making by proactively surfacing risks, tradeoffs, resourcing constraints, and timeline impacts. Ensure consistent communication and documentation so all teams understand priorities, status, and next steps. Day-to-Day Responsibilities Include Managing the ABM master tracker (timelines, dependencies, deliverables, approvals, and risks/issues). Scheduling and running key meetings; capturing notes, decisions, and action items and driving items to closure. Coordinating cross-channel asset delivery (briefs, creative routes, trafficking needs, tagging requirements, web/CRM inputs). Maintaining clean handoffs between phases (e.g., audience strategy → creative concepting → production → launch). Creating weekly status reports and leadership-ready summaries (timeline health, risks, optimization actions, upcoming milestones). Supporting process consistency and scalability so ABM can run across multiple vehicle programs without reinventing workflows each time. Desired Skills and Experiences Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or related field (or equivalent experience). 10–12+ years of program/project management experience in an agency, performance marketing, shopper marketing, or integrated marketing environment. Strong experience managing complex, multi-workstream programs across media, creative, strategy, analytics, web/experience, and CRM. Comfortable in client-facing discussions where priorities, requirements, and deadlines must be negotiated and enforced. Excellent organization, documentation, and follow-through; strong ability to manage ambiguity and evolving inputs. Proficiency in PM and reporting tools (Excel, PowerPoint, Word; plus Jira/Smartsheet/Asana/Monday or similar). Familiarity with test-and-learn approaches, in-flight optimization workflows, and cross-channel performance reporting. Bonus: experience coordinating CRM partners and/or owned experience teams (web/landing pages, forms, tagging, analytics). The base salary range for this position at the time of this posting is indicated below. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications. We offer a competitive benefits package, click WPP Benefits for more details. _ $75,000—$180,000 USD 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 an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process. WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to 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. VML is a WPP agency (NYSE: WPP). For more information, please visit www.vml.com, and follow along on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X. When you click "Submit Application", this will send any information you add below to VML. 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