Managing Director, Customer Journey Analytics & Personalization (Costa Mesa)

Who We AreVML, 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 WPPWPP 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.Role Summary: This role is responsible for leveraging deep analytical insights into customer behavior across the various defined core audiences and their comprehensive and differentiated journeys, to strategically manage, analyze and optimize the orchestration across the journeys, as well as the personalization of the touchpoints across those experiences that drive engagement, satisfaction, and ultimately, business growth. This role bridges the gap between raw data and actionable customer-centric strategies.Key Responsibilities:Customer Journey Mapping Management:Journey Map Maintenance:Owner of governance and maintenance of the customer journeys for the core audiences across the various management platforms (EG: CDP, AJO, Journey Builder) and key touchpoints (website, email, app, social, ads, customer service, product usage).Identification of Key Moments & Pain Points:Utilize a data-driven approach to pinpointing critical decision points, moments of delight, and areas of friction or abandonment within the customer journey using data.Behavioral Optimization:Management and refinement of customer journeys based on behavioral patterns, demographics, psychographics, and lifecycle stage derived from journey data.Advanced Analytics & Insights:Data Oversight & Governance:Oversee the strategy and management of the types and sources of data from various sources (CRM, CDP, web analytics, marketing automation, product analytics) that will be utilized to inform and manage a unified customer view across the journey for the core audiences.Deep Dive Analysis:Conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis to uncover trends, anomalies, and opportunities within customer journeys. Utilize techniques like funnel analysis, path analysis, churn prediction, and lifetime value modeling.KPI Definition & Reporting:Define key performance indicators (KPIs) related to journey effectiveness and personalization impact, grounded in impact to the business. Define and monitor dashboards and reports to track performance, communicate insights, and demonstrate ROI.Predictive Modeling:Collaborate with data science teams (if applicable) to develop predictive models that anticipate customer needs, propensity to purchase, churn risk, or next best action.Personalization Strategy & Execution:Personalization Roadmap:Develop and manage a strategic roadmap for personalization initiatives across all relevant channels and journey stages.Content & Offer Personalization:Guide the creation and delivery of personalized content, product recommendations, offers, and messaging based on real-time and historical customer data.Experimentation and Incrementality Tests:Design, execute, and analyze A/B and multivariate tests to continuously optimize personalized experiences and improve journey effectiveness.Dynamic Journey Orchestration:Work with marketing automation and personalization platform owners to manage dynamic, data-driven journeys that adapt in real-time to customer actions and preferences.Technology & Data Governance:MarTech Stack Expertise:Act as a subject matter expert for in defining the needs of the business across customer journey analytics and personalization platforms (e.g., CDPs, marketing automation, personalization engines, web analytics tools).Data Quality & Compliance:Ensure data quality, integrity, and compliance with data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) within all customer journey and personalization efforts.Cross-Functional Collaboration & Evangelism:Strategic Partnerships:Collaborate closely across capabilities, functional departments and channel owners to ensure a consistent, integrated, and personalized customer experience across all touchpoints.Stakeholder Education:Ongoing education of internal stakeholders on improvement and learnings within customer journey analytics and personalization, and the impacts on the overall business.Coordinated Orchestration: Act as a central liaison, fostering strong relationships and alignment across departments to ensure a unified approach to customer experience.Business Transformation & Strategic Contribution:Contribute significantly to the broader business transformation efforts by championing a customer-centric mindset and integrating journey insights into strategic planning.Identify emerging customer needs and market trends to proactively evolve our customer journey strategies.Essential Skills & Qualifications:Analytical Prowess: Expert-level skills in data analysis, interpretation, and visualization. Proficiency with analytics tools (Google Analytics, Adobe Suite, SFMC etc.).Data Management: Breadth and depth across data types and sources within martech/adtech that would be valuable to audience development, journey management and personalization strategies.Marketing Technology: Deep understanding and hands-on experience with the Adobe stack (AEM + AEP) and CRM (Salesforce)Strategic Thinking: Ability to translate complex data into actionable strategies and a clear vision for personalized customer experiences.Customer Empathy: A genuine understanding of customer needs, motivations, and pain points.Communication & Storytelling: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex analytical findings to non-technical stakeholders in a compelling and actionable way.Project Management: Ability to manage multiple projects, prioritize tasks, and drive initiatives to completion.Experimentation Mindset: A strong understanding of A/B testing methodologies and a commitment to iterative optimization.Impact Orientation: Able to balance the need for customer experience with the needs of the business to ensure that Journey Management and Personalization strategies are implemented both efficiently and effectively for the business.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._$125,000—$295,000 USDWe 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). 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