Director of Delivery (12 month contract)

We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Director of Delivery to join VML Toronto on a one-year contract. This senior role sits at the operational heart of our agency, responsible for ensuring the seamless, efficient, and high-quality delivery of integrated work across our client portfolio.

What You'll Do

Delivery Leadership

• Own the end-to-end delivery of integrated campaigns and projects across the agency, ensuring consistency, quality, and efficiency at every stage.
• Establish and maintain robust delivery frameworks, processes, and standards that scale across multiple client engagements and workstreams.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for delivery-related challenges, resolving issues swiftly and decisively while keeping all stakeholders aligned.
• Partner with Client Services leadership to ensure delivery commitments are realistic, clearly communicated, and consistently met.
• Lead delivery planning for new business pitches and project onboarding, setting up engagements for success from day one.

Resource & Capacity Management

• Work closely with resource management colleagues, ensuring the right people are on the right projects at the right time.
• Collaborate with department leads to forecast resource needs, identify gaps, and proactively manage capacity across creative, strategy, technology, and production teams.
• Identify opportunities to optimize team structures and workflows to improve throughput and reduce friction.
• Partner with HR and senior leadership on contractor and freelance resourcing strategies to flex capacity as needed.

Operations & Process Excellence

• Audit, evolve, and implement project management methodologies, tools, and workflows that drive efficiency and transparency across the agency.
• Champion the adoption of project management platforms and delivery tools, ensuring teams are equipped and trained to use them effectively.
• Establish clear reporting cadences and delivery dashboards that give leadership real‑time visibility into project health, risks, and financial performance.
• Lead post-project retrospectives, translating learnings into actionable process improvements that continuously raise the bar.

Financial Oversight

• Partner with Finance and Account Management to ensure projects are scoped accurately, budgets are tracked diligently, and profitability targets are met.
• Monitor project burn rates and flag variances early, working with teams to course‑correct and protect margin.
• Support the development of SOW frameworks and project pricing models in collaboration with senior leadership.

People & Culture

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high‑performing delivery and project management team, fostering a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Model calm, decisive, and inclusive leadership — especially under pressure and ambiguity.
• Advocate for the wellbeing and sustainable workload of agency teams, ensuring delivery excellence doesn’t come at the cost of people.
• Build strong cross‑functional relationships that make the entire agency more connected and effective.

What You Bring

• 8–12 years of progressive experience in delivery, project management, or operations within an agency, consultancy, or similarly complex creative environment.
• Proven track record of leading large‑scale, integrated delivery operations across multiple clients, categories, and disciplines simultaneously.
• Deep expertise in project management methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, or hybrid approaches) and the judgment to know when to apply each.
• Exceptional resource planning and capacity management skills, with experience using industry-standard tools (e.g., Workfront, Smartsheet, Monday.com, or similar).
• Strong financial acumen—comfortable with project budgets, burn tracking, margin management, and SOW development.
• Outstanding leadership and communication skills—able to inspire confidence across senior clients, agency leadership, and front‑line teams alike.
• A solutions‑oriented mindset with a strong bias for action and a track record of turning operational complexity into clarity.
• Experience working across integrated disciplines including brand, content, digital, social, technology, and production.
• Post‑secondary education in Business, Marketing, Project Management, or a related field; PMP or equivalent certification is a strong asset.

The base salary for this position at the time of this posting may range between the values at the bottom of this posting. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications.

$110,000—$160,000 CAD

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.