Senior Program Director (Health)
Wundermanthompson · New York, New York, United States · Posted Jul 6, 2026
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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 .
About VML Health:
VML HEALTH is a global healthcare agency that partners with healthcare clients across a broad definition of health, from high science to wellness and everything in between. It operates fluidly within the VML agency, as a core group of health specialists (a ‘vertical’) that has the benefit of autonomy in management, but with support of non-health expertise.
At the heart of health is the story of life – all the highs and lows, ambitions, and possibilities. But facing a health challenge can suddenly pull people away from these stories, knocking them off course.
Our purpose is to bridge this gap, bringing people closer to life and all its meaning. We gain a deeper understanding of Healthcare Professionals’ and patients’ needs, behaviors and lived experiences through what we call ‘radical empathy’.
VML Health creates connected brands that get to the heart, bringing people closer to the lives they want to live. Get to the heart. Connect for life.
What We're Looking For:
VML Health is seeking an experienced Senior Program Director who can quickly understand our clients’ needs and objectives with the ability to effectively manage a variety of internal stakeholders across multiple departments in their efforts to deliver on those objectives. The Senior Program Director is expected to manage against defined processes throughout a client engagement as well as identify strategic opportunities for optimizations and new work within our client’s environments. This individual is also responsible for building, coaching and leading teams against said process to ensure successful deliveries.
What You'll Do:
Lead multiple programs of projects across one or more client engagements
Support/provide strategic direction related to processes and resolution paths
Understand the requirements of the organization to create efficient solutions within the projects engaged
Provide well researched POV documents on a variety of solutions related to project work
Maintain direct client relationships with client project owners and client management leadership
Responsible for interviewing and making recommendations to hire at the Program Director level and below
Coach, mentor, motivate and manage direct reports
Serve as a key point of contact and liaison for cross-divisional teams, agency peers and management
Lead scoping and estimation exercises for existing and new business
Support creation of RFP responses with other teams within VML and new business engagement.
Identify opportunities for process improvement and efficiencies to continuously provide value to clients
Support organizational resourcing based on client needs (communicating, managing, executing)
Manages projects against variances in profitability, burn and efficiency
Who You Are and What You Bring:
15+ years of project management experience including working at marketing agency with pharmaceutical brands
Ability to provide proactive and assertive leadership in problem solving, managing financial success of projects, maintaining timelines, and reducing waste
Strong interpersonal skills and able to resolve conflict with productive outcomes
Ability to effectively work across departments with diplomacy and a firm understanding of other’s roles and perspectives
Ability to manage multiple work-streams (projects) effectively and efficiently.
Extensive team management skills for teams of 20+.
Ability to view problems in context at the system and organization and align solutions with the strategic direction of our clients and comp…