Manager, Talent Acquisition - Emerging Talent

About WPP Media WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships – all united by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open – we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth. WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working. For more information, visit wppmedia.com . About WPP Media WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. Utilizing exceptional talent, trusted data, and world-class partnerships—all united by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open—we help clients navigate change and deliver transformational growth. WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalization at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, we ensure clients see exactly how and why their media investment is working. For more information, visit wppmedia.com . Role Summary WPP Media is committed to cultivating future industry leaders through our award-winning Launch Pad Program (our associate cohort experience) and our comprehensive Internship Program . The Manager, Talent Acquisition - Emerging Talent is a collaborative role responsible for the end-to-end strategy, execution, and management of both the summer internship and cohort-based associate hiring programs. This role drives the recruitment, operational, and programmatic strategies needed to attract, hire, and retain high-performing, diverse, and non-traditional early career talent. Managing a Recruitment Coordinator, the Manager serves as a key organizational liaison to ensure WPP Media remains a premier destination for emerging talent. Key Responsibilities Strategic Leadership & Team Management Campus & Sourcing Strategy: Develop and execute a data-driven US campus recruiting and early talent strategy aligned with WPP Media’s vision, culture, and inclusion and impact initiatives. Team Leadership: Manage, coach, and develop a Recruitment Coordinator and junior team members on full-cycle recruiting and day-to-day operations. Onboarding & Training: Onboard and train new Emerging Talent recruiters on recruitment processes, ATS workflows, and ongoing professional development. Financial Management: Co-manage the campus recruiting budget and evaluate the ROI of all sourcing and programming initiatives. Program Management & Operations (Launch Pad & Internships) End-to-End Execution: Oversee the planning, scheduling, and execution of the annual program calendar, including full-time Summer Internships, part-time internships (as offered), and Launch Pad associate cohorts. Cohort Administration: Manage operational logistics for each cohort, including data reporting, meeting recaps, and partnership with TA and People Ops to meet offer letter, NHA, and provisioning deadlines. Continuous Improvement: Partner with the Learning & Effectiveness (L&E) team to establish continuous program assessments. Lead post-program reviews and annual competitor analyses to optimize future cohorts. Performance & Transitions: Coordinate goal-setting, evaluations, and career conversations with Interns. Partner with hiring managers and Resource Management to transition high-performing interns into permanent roles or alumni networks. Sourcing, Recruitment & Candidate Experience Full-Cycle Recruitment: Manage a balanced, reduced requisition load, ensuring a high-touch, structured, and positive candidate experience. Diversity Pipelines: Analyze and report on candidate demographics to ensure diverse, non-traditional talent pools are actively represented. Employer Branding: Partner with MarComms to design and deliver comp…