How Josh Newman is turning 55,000 job titles into 600 roles

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Meet Josh Newman, Global Head of People Strategy & Experience at WPP

Josh leads people strategy and experience globally at WPP.

He believes HR needs to understand how work gets done and how the business makes money. That knowledge gives people leaders a stronger basis for shaping decisions about AI and the workforce.

The result moved WPP from 55,000 job titles to 600 role archetypes, and gave leaders practical guidance to redesign work, plan development and give people more time for client work.

A stronger seat in business-model conversations

For Josh, this work strengthens HR’s contribution to business-model conversations. Understanding tasks is the foundation for discussing how workflows, teams and people’s development should change.

How WPP moved from 55,000 job titles to 600, unlocking 25% capacity gains

The board’s question required a deeper view

With 55,000 unique job titles across a decentralized business, leaders needed a clearer view of the tasks people performed.

Connect roles to the work with Reejig

WPP simplified 55,000 job titles into 600 role archetypes, combining an internal language model with Reejig’s work intelligence to connect roles, tasks, skills and AI tools.

Test the recommendations against real work

WPP examined 600 roles across 50 business areas covering more than 84,000 employees, with leaders validating recommendations against actual workflows.

“Role redesign was already beginning in parts of WPP.”

Make more room for meaningful client work

Examining which tasks AI could support helps reduce repetitive effort and give people more time for the work they joined WPP to do.

“The goal is more purpose-driven work and better client outcomes.”

What’s next: rethink the employee journey

WPP is exploring how AI could change career paths, including rotational programs that expose junior employees to higher-level work, and how to help clients prepare for a redesigned agency workforce.

What other leaders can take from this

Look beneath job titles

Tasks, not titles, answer the board’s question about the future shape of the business.

Make guidance usable in context

Validated, role-specific playbooks tied to real workflows are what leaders act on.

Design time for judgment

Understanding the work earns people leaders a seat in redesign conversations.

Behind the transformation

How Josh worked with Reejig to move from 55,000 job titles to 600 role archetypes validated against real workflows.

The work that we’ve done together has given us the insights and credibility that we might not have had in the past to have that work architecture, business model redesign conversation.

Josh Newman WPP

Learn how leaders like Josh use Reejig to understand work, prove value and scale AI work design. Book a demo →

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How Josh Newman is turning 55,000 job titles into 600 roles

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