WPP has appointed Mark Taylor as its Chief People Officer, strengthening its global leadership team. In this role, he has been responsible for leading the company’s people strategy, overseeing talent management, organisational development and culture transformation across markets. Alongside this, Marie-Claire Barker has taken on the role of Chief People Officer, Performance and Culture, as the company has aimed to accelerate the modernisation of its people function.
The announcement has been shared by WPP on its official LinkedIn page, where the company has confirmed Taylor’s appointment and outlined the broader leadership transition within its people function.
Prior to this, Taylor has been serving as Advisor to Public and Large-Scale Family Owner businesses at Independent since June 2024, where he has been advising on active ownership, governance, board composition, strategy, succession planning and corporate social responsibility for globally mobile family-owned enterprises.
Earlier, he has spent over seven years as Chief People Advisor at the LEGO Brand Group from January 2017 to April 2024, based in Denmark. In this role, he has been responsible for board and CEO recruitment across the LEGO Group ecosystem, leadership assessments, organisational due diligence for acquisitions, and restructuring the HR function while working closely with the group’s ownership and leadership.
Between 2015 and 2017, he has served as Chief People Officer at King in London, where he has helped shape a new operating model, supported innovation and franchise growth, and played a key role in the company’s integration with Activision Blizzard, including aligning reward structures and leading the people integration strategy.
From 2006 to March 2015, he has been Chief People Officer at Burberry, where he has led the transformation of the organisation from a traditional wholesaler into a digitally driven luxury retailer, while building a values-led culture and enhancing retail workforce capabilities.
Before that, he has worked as Senior Human Resources Director, EMEA at Kimberly-Clark from 2001 to 2006, and earlier as Human Resources Director at GlaxoSmithKline from 1991 to 2001, both based in London, where he has built extensive experience in global HR leadership.
“This powerful leadership combination gives me real confidence in our ability to modernise our People function at pace and make WPP the best place to build a career in our industry.” – Cindy Rose OBE, CEO
