Senior Creative Strategy Lead (12month fixed term contract) in London

Reports to: Partner Lab Leader

Department: Commercial

Level: L2

Location: London

JOB PURPOSE

Reporting to the Partner Lab Leader, the Senior Creative Strategy Lead will be a key member of the Partner Lab team with responsibility for managing a team, guiding them to deliver standout, culturally resonant advertising experiences across the Channel 4 ecosystem – from branded entertainment to live TV and streaming.

As Senior Creative Strategy Lead, you'll collaborate with a diverse range of brands and media agencies helping to shape their marketing campaigns, turning strategy into broadcast quality creative. You'll bring strong commercial awareness, creative instinct and a collaborative mindset to every brief – whether it's a major brand campaign or quick turnaround response.

A highly experienced strategic and creative thinker, confident in both proactive ideation and reactive pitching, you'll work closely with Channel 4 sales teams, commissioning, external production partners and our in-house agency, 4Creative. You'll be obsessed with storytelling – showing advertisers how ideas can be brought to life through the unique tone, talent and power of Channel 4.

As a public service broadcaster who is 'Altogether Different', the Senior Creative Strategy Lead is required to uphold the brand cachet of Channel 4 whilst incorporating and balancing the needs of an advertiser.

You'll possess the skills that enable autonomous project management, precision and effective prioritization, deep client facing experience, passionate and proactive problem solving and are excited by cross functional work with the ability to deliver a high volume of multi-faceted projects on time and to brief.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Creative Strategy Development: Own the development of proposals with ideas that are aligned to brand briefs through clear goals, research, rationale, strategies and tactics. Navigate the push and pull between client needs and creative dreams, acting as the problem‐solving bridge between creative and revenue. Collaborate closely with commissioning teams and production, championing cross‐functional collaboration to ensure responses meet creative standards and brand timelines. Drive and participate in the creative conceptualization process on RFP requests through collaborative, purposeful brainstorms. Manage multiple projects simultaneously, efficiently multi‐tasking and helping colleagues in need and/or take on additional projects where necessary. Measure and communicate impact, helping evaluate campaign effectiveness through performance metrics, learnings and case studies. Seek out regular feedback to enhance future output and surface relevant, incremental opportunities that drive revenue and innovation.
• Scaling Creativity: Demonstrate stand out thought leadership within Channel 4 Sales and amongst the industry, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in team and client meetings, workshops, industry events and more. Work cross functionally to build effective, unique and award‐winning campaigns that communicate the power of Channel 4's ecosystem and are recognized amongst the marketing and creative communities. Develop impactful deliverables such as narrative driven presentations and dynamic workshops that convey Channel 4's advertising proposition effectively. Expand support to different tiers of advertisers through varied initiatives and production support. Develop and maintain a library of materials, contributing to ideas repository collateral, assets and performance tracking data to support insight piece development, external creative sessions and case study development. Build credibility amongst Channel 4 Sales teams as the go‐to person for creative expertise.
• Team Management: Direct and guide the efforts of the creative strategy team, ensuring a cohesive approach within a supportive, inclusive and creative work environment. Lead by example, inspiring creative initiative and mentoring team members to maximise their potential and contribution. Help in the prioritization of workloads, managing team capacity with equity. Provide and encourage regular sharing and feedback, fostering a culture of growth and continuous improvement. Seek opportunities to refine and optimize workflows on an ongoing basis to guarantee a seamless client experience.

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE & SKILLS

• Proven experience in a senior creative strategy or creative director role within a media owner, publisher, platform, agency or brand environment.
• Skilled multi‐tasker, with strong commercial acumen and ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously whilst overseeing and supporting in the prioritization of others.
• Intuitive, empathetic communicator who can understand the priorities of all partners and navigate multiple perspectives to drive projects forward.
• Expert copywriting and communication skills, with demonstrable experience crafting compelling, succinct ideas and selling points to external audiences.
• Can independently captivate a room of executive‐level brand and agency representatives and inspire action.
• Ability to thrive in a collaborative culture, embracing change and effectively implementing feedback.
• Experience in team management and nurturing of talent.
• A resourceful individual with the ability to bring people together towards shared goals, work with experts in various departments and who excels at finding solutions.
• Thrives in fast‐paced commercial environments.
• Proficient in Microsoft 365 products, design and project management software.
• Passion for Channel 4's mission and values.