Overview
As a Principal Consultant within Strategy3 UK, you are a senior leader responsible for shaping, selling, and delivering impactful work with private sector clients. You play a critical role in evolving our go-to-market proposition, embedding demand spaces, category strategy, and commercial transformation into client organisations. You act as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, influencing decisions that sit at the intersection of strategy, brand, trade and growth. Your leadership strengthens cross‑functional alignment across client teams (marketing, sales, commercial, product and strategy), ensuring our thinking translates into sustainable commercial outcomes. Internally, you will contribute to the growth of Strategy3 UK—supporting account expansion, winning new work, shaping intellectual property and mentoring consultants.
Day to Day
In this role, no two days will look the same. These are the types of things you can expect to be doing during your day to day, although as a dynamic organisation this may vary as different opportunities arise.
Client Strategy & Delivery
Lead the design, development and activation of category and demand‑led growth strategies for private sector clients. Translate complex market, consumer and commercial insights into clear strategic choices and practical activation plans. Embed demand spaces and category thinking into client organisations, ensuring relevance across brand, portfolio, pricing, trade and channel strategies. Oversee end‑to‑end project delivery, ensuring work is high quality, commercially impactful and delivered on time and budget. Act as senior client counsel, supporting executives through ambiguous or high‑stakes strategic decisions.
Stakeholder & Relationship Management
Build and maintain strong relationships with senior client stakeholders. Navigate and align multiple client functions, overcoming silos and driving collective ownership of outcomes.
Commercial Growth & New Business
Own and grow major client accounts, identify opportunities to expand scope and deepen relationships. Lead or contribute to new business pursuits, including opportunity shaping, proposal development and pitching. Use insight‑led thinking and strong storytelling to articulate the value of our demand space and category expertise.
Team Leadership & Capability Building
Provide line management, coaching and mentoring to consultants and managers. Set high standards for analytical rigour, strategic thinking and client engagement. Contribute to talent development, capability building and creation of new tools, methodologies and IP.
Research & Insight
Direct and quality‑assure qualitative and quantitative research programmes. Ensure insights are robust, actionable, commercially grounded and clearly communicated.
Essential Criteria
- Extensive experience in consulting or a closely related strategy environment, with strong exposure to brand, commercial and trade strategy.
- Demonstrated success in developing and embedding category strategies for private sector clients.
- Proven ability to lead complex, multi‑disciplinary project teams.
- Strong understanding of demand spaces, growth platforms and how they translate into organisational change.
- Excellent client handling skills, experience engaging senior stakeholders.
- Commercial acumen with a clear track record of contributing to account growth or business development.
- Experience at a top‑tier consulting firm or specialist strategy consultancy.
- Established network within relevant private sector industries.
- Experience shaping thought leadership or proprietary methodologies.
Desirable Criteria
- Experience shaping thought leadership or proprietary methodologies.
Behaviours
- Strategic and future‑oriented: Anticipates market shifts and client needs.
- Collaborative leader: Brings people together across disciplines and perspectives.
- Entrepreneurial and proactive: Spots opportunities, takes ownership and drives momentum.
- Client‑obsessed: Focuses relentlessly on delivering real, measurable impact.
- Resilient and adaptable: Thrives in ambiguity and fast‑moving environments.
Benefits
We offer a comprehensive benefits package: 25 days annual leave, pension contribution, income protection and life assurance. Additional health and wellbeing, financial benefits and professional development opportunities.
Equal Opportunity
We are committed to equality, treating people fairly, promoting a positive and inclusive working environment and ensuring we have diversity of people and views. We are proud to be a member of the Disability Confident scheme, certified as a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. We provide an inclusive and accessible recruitment process.
