Strategist

Overview

The role in a nutshell: Synthesize culture, client data, audience understanding and channel expertise into exciting strategies that win the trust of clients and unlock award‑worthy creative ideas.

Responsibilities

• Own the strategic spine for projects – from audience definition to measurement framework, ensuring every brief ladders up to brand and business.
• Master primary and secondary research: leverage tools and technology from across Iris and beyond to identify emergent behaviours and what it takes for brands to participate in people’s lives.
• Synthesise at speed: distil messy quant & qual inputs into sharp points of view and decks that inspire creatives, media, and client stakeholders.
• Lead the creation of simple, inspiring briefs driven by genuinely creative strategies.
• Understand and apply Participation methodology – providing clear direction on opportunities to stand apart, ride culture and move behaviour.
• Own integrated comms planning: ensure strategy is creatively executable across the journey, with clear participation triggers at each touchpoint.
• Be a useful and challenging partner for creatives to shape, stress‑test and sell ideas that genuinely connect with cultural movements, contributing actively to creative councils and development sessions.
• Co‑pilot ideation sprints – run stimulus sessions, translate behavioural science nudges into creative triggers and stress‑test concepts against channel realities.
• Provide clear objectives with understanding of how these can be measured, including participation metrics beyond traditional KPIs.
• Mentor Juniors on research techniques, strategy fundamentals, and AI‑assisted synthesis.

Required Skills

• Lead client workshops – including inspiration and ambition‑setting sessions focused on cultural relevance and participation opportunities.
• Develop bespoke insight or trend reports that position Iris as a thought‑leader with our client.
• Own the full strategic narrative of an integrated campaign, from audience insight to idea to execution and rationale.
• Execute sophisticated AI prompts and workflows that augment research, cultural analysis, or creative exploration.
• Architect brand strategies for smaller brands with oversight.
• Lead working sessions with creative teams to unlock channel‑native executions that make use of ever‑evolving platforms.
• Create go‑to‑market playbooks that robustly explain a campaign idea to end.
• Shape new approaches that help teams deliver more insightful and effective integrated work.

Equal Opportunities

Iris is an advocate for equal opportunity in the workplace. We are committed to ensuring equal opportunities regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability and gender identity. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.