Strategy Director/Planning Lead

We’re working with a creative agency looking for a senior strategic lead to take ownership of strategy across a number of key client relationships, while also helping shape the future of the agency’s planning offer.

This is a broad, hands-on role for an integrated strategist who is equally comfortable getting upstream into brand and audience strategy, turning insight into a sharp creative brief, developing shopper and activation thinking, or sitting alongside senior clients to help solve a business problem. The role spans brand, campaign, shopper, customer, social and activation strategy, with a strong focus on connecting strategic thinking to creative work and commercial outcomes. You’ll work closely with Creative, Account Management and agency leadership, and play an important role in new business, thought leadership and proposition development.

A key part of the opportunity is helping the agency build a more AI-enabled approach to planning: using AI to support areas such as insight mining, research, competitor analysis, social listening, stimulus generation, while applying senior judgement to turn that into useful, distinctive strategic thinking.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Leading strategy across key client relationships
• Working across brand, audience, campaign, shopper, social and activation planning
• Running senior client conversations and strategic workshops
• Turning complex business and behavioural challenges into clear strategic opportunities and creative briefs
• Partnering closely with Creative to strengthen the work
• Contributing to pitches, new business and growth opportunities
• Helping evolve the agency’s strategic proposition, products and thought leadership
• Shaping AI-enabled planning tools, workflows and ways of working

We’re looking for someone who:

• Is already operating at Strategy Director level, or is a strong Associate Strategy Director ready for greater ownership
• Comes from an integrated, creative or activation agency background
• Has experience beyond traditional advertising, ideally across a mix of brand, shopper/customer, activation, social, experiential and digital
• Is strong at turning research and complexity into simple, compelling strategic stories
• Can write briefs that genuinely inspire creative teams
• Is confident with senior clients and comfortable facilitating workshops
• Is commercially minded and able to spot opportunities beyond the immediate brief
• Has strong new business experience
• Is already using AI meaningfully in their work and interested in how it can improve the quality and efficiency of planning
• Is happy being hands-on rather than managing a large planning team

Hybrid working, 1 day a week central London Office.

We are committed to ensuring and supporting representation from all backgrounds across the creative industry, irrespective of race, religion, belief, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability or socio-economic background.

With this in mind, we welcome applications from all areas of the community. Please do get in touch and let us know if there is any additional support or reasonable adjustments we can cater for, to ensure our process and roles fit your needs and creates a comfortable & enjoyable recruitment process.

#J-18808-Ljbffr