Head of Strategy and M&A in London

Head of Strategy London | Hybrid | Up to £70,000 This is a chance to lead strategy inside a fast-growing, data-led media business that sits at the intersection of brand strategy, audience intelligence, custom algorithms and real-world campaign outcomes. The business helps brands understand audiences in a more intelligent way, using data not as a reporting layer, but as the foundation for sharper planning, smarter targeting and better strategic decision-making. They now need a Head of Strategy to run the day-to-day direction of the strategy function, develop the team, and act as the senior strategic voice on high-value client briefs. Someone who wants to be close to the idea, close to the brief, close to the client, and close to the commercial impact. You’ll be leading a small strategy team today, with scope to shape how the department evolves as the business scales. You’ll work closely with senior leadership, sales, delivery and measurement teams to make sure strategy flows properly from brief, through planning, into activation, learning and client growth. The right person is likely to come from a media agency, independent agency, strategy, planning or data-informed brand strategy background. Or you may be in an independent agency where you’ve had broad exposure, hands-on leadership and direct brand/client contact, but now want to move into a more distinctive, tech-enabled environment. You’ll lead strategic responses on major briefs, helping brands understand which audiences matter, why they matter, and how data can be used more creatively to reach and influence them. You’ll bring together data, insight, creativity and commercial thinking to build compelling client narratives. You’ll help turn complex data signals into simple, meaningful strategic stories. You’ll also be involved in measurement, helping the business show how smarter audience strategy leads to real-world outcomes. Strong strategy or planning experience, ideally from a media agency or brand-facing environment A genuine ability to solve brand challenges, not just optimise campaigns Strong data literacy, without being a pure data specialist Confidence presenting to senior brand and agency stakeholders The ability to turn complex data into a clear strategic narrative A creative, curious and commercially sharp mindset This is probably not the right move if your background is mainly activation, campaign delivery, audience segmentation, platform deployment or performance optimisation. It is also unlikely to fit if you are a client servicing person trying to move into strategy without a proven strategic planning track record. The business does not need someone who can simply say, “we built a DV360 strategy and reduced CPA.” They need someone who can understand the bigger brand challenge, create the strategic direction, and use data as the fuel behind the idea. We’ve just released our latest Salary Survey, built from real hiring data. It highlights where salaries are moving, where demand is strongest, and what top talent is commanding in today’s market.