Job Title: Head of Strategy Reports to: CSO
Department: Strategy
Location: London
Job Summary:
As a Head of Strategy at Droga5, you are the partner to our CSO which means you will help lead and shape the vision for brand strategy at Droga5. You will partner with the wider strategy department heads to help bring to life the strategy department goals and agency goals.
As well as departmental duties you will be the strategy lead on client accounts, which means you are the hub around which strategy on the account rotates. You set the bar for how excellent our strategic product is, and you help those more junior to reach that bar. You’re highly respected by the client and creatives for delivering strategic thinking that answers their business problems, and for being a champion of our creative excellence as an agency.
You are adept at managing multiple projects and clients to a very high degree of quality. You can run a pitch, and you are an inspirational presenter. You’re a voice of authority within the agency, and you push the strategic discipline forward.
Most importantly, you’re an inclusive leader demonstrating a high degree of cultural and emotional intelligence that leads to effective collaboration across many different working styles and perspectives. You know how to empower others and create a genuine sense of team cohesion to drive the agency’s strategic agenda forward.
Essential Functions:
- Partner with CSO to define and bring to life the vision for brand strategy at D5
- Partner with CSO to make resourcing decisions
- Guide the team on how to get their teams to grow and succeed
- Partner with wider Strategy Directors to bring to life the department and agency goals
- Lead the brand and communications direction of an account in partnership with the Group Account Director and Group Creative Director
- Architect long-term business and brand strategies for largest clients and maintain close relationships with most senior client stakeholders
- Generate excitement around an array of creative opportunities and champion creativity in the client organization
- Identify new opportunities for great work beyond the brief / additional opportunities for the growth of assigned accounts
- Establish strong and influential relationships with internal members of senior leadership across disciplines and departments (Creative, Communications Strategy and Account Management)
- Be an effective influencer and presenter with all clients and across all departments.
- Mentor and train Junior Strategists within the department - your success and theirs is intimately intertwined.
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You will be able to place thinking in its proper context:
- Isolate the real business problems a brand and communications can affect. Isolate the
- s of the brand, communication and communication channels within business plans—thinking for tomorrow and not just today.
- Have a deep understanding of the client business and what makes it tick.
- Be a catalyst for better ideas; bring people and disciplines together to create the best, most effective work in the world.
Job Qualifications:
- 10+ years of brand strategy or relatable experience in a creative agency setting, with experience leading pieces of business and pitches or adjacent industry experience
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field, or equivalent training and/or experience
- Experience leading teams
- Experience as a trusted advisor to C-suite executives
- Proven strategic leader with examples of exceptional creative output
- Demonstrated expertise of managing complex brand portfolios
- Demonstrated mastery of managing communication plans that support all verticals of the business and their respective unique needs
- Exceptional awareness of culture and influences
- Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills
- Industry reputation for being a strategic leader & thinker
- A proven track record on winning pitches, and leading pitch winning strategic thinking
- A proven track record of partnering with clients, and fostering ‘trusted partner’ relationships with Senior clients (CMOs, Marketing Director, Heads of Marketing)