Strategy Director

VML Canada (English); Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A creative solutions agency in Toronto is seeking a Strategy Director to lead strategy development. Responsibilities include delivering insights, overseeing creative brief development, and managing client relationships. The ideal candidate has 5-7 years of experience in strategic planning, managerial skills, and must be proficient in English. This role adopts a hybrid work environment, enhancing creativity and collaboration.

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of experience in strategic planning and brand-building.
• Managerial experience is required.
• Must be proficient in English (French is a plus).

Responsibilities

• Supervise and deliver quality research translating into insights.
• Recommend insight mining plans for clients.
• Ensure alignment of creative work with strategy.
• Inspire the team to take creative risks.
• Drive business and strategy with clients.

Skills

Strategic planning

Brand-building

Client relationship management

Analytical thinking

Collaboration

Presentation skills

Creative risk-taking

Job description

Who We Are At VML, you won't just do the best work of your career. You'll leave your mark on some of the top brands in Canada. With more than 400 employees across our Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver offices, and another 28,000 in our 150+ offices in 60-plus markets around the world, VML is here to deliver unparalleled global, and local, brand experience (BX), customer experience (CX) and retail commerce (CO) creative solutions for clients – all powered by deep data, marketing technology, and platform prowess.

About Passport Brand Design

With offices in Newport Beach, New York, Toronto and Montréal, Passport Brand Design (a VML company) is rapidly putting itself on the map as a trusted brand partner. We're passionate about offering creative leadership to global businesses seeking direction on high-level brand strategy, evergreen and seasonal campaigns, and creative executions across all touch points. Our holistic approach to brand identity begins by creating a strategic positioning and brand purpose, which is then translated into a core creative idea that has the power to align teams and guide a fully integrated marketing process. We are looking for people who love what they do, who want to stay inspired and inspire others, who want to do great work and work with great people.

Who We Are Looking For

As Strategy Director, you will be at the forefront of our human-centered approach, translating empathy and understanding into impactful experiences. The role requires you to dedicate energy to anticipating emerging opportunities for our clients at the intersection of people, culture, technology, and business. We are looking for someone who leads by championing others, is hungry to get to the root of client's complex business challenges and knows how to mine audience insights and culture for inspiration. Please note this role is to work on a leading offering in the nicotine category.

What You'll Do

• Supervise and deliver quality research, translating into solid insights.
• Proactively recommend insight mining plans to craft strategy for clients / pitches.
• Ensure a solid final product is delivered; challenge the team's analytical thinking to ensure clear, compelling, and actionable analysis for clients or pitches.
• Oversee and guide brief development in collaboration with internal partners (Creative, Client Engagement); Secure agency leadership and client approval.
• Partner with Executive Creative Director to ensure that all creative work for the account aligns with the strategy and reflects our best possible work—bold, differentiated, and compelling.
• Inspire and challenge the team to take creative risks. Ensure the final creative shown to clients aligns with the creative brief.
• Partner with clients to drive business and strategy. Ensure excellence in logistics, creativity of approach, and client satisfaction.

What You'll Need

• 5-7+ years' experience in overall strategic planning and brand-building, having worked across complex, regulated brand portfolios.
• Previous alcohol / spirits and / or CPG category experience with brand launch expertise a plus.
• As a critical and analytical thinker, innovator, and visionary, you will play a crucial role in inspiring creativity and guiding the team toward success.
• Managerial experience.
• Able to develop strong client relationships and trust based on deep immersion in the client's business.
• Highly collaborative and able to work effectively across internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Must be fully proficient in English to a business level (French is helpful but not mandatory)
• A proven track record of influencing impactful creative work.

We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we've adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

VML is a WPP Agency. For more information, please visit our website, and follow VML on our social channels via Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

When you click "Submit Application", this will send any information you add below to VML. Before you do this, we think it's a good idea to read through our Recruitment Privacy Policy. California residents should read our California Recruitment Privacy Notice. This explains what we do with your personal data when you apply for a role with us, and, how you can update the information you have provided us with or how to remove it.