Associate Director of Creative Strategy (In house)

Publicis Sapient; City Of London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global digital consultancy seeks an Associate Director of Creative Strategy to bridge strategic relevance with creative vision. The role requires a keen understanding of cultural dynamics and the ability to translate insights into impactful strategies. Ideal candidates will have experience in strategic roles, exceptional cultural radar, and the capacity to articulate complex concepts clearly. This position demands a blend of creative intuition and analytical rigor to ensure that every execution is not only visually striking but also culturally and strategically resonant.

Qualifications

• Experience translating cultural insights into actionable creative strategies.
• Deep understanding of evolving aesthetics and narratives.
• Comfort moving between high-concept thinking and practical application.

Responsibilities

• Translate cultural insights into creative territories.
• Develop strategic frameworks for the creative team.
• Write creative briefs to define project significance.

Skills

Cultural fluency

Strategic thinking

Exceptional cultural radar

Ability to articulate complex concepts

Natural curiosity

Job description

As Associate Director of Creative Strategy, you'll be the cultural decoder who bridges strategic relevance with creative vision for our company. Working in close partnership with our taste-making Creative Director, you'll ensure our creative executions are not just visually exceptional, but culturally resonant and strategically sound. This role demands someone who can navigate the electric third rail of culture—identifying emerging signals, understanding their significance, and translating them into meaningful creative approaches. You possess not only sharp analytical skills, but also the rare intuition to recognize what will matter tomorrow, paired with the strategic rigor to make these insights actionable for our creative teams and valuable for our audience.

What You’ll Bring

• The ideal candidate combines cultural fluency with strategic rigor :
• Exceptional cultural radar—ability to detect meaningful signals amid cultural noise
• Experience translating cultural insights into actionable creative strategies
• Deep understanding of how aesthetics, language, and narrative evolve across different communities
• Strategic thinking that connects cultural relevance with business outcome
• Talent for articulating complex cultural concepts in accessible ways for diverse stakeholders
• Background in strategic roles that interface between creative execution and business objectives
• Ability to develop frameworks that guide creative development without constraining creative possibility
• Natural curiosity that extends beyond typical industry research into unexpected domains
• Comfort moving between high-concept thinking and practical application
• A profound excitement and incorporation of the latest tools and technology into your workflow and process

Your days will be marked by constant cultural exploration and strategic translation :

Mornings might begin with your cultural intelligence ritual—scanning emerging platforms, analyzing social conversations, and identifying patterns that others haven't yet recognized. By mid-morning, you're in a strategy session with the Creative Director, translating these cultural insights into creative territories that feel simultaneously fresh and relevant.

After lunch, you could find yourself developing strategic frameworks that help the creative team understand the intersection of client needs, audience motivations, and cultural context. Later, you might be writing creative briefs that define not just what we're making, but why it matters in the current moment.

Some days involve immersive research—having conversations with cultural insiders, attending events outside the corporate bubble, or mapping emerging aesthetic movements across industries. Other days focus on translation—helping executive stakeholders understand why certain creative approaches will resonate with specific audiences in ways that traditional corporate communication won't.

You’ll frequently serve as the strategic counterbalance to pure aesthetic consideration—ensuring that beautiful craft serves meaningful purpose. Throughout it all, you’ll be the person who ensures our creative work doesn't just look exceptional, but speaks to people in ways that feel authentic and timely.