Head of Strategy

McCann Demand; London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

McCann Demand is seeking a Head of Strategy in London to lead an award-winning team. The role requires a seasoned strategic marketing leader who can bridge strategy, creative, and account teams to deliver exceptional value. Responsibilities include ensuring high-quality strategic outputs and supporting team development. The ideal candidate has a strong advertising background and a passion for strategic craft.

Qualifications

• Impressive background in marketing/advertising agencies required.
• Experience leading a strategy team and working with key clients.
• Ability to understand business, marketing, and communications objectives.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support the strategy team, accountable for strategic product quality.
• Deliver strategic excellence to clients by immersing in their world.
• Advocate for strategy within senior leadership and support team growth.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Marketing leadership

Client relationship management

Team development

Job description

Social network you want to login/join with:

We’re the London division of McCann Central, 500+ across 6 offices across the UK. We like to think of ourselves as McCann Worldgroup’s best-kept secret, located within McCann UK’s Bishopsgate HQ.

With an award-winning team of over 80 thinkers and doers, noisemakers, and problem-solvers we combine an irrepressible alchemy of creativity and science to deliver on our mission to propel our client’s businesses into their next stage of growth.

We have seen continual, profitable growth over the last 8 years and currently we’re the global lead agency for Qatar Airways, the lead agency for Mastercard across Europe, integrated lead agency for Electoral Commission, and are celebrating our most recent integrated win (TBA).

Where we’re going.

We’re an insatiable bunch, and whilst we’re proud of our progress we’re not done yet; we always want more and better. Our next phase of growth will be based on a strategy of stronger reputation driven opportunities both internally within McCann Worldgroup and externally too. We want to build the agency sustainably and in a direction we can all be famous for, and proud of.

How this role fits into the picture.

McCann Demand is recruiting for a Head of Strategy to help us shift our client’s brands, our brilliant strategy team, and the agency towards their next phase of growth.

You’ll lead and support the strategy team, take accountability for the quality of strategic product, and deliver strategic excellence to our biggest clients and prospective ones alike, by immersing yourself in their world. You will be the go-to expert on their category to build value into the agency relationships with them.

What kind of person we’re looking for.

A proper, seasoned, strategic marketing leader.

You’ll have an impressive background in marketing/advertising agencies and will pride yourself on being the strategic lynchpin between strategy, creative and account teams in your agency. You’ll know the difference between a proposition, platform, and purpose. You’ll expect to see a business, marketing, and comms objective in a brief. You’ll be able to read and understand an annual report. You’ll understand the commercial economics of an agency and your client’s P&L. You’ll know your Byron from your Binet and your Field from your Nelson-Field. In brief - you’ll still love practising strategic craft with key clients whilst leading on pitch-winning creative strategy.

But being an established do-er is only half the job. The other half of the time you’ll be supporting the growth, development, and accomplishments of your strategy team whilst leading the strategic offering of the whole agency and being an escalation point on key accounts. You’ll have a seat on our senior leadership team, and be the voice for strategy in that room, advocating for the practice and your team within the agency and beyond.

The Truth

Working with McCann Central – London will be a journey, as any job should – we’re not about staying still, and we aren’t about opting for the easy path if the hard one looks more fruitful.

There is headroom in this role to develop and move up and we look for people who want to grow with us. We want all our people to want to be the best they can be for themselves and the team around them. and are driven to create work they are just as excited about as our clients, work that makes them proud. If that sounds like you, please get in touch.

Our commitment to equal opportunities

For us, diversity is a business imperative – one that must be embedded into every aspect of how we operate to drive success. Simply put, we believe an encouraging and inclusive environment makes sound business sense.

As a globally integrated community that influences and shapes culture, it’s vital that the talent mix in our agencies encompass all dimensions of diversity, and that we demand the same of the people we work with.

Conscious inclusion encompasses social, cultural and cognitive differences and cultivates an ethos of belonging, connection and shared purpose. It is the integration of this philosophy that allows us to create meaningful experiences for our employees, drive better business practices with our vendors and clients, and ultimately lead with purpose.

McCann is a disability confident committed employer and will guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets the minimum criteria for this role, so please do let us know when you apply if you are eligible, along with any adjustments you may need to the recruitment process to enable you to perform at your best.