Strategy Business Director

Publicis Groupe; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension

Life Assurance

Private Medical

Reflection Days

Shared Parental Leave

Job summary

Spark Foundry is seeking a Strategy Business Director to shape brilliant strategic planning for a leading finance client. You will set the standard for planning craft, turning audience, behavioural and performance data into thinking that inspires creativity and drives client growth.

You’ll bring strategy, planning and activation together across the communications ecosystem, while helping others develop their craft.

Qualifications

• Strong strategic planning craft and a genuine interest in creating work that makes a meaningful difference for clients.
• Analytical mindset to turn insights into clear strategic thinking.
• Understanding of connected planning across PESO and touchpoints.
• Knowledge of marketing effectiveness and measurement in planning from the outset.
• Experience solving complex strategic challenges with incomplete information.
• Ability to present clear thinking through data-led storytelling and presentations.
• A collaborative leadership style with coaching and knowledge-sharing.

Responsibilities

• Own the strategic planning standard for a leading finance client, turning briefs into strong, insight-led work.
• Translate data into meaningful insights that unlock creative opportunities.
• Lead connected communications planning across PESO with clear cross-channel messaging.
• Bring strategy and execution together with planning and activation teams.
• Embed measurement into thinking, linking brand ambitions with performance outcomes.
• Strengthen planning capability through coaching and knowledge sharing across teams.
• Take on complex briefs, contributing fresh thinking and new ways of working.

Skills

Strategic planning

Analytical mindset

PESO planning

Marketing effectiveness

Complex problems

Clear communication

Leadership coaching

Job description

Company description

Who We Are in the UK?

Spark Foundry, the Acceleration Agency.

We help brands to identify, learn and respond to opportunities faster than the competition.

Every client has an area of their business they need to accelerate, from short-term goals to long-term transformation.

We’ve proven our approach during the most difficult year on record. Now we’re using it to provide a launchpad for their future.

Come be an accelerator with us.

How we accelerate

• Planning: an approach that works in practice rather than theory, arming planners with the ability to create cutting edge campaigns
• Intelligence: a suite of tools that give definitive answers to big questions, and uncovers actionable insights about real people
• Trading: a model built on flexibility and trusted relationships, underpinned with bold guarantees
• Relationships: a culture of asking challenging questions to better understand the brief – we are not a ‘yes’ agency
• People: a strong history of recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds and accelerating their careers

Our Commitment

We are diverse though our experience, people and the clients we look after - and we celebrate that diversity. Our people hold us accountable to our beliefs and via regular surveys and our grass roots D&I team, The Collective, and internal next generation board, Firestarters, we hold regular events and work continually towards generating ideas, initiatives and educating our people to ensure we are a diverse and inclusive agency.

As part of our dedication to create an inclusive and diverse workforce, Spark Foundry is committed to equal access to opportunity for people without regard to race, age, sex, disability, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.

Overview

We are hiring a Strategy Business Director to shape brilliant strategic planning for a leading finance client at Spark Foundry.

This is an opportunity to set the standard for planning craft, turning audience, behavioural and performance data into thinking that inspires creativity and drives client growth. You’ll bring strategy, planning and activation together across the communications ecosystem, while helping others develop their craft. It’s a role for someone who enjoys solving complex problems, sharing knowledge and making ambitious thinking work in practice.

Responsibilities

What you'll be doing:

• Own the strategic planning standard for a leading finance client, helping teams turn briefs into consistently strong, insight-led work.
• Translate audience, behavioural and performance data into meaningful insights that unlock creative and communications opportunities.
• Lead connected communications planning across PESO, ensuring strategic thinking translates clearly across channels and touchpoints.
• Bring strategy and execution closer together, partnering with planning and activation teams to create rigorous, effective media work.
• Build effectiveness and measurement into strategic thinking, connecting brand-building ambitions with performance outcomes.
• Strengthen planning capability through coaching, feedback, learning sessions and the sharing of great work across teams.
• Take on complex briefs and planning challenges, contributing fresh thinking, innovation and new ways of working that strengthen Spark Foundry’s planning product.

Qualifications

Skills we're looking for:

• Strong strategic planning craft and a genuine interest in creating work that makes a meaningful difference for clients.
• An analytical mindset, with the ability to turn audience, behavioural and cultural insight into clear strategic thinking.
• A strong understanding of connected communications planning across PESO and how different touchpoints work together.
• Knowledge of marketing effectiveness and how measurement can be built into planning from the outset.
• Experience solving complex strategic challenges, including situations where information may be incomplete.
• The ability to communicate complex thinking clearly through compelling presentations and data-led storytelling.
• A collaborative approach to leadership, with the ability to coach others, share knowledge and constructively challenge teams, clients and senior stakeholders.

Additional information

Spark Foundryoffers a wide range of benefits to support our employees. Full details are shared when you join, but highlights include core benefits such as Pension, Life Assurance, and Private Medical cover, alongside enhanced policies like Reflection Days and Shared Parental Leave. You’ll also have access to a range of additional initiatives, including:

Please check out the Publicis Career Page which showcases our Inclusive Benefits and our EAG’s (Employee Action Groups).

Publicis Groupe works primarily from the office or our clients' office four days per week.

At Spark Foundry, we are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, and do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, disability, age, citizenship, relationship status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic.

We are committed to providing a fair, accessible, and inclusive recruitment process. If you have any access needs - for example, related to disability, neurodivergence, or a health condition - please let us know. We’ll work with you to ensure the process works for you. Sharing this information will never impact your application.

Guided by our values, we listen with empathy, uplift each other, take responsibility, and embrace change - building a culture where everyone feels seen, respected, and genuinely included.

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