Head of Strategy

IMA; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,700,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Lead strategy

Collaborative culture

Influence direction

Career development

Cross-functional team

Job summary

IMA is seeking a commercially minded Head of Strategy to lead our strategy function and shape effective, distinctive work for leading brands. You will turn insights into clear direction, bring rigour to creative development, and build trusted relationships with clients in a fast-paced, integrated environment.

You will lead strategy across advertising, retail, shopper marketing, packaging, digital and social projects, defining opportunities and ensuring work meets client and business objectives.

Qualifications

• Strategic agency experience across advertising, retail, or digital
• Ability to turn insights into clear direction for campaigns
• Proven track record of advising senior clients and stakeholders
• Ability to guide creative teams from briefing to delivery
• Ability to connect cross-functional channels into cohesive brand experiences

Responsibilities

• Develop insight-led strategies and campaign platforms that meet client and audience needs
• Advise senior clients with clear, commercially relevant guidance
• Integrate planning across advertising, retail, shopper marketing, packaging, digital and social
• Partner with creative teams to produce distinctive, effective work
• Leverage customer, cultural, brand and market insights to identify opportunities and measure success
• Support pitches, mentor colleagues and improve agency performance

Skills

Strategic thinking

Commercial thinking

Integrated marketing

Client leadership

Insight and research

Communication and collaboration

Job description

IMA is a creative agency with a simple purpose: to create connections people buy into, emotionally and literally. Through everything from advertising and media to packaging and retail activations, we deliver work that earns attention, builds relationships, and gives people a reason to choose your brand in the moments that matter.

We are looking for a commercially minded, inspirational Head of Strategy to lead our strategy function and help shape effective, distinctive work for leading brands. You will be an experienced agency strategist who can turn insight into clear direction, bring rigour and ambition to creative development, and build trusted relationships with clients and colleagues in a fast-paced, integrated environment.

The Role

As Head of Strategy, you will lead strategy across advertising, retail, shopper marketing, packaging, digital and social projects. Working with clients and agency partners, you will define opportunities, develop strategic platforms and ensure work meets client and business objectives. You will also strengthen the agency’s strategic capability through people, processes and propositions.

What You’ll Get From Us

• The opportunity to lead strategy for integrated campaigns and projects for leading brands across creative, retail, shopper marketing, digital and social channels.
• A collaborative, people-first environment where your ideas, initiative and contribution are valued.
• The opportunity to influence the agency’s strategic direction, capabilities and ways of working.
• Support and development to help you grow your career in strategy, client leadership and integrated marketing.
• The chance to work with talented people across strategy, creative, production, media and client services.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Strategic Leadership: Develop insight-led strategies, briefs and campaign platforms that meet client and audience needs.
• Client Advisory: Advise senior clients with clear, commercially relevant counsel.
• Integrated Planning: Connect advertising, retail, shopper marketing, packaging, digital and social channels into cohesive brand experiences.
• Creative Partnership: Guide creative teams from briefing through delivery to produce distinctive, effective work.
• Research, Insight and Effectiveness: Use customer, cultural, category, brand and market insight to identify opportunities, measure success and guide recommendations.
• Growth and Team Development: Support pitches, mentor colleagues and improve agency effectiveness and commercial performance.

What We’re Looking For

• Strategic Agency Experience: Experience in strategy, planning or strategic accounts at a creative, advertising, media or integrated marketing agency.
• Strategic and Commercial Thinking: Connect audience insight, brand purpose, creative opportunity and business goals to develop effective, results-focused strategies.
• Integrated Marketing Knowledge: Understand how campaigns work across advertising, retail, shopper marketing, packaging, digital and social channels.
• Client and Stakeholder Leadership: Advise senior stakeholders, present clear recommendations, manage expectations and build long-term relationships.
• Insight, Communication and Collaboration: Interpret research, data, trends and culture; write inspiring briefs, simplify complexity, influence decisions and collaborate to strengthen the work.

Our Values at IMA

• Own it - take responsibility when it matters.
• Build Trust - nurture honest, open, lasting relationships with colleagues and clients.
• Stay Hungry - share a mindset of curiosity, proactivity and continuous improvement.

These principles shape how we work - with each other, with clients, and with the world.

We are an equal opportunity employer. Preference will be given to suitably qualified candidates from designated groups in line with the company’s Employment Equity Plan.

Informed by human behaviour. Fuelled by creativity. Connected by data, media and digital. We are IMA.