Role: Strategy Director

Location: South Africa (hybrid)

ROLE MISSION

Working in partnership with our client, the Strategy Director will take ownership in driving the impact of our business, leading the charge for us to become a more influential partner to CMOs and CEOs through the quality of our ideas and our creative work. The Director of Strategic Services will be responsible for the development and leadership of our strategic practice. We are looking for someone to lead our strategic offering, building brand platforms for our clients with the collective ambition to make real brand and behavioral changes not just through advertising campaign - we’re in the business of multidisciplinary teams that can bring the consumer experience to life including:

• Marketing and business strategy
• Customer experience design and digital innovation
• Content development
• Product and service positioning
• Value proposition development

ABOUT THE TEAM YOU WILL BE JOINING

Director of Strategic Services will work along with senior creative leadership in a highly collaborative and team-oriented environment with the aim of winning new business as well as managing the strategic development for some of the most recognized brands in the world

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING IN YOUR ROLE

You will help create and maintain relationships with existing and potential clients, developing strategic solutions and plans that best fit the agency and clients’ needs. You will be responsible for creating brand identities through research and applying experience to uncover an in-depth knowledge of the organizational process, competitive threats and opportunities of a client’s business. In partnership with the media team, will also manage the campaign measurement process to ensure that clients and agency are aligned on key performance metrics, establishing realistic business goals, and providing accountability through reporting and analytics, and providing optimized strategies moving forward. In this role, you will ensure that the agency provides:

• A strategic anchor for our multidisciplinary team: understanding business context, uncovering insights and category white space, exploring and defining growth opportunities, architecting strategy, leading working sessions, communicating vision, and ultimately helping turn our client’s ideas into market-ready TTL products and experiences.
• Innovator and influencer level communications.
• Deliver a consistently superior creative product.
• Work that is strategic and above all creative.
• Partner with the Creative Director in providing inspiration for the Creative Department
• Take a lead role in generating ideas and content for corporate positioning around ‘Behavioral change’ within new business and marketing materials as well as in presentations.
• Play a lead role in creating an evolved new strategic / planning process and help educate the agency (to develop consumer experience as an integral part of the agency)
• Leading the charge to create and champion our own original strategic ideas
• Managing and mentoring other strategists and rising strategy talent
• Serving as both an anchor and springboard for the other strategic capabilities: Marketing, Media & Strategy & Data Analysis
• Acting as Guardian angel for Relationship Leads, a trusted partner to Clients, and an ally for New Business
• Act as strategic lead and oversee all accounts – understand the business situation and challenges, set the strategic vision, and proactively surface opportunities.
• Uncover actionable and powerful insights that drive innovative ideas and inspire creative.
• Act as a brand architect to craft inspiring briefs and lay out actionable roadmaps to lead agency and clients to creative business solutions.
• Develop fresh insights to understand the brand, category, culture and audience.
• Play an active role as subject matter expert on integrated communications planning, helping to plan the consumer journey through brand interactions within the digital/social ecosystem and beyond.
• Apply research skills and methodologies to create relevant, breakthrough customer insights and identify omni-channel opportunities.
• Manage the Strategy group and plan, assign, direct, and prioritise strategy work.

WHAT SKILLS WILL HELP YOU BE SUCCESSFUL 

• Relevant qualification
• Interest in and aptitude for creative business and marketing solutions
• Minimum of ten years experience TTL strategy experience in integrated, brand and digital communications.
• Ability to identify strategic needs, lead all aspects of planning with sound business recommendations, and generate alignment with key business partners
• A talent for telling great stories—verbally and visually—and able to deliver insights about people and behaviour in a way that generates empathy, emotion, and engagement
• Demonstrate strong interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent presentation skills that encompass clear, compelling communications
• Track record of experience managing and mentoring with high integrity and the ability to inspire others
• Experience navigating large and complex organizations, including gaining access to key executives and stakeholders and successfully managing relationship building dynamics and processes
• Ability to manage multiple business initiatives in an entrepreneurial environment
• Expert knowledge of all functional agency departments, capabilities and service areas
• Deep understanding of a wide range of industries, markets and brands, and what it takes to stand out and service them
• Self-motivated and willing to expand knowledge

ABOUT OUR COMPANY

Lots of agencies say they're different. OLIVER is.

OLIVER believes that agencies work better inside a brand's organisation; delivering more effective work at the speed required to drive modern businesses forward. Using our unique Inside Intelligence methodology, we build specialist, dedicated in-house agencies that collaborate with clients to form better marketing solutions.

Established in 2004, our model is now driven by over 4000 people, working across more than 200 in-house agencies globally. Clients include The Guardian, Unilever, Barclaycard, PepsiCo, AXA, The AA, Adidas, BMW, Post Office, and 3M. OLIVER is part of the Inside Ideas Group (IIG), which also includes a global content agency to Adjust your Set, design, experience, and engineering company DARE and property marketing specialists Aylesworth Fleming.

Follow us on  Instagram oliver.talent

Job Id: 9813

#LI-ZS1 #LI-Remote

OUR VALUES

We are a company built on our values, we have given you a brief overview below but would love to tell you more.

Be Ambitious to succeed

Be Imaginative to push the boundaries of what’s possible

Be Inspirational to do groundbreaking work

Be always learning and listening to understand

Be Results-focused to exceed expectations

Be actively pro-inclusive and anti-racist across our community, clients and creations

We've set ambitious, market-leading environmental and social goals around sustainability at OLIVER. We have committed to be net zero by 2030 and take far-reaching action on DE&I in the sector. We expect everyone to contribute to our mission, embedding sustainability into every department and through every stage of the project lifecycle. 

Inside Ideas Group and its affiliates are equal opportunity employers committed to creating an inclusive working environment where all our employees are encouraged to reach their full potential, and individual differences are valued and respected.  All [suitable] applicants shall be considered for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, neurodiversity, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by local laws.