Senior Strategist

Who We Are:

At VML, we are a beacon of innovation and growth in an ever-evolving world. Our heritage is built upon a century of combined expertise, where creativity meets technology, and diverse perspectives ignite inspiration. With the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, we have forged a new path as a growth partner that is part creative agency, part consultancy, and part technology powerhouse.

Our global family now encompasses over 30,000 employees across 150+ offices in 64 markets, each contributing to a culture that values connection, belonging, and the power of differences. Our expertise spans the entire customer journey, offering deep insights in communications, commerce, consultancy, CRM, CX, data, production, and technology. We deliver end-to-end solutions that result in revolutionary work.

This role sits in a small centralized WPP ‘Above agency team’ designed to service a global client and enhance creative quality, strategic thinking, and innovation across all network partner agencies. Our team operates independently from individual agencies within the WPP Network and is positioned to move upstream, collaborating as part extension of the client, and downstream into the agency network to oversee, co-author, and develop solutions to client business problems and meet commercial and marketing objectives.

Our team includes some of the network’s top talents— mimicking the agency's core offering of strategy, creative, project management, and client leadership —who work on high-impact projects that often require network-wide consistency and a unified approach.

We blend the scale and efficiency of a centralized operation with the agility and local knowledge/specialisms of individual agencies, enhancing their ability to deliver impactful campaigns for a top 5 WPP global client.

The Role

We are looking for a Senior Planner who will report directly to the Global Head of Strategy. They will be responsible for helping to set the strategic direction for our global client.

The Senior Planner will champion category-defining work that has the potential to transform a fast-moving, relatively nascent, and exploding category.

Working with multiple WPP agencies, the Senior Planner will be responsible for generating a broad range of strategic output from brand strategy, campaign, and creative strategy through to CRM, digital advertising, content, social, OOH campaigns and packaging.

******Key Responsibilities

• Act as a focal point of all WPP partner agencies in developing strategic thinking for the brand and activation and communication campaigns.
• Establish a firm understanding of culture, category, consumer, and competitor dynamics to help the client define the long-term vision and strategy for the brand, ensuring effective creative solutions that deliver on key business objectives and challenges.
• Work with the client teams to build robust Propositions that deliver innovative creative, communication, and activation solutions to achieve competitive advantage and drive strong business results.
• Develop potent creative strategies that power big ideas that can work across the consumer decision journey to achieve business, brand, and marketing objectives.
• Lead the strategic conversation with specialist agencies from all disciplines to drive insight generation, positioning, portfolio strategy, proposition development, brand identity creation, naming, and 360 touch-point design.
• Coordinate all aspects of strategic thinking, from high-level brand strategy to packaging design, to create transformative, multi-channel customer experiences.
• Work with client strategy teams and research partners to uncover and use insights into human behavior that unlock the development of powerful, engaging communications.
• Ensure all WPP partners are fully abreast of the strategic brand architecture to ensure consistency of thinking across all creative output.
• Be the guardian of commercial, market, brand, and consumer insights on the brand and generously share this knowledge across the agency planning community.
• Prepare and facilitate planning sessions and strategy workshops with key strategic partners
• Design and develop well-structured, clearly articulated presentation decks.

Skills, Competencies & Experience

• A mid to senior brand strategist within an integrated agency, working on global blue-chip accounts.
• This role sits at the crossroads of various disciplines and requires a blend of skills, allowing the strategist to comfortably switch across a multitude of disciplines.
• Strong brand and integrated communications planning experience with a proven track record in brand planning and integrated channels.
• Strong analytical skills and a creative mind with the ability to solve problems from a big-picture perspective.
• A natural ability to uncover brilliant insights to influence the best creative idea and a track record in delivering creative and effective work.
• An understanding of how successful brands operate in today’s technologically and social/culture-driven world.
• Ability to interpret numbers end to end across the customer journey – data and CRM literate – although not a data planner.
• Understand how to create and implement an evaluation framework for every initiative.

Aptitudes & Behaviours

• Work collaboratively, recognize the value of teams, and seek to maintain and build effective internal and external relationships.
• Intelligence, wit, and resourcefulness to work things out and be comfortable moving fast to keep pace with the dynamic nature of the client and sector.
• Exemplary communication skills and an ability to quickly build rapport with client and agency teams.
• Ability to work effectively with creative thinkers (account/planning/creative) at other agencies (creative, PR, digital).
• Have courage in your convictions and be able to justify your thinking.
• Demonstrates a curious mind that looks for and learns from new information or experiences and an ability to think innovatively to develop creative solutions.
• Ability to persuasively articulate a point of view while remaining open-minded to the opinions of others.
• Have gravitas, inspire, and hold the room.
• Strong EQ emotional intelligence and listening skills.
• Leads with thought and intellectual intent.
• Passion, energy, resilience, and a will to succeed.

Reporting Lines

You will report to the Global Head of Strategy.

What can you expect from us?

A fun and fulfilling working environment.

Guidance and full support from senior leadership team members.

Being part of a tight-knit team of people willing to go out of their way for each other.

#LI-Hybrid

At VML, we are committed to fostering an all-inclusive work environment that is both rewarding and career-forward. Our Inclusion, Equity & Belonging initiatives, alongside the VML Foundation, reflect our dedication to giving back and making a positive impact in our communities and beyond. Our people are the heartbeat of our organization—creators, doers, innovators, makers, and thinkers—who drive not just marketing, but meaningful experiences that resonate in every action and interaction.

VML is a WPP Agency. For more information, please visit our website, and follow VML on our social channels via Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

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