Strategy Director

Job Description

Strategy Director

Location:

Bonded Warehouse, Manchester (Hybrid – 3 days per week), with occasional travel to Bonis Hall, Prestbury

McCann Manchester is home to a hive mind of thinkers and makers behind the UK's most effective creative work. Whether from our new city base at Bonded Warehouse in the heart of St. John’s creative quarter, and our historic Bonis Hall campus in Prestbury, we partner with some of the UK’s most recognised and ambitious brands.

We operate across fully integrated creative accounts and through McCann Content Studios, our growing social, influencer and content offering, delivering work that drives both fame and commercial impact. Our creative community extends beyond Manchester, across major UK cities and further across the globe.

We believe in strategy that leads to ideas which measurably move people, move markets and move culture, in whatever form they take.

As Strategy Director, you’ll act as a senior strategic leader across integrated creative business and our expanding social and influencer-led clients within McCann Content Studios.

You will shape brand, communications and connections strategy at the highest level – developing big organising ideas, defining journeys and building frameworks that unlock truly effective, channel-agnostic creativity.

You’ll be a trusted advisor to senior clients and a mentor to our growing strategy community. You’ll combine commercial sharpness with cultural fluency, and effectiveness rigour with creative ambition.

• Accurately defining and scoping strategy projects while fostering excellent relationships with the internal team and client
• Overseeing multiple campaign cycles and ensuring integration across brand, comms, connections, social and influencer activity
• Shaping KPIs and measurement frameworks in collaboration with analytics and effectiveness partners
• Researching, devising creative briefs and actively guiding creative development from proposition to execution
• Championing channel-agnostic thinking, emerging platforms and evolving influencer ecosystems
• Leading marketing effectiveness – applying rigorous principles and embedding a culture of measurement and optimisation
• Mentoring and developing strategists, setting standards for excellence and ensuring progression across the team

• Significant experience leading brand and communications strategy across integrated campaigns
• Demonstrable expertise in social, influencer and content ecosystems, with the ability to connect these to broader brand platforms
• Deep understanding of effectiveness principles (IPA, Effie, WARC and beyond), and experience designing KPI frameworks that prove impact
• A strong understanding of marketing science and creative effectiveness principles with a focus on delivering work that creates commercial impact for clients.
• Confidence working with data, segmentation, journey frameworks and audience insight tools, translating complexity into clear direction
• Proven leadership experience: mentoring teams, raising standards and influencing senior stakeholders
• Commercial acumen, including experience leading significant pitches and driving account growth
• The ability to clearly articulate and sell inspiring ideas – verbally, visually and in writing

Ideally, you’ll hold (or be working towards) advanced effectiveness qualifications and be actively contributing to the wider strategic discourse.

• A competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package
• A hybrid working model across two unique locations: the energy of Bonded Warehouse in St. John’s and the heritage of Bonis Hall
• The opportunity to work within one of the UK’s largest integrated agencies, with specialist expertise spanning creative, strategy, social, production, data and more
• Industry-leading training and development, including effectiveness and leadership programmes
• A collaborative, ambitious and supportive strategy community committed to raising the bar

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 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.

Please let us know should you require any additional assistance or support during the process.