Global Executive Strategy Director

A Manifest Group Brand Strategy Director is responsible for best-in-class strategic thinking at brand level, bridging the gap between Insights and Creative ideation to deliver channel-agnostic strategies framed around a positive impact on the world. Working across the entire Manifest Group, you will be responsible for delivering brand strategies for our most important clients around the world and being a lead player in the global strategy team.

How does this role support Manifest with its mission?

By ensuring the strategies delivered by Manifest have our ‘significant change’ philosophy at their heart, driving positive impact on audiences through the brands we build and the campaigns they inspire.  

Where does this role sit within the agency?

This role drives the Strategy element of the agency’s work. You work closely with those responsible for the Insights element to help ensure our methodologies and processes are best in class and result in unique strategic propositions for our clients.

You are also part of the Global Work Leadership Team (WLT) – working with leads in Imagination (Creative/Creative Production) and Implementation (Client Service/Project Management) fields to drive seamless working across the entire creative process and deliver progress and growth for the entire Group.

You are responsible for ensuring our creative and client experience teams are literate in brand strategy and the strategic process to ensure our campaigns and concepts unlock a strategic opportunity and our clients come on the journey with us.

You are consulted by Project Management teams on project timelines to ensure you and your team have appropriate time to complete deliverables to deadline.

What is expected of a Global Executive Strategy Director?

• Leading and developing brand strategies for Headline clients and tier one new business proposals across the Group; helping to define a unique strategic position each time
• Manage and refine our strategic process across the Group ensuring that our systems and team are constantly developing and best-in-class
• Work within the Global Work Leadership Team to define and deliver innovations and initiatives that will drive progress and growth across the Group
• Work with studio leadership teams and growth teams and territory Managing Partners to grow existing clients through brand consultancy and strategic services opportunities
• Be accountable for the strategic ‘element’ of Headliner and global projects, working seamlessly with those responsible for insights, conceptual creative, production, client experience and project management elements.
• Develop and implement new models and methodologies that will support our clients and teams.
• Work across the agency’s global client portfolio developing unified, channel-agnostic strategies and platforms that can be activated across owned, earned, shared and paid channels
• Training and upskilling the global strategy team.
• Partner with our Chief Design Officer on the delivery of impactful and unique brand playbooks
• Oversee Insights work to ensure strategy, concept and activity development are always based on relevant and ownable insights.
• Oversee the execution of large-scale global campaigns and activities to ensure implementation of the strategy is consistent, evident and effective across all channels.
• Collaborating with our creative team, including Group ECD, on ensuring all creative is underpinned by robust and bespoke strategies.
• Become a trusted source of senior strategic counsel to key clients across the Group.
• Be an industry thought leader through Manifest’s own channels, trade media and speaking events.
• Contribute to Manifest’s industry reputation as a unified creative agency.
• Be a lead contributor in the agency’s understanding of the ever-changing communications landscape through consumer insight generation and application.
• Work with the wider team to ensure they are literate in brand strategy and integrated strategic approaches.
• Willingness to travel to international studios to work directly with teams. Expect 3-5 trips per year to our studios as required.
• Adopt and utilise all of Manifest’s core processes, tools and systems for all work to support the effective running of the agency