Head, Brand Strategy

**Role Description**

Responsible for providing innovative leadership in creating brand strategy in alleviating clientele relationship as preferred strategic partner, offering deep, analytical business thinking and strong perspectives on clientele industry, consumer, marketing, and business strategies to developing their long-term goals with the company, in turn, grow and support the company’s growth.

The Head, Brand Strategy is collaborative, fast-driven, creative thinker with great human and business instincts to develop industry analyses and thinking across innovative platforms, agency models and client needs to keep Blackbox on the leading edge; and will be expected to:

- Lead all brand strategy and evolution communications and campaign planning.
- Develop opportunities for proactive brand and communication strategy workshops to evolve client thinking, brand positioning/purpose and align on business/campaign goals.
- Participate and consult in all consumer research and brand/social/sales analytics conversations, ensuring our work is always aligned with the metrics of our clients.
- Partner with new Business Development and Business Design team to grow client arsenal by working on new business development, and assisting in prospecting, contacting, and pitching new business opportunities.
- Proactively work with Brand and Partnership and key clients to analyse their businesses and recommend revenue-driving opportunities for strategic projects; develop proposals (with Brand and Partnership) for the work, including processes, tools, deliverables, and timeframes.
- Run research and strategy projects for clients including (but not limited to): competitive analysis, Brand DNA creation, positioning pyramids, brand tone of voice/ verbal identity and Brand Book creation.
- Partner with Brand and Partnership to transform client briefs into strong creative briefs, taking research, information and insights and distilling them into a singular strategic idea for designated Brand and Partnership team to operate from.
- Guide creative ideation and concepting throughout the process, ensuring that we produce breakthrough work that drives clients’ businesses forward.
- Develop and coach team capabilities, as well as talent cultivation and succession planning.

**Accountabilities**
- Work with leadership to be the client-facing and internal go-to person for business, consumer and communications planning insights and inspiration
- Meet or exceed plan year target.
- Create value and optimise partnership with clients.
- Cross-functional coaching to internal stakeholders on brand when needed.
- Manage alignment across teams when it is needed.
- Contribute to the development of solution offering, value creation/capture.
- Identify capability gaps in the team and develop and implement capability development plans.
- Provide feedback, coaching and development opportunities to the team members on the job and through project engagement.
- Attend and contribute to Leadership meetings and represent BB for conferences and networking.
- Drive BB service strategic pillar on Market Research Technology relationships and special initiatives.

**Critical Technical, Professional and Personal Capabilities**
- MSc in Marketing Science, Communications, and Brand Planning or Business.
- 10+ years of integrated analytic experience within marketing services.
- Ability to articulate a confident point of view on any industry, brand, consumer segment or communication platform.
- Possess excellent instincts both broadly across industries and deeply within any given capability or function.
- Have a passion for creativity, culture, understanding how people think/interact, brands, and problem solving.
- Solution-oriented mindset with drive to see plans through to implementation as well as can deliver content and key messages at scale.
- Demonstrated cross portfolio collaboration.
- Ability to thrive in a fast paced, entrepreneurial, high-energy environment that requires the ability to multi-task and implement high priority initiatives.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication, planning and project management skills with individuals at both peer and management levels.

**Critical Success factors and key challenges**
- Excited about the prospect of working directly with (and balancing the workload for) multiple clients and new business pitches at any given time.
- Good knowledge in human behaviour, business strategy and general marketing theory
- Have a toolbox of resources to help build brands, plan campaigns, and find insights.
- Run consulting and strategy projects independently, in conjunction with Brand and Partnership leaders as well as new Business Development and Business Design, and both lead and support multiple New Business pitches.
- Be resourceful. Find unique, unexpected insights and stories about our clients, their consumers, and the way the world is changing around them.
- Manage multiple internal, new business and client project