Strategist

Job description

Job Description Join us to lead clear, thoughtful strategy for ambitious brands. Particularly suited to those with experience in regulated categories. WHO YOU ARE You’re a clear thinker, an insightful listener and a natural connector of ideas. You’re gaining confidence in your voice and the value you bring, both in the room and on the page. You’re equally at home exploring cultural trends, digging into data or crafting a creative brief. You can structure strategy in a way that makes others feel confident, and bring energy to the process that gets others excited. You’re collaborative, curious and increasingly able to hold your own with clients and creatives alike. RESPONSIBILITIES Strategic thinking & insight generation You lead the early phases of projects: researching, analysing, interpreting and synthesising to shape smart, surprising perspectives. You stretch the brief where needed, and always keep the target audience in mind. Creative briefing & storytelling You craft briefs that inspire, shaping narratives that excite designers and make clients believe in new possibilities. You can articulate ideas with structure, clarity and purpose, and know how to build momentum around a thought. Brand & business strategy You can lead brand promise setting, tone of voice or architecture workstreams with minimal oversight. You bring rigour to strategic frameworks while flexing them to fit each brief. You understand how brand strategy ladders up to business outcomes. Client relationships & influence You support client leads by presenting thinking with clarity and confidence. You respond to feedback with maturity and adaptability and are building trusted relationships with mid-level clients and agency partners. Team leadership & mentoring You support junior strategists with kindness and clarity, helping them grow their confidence and craft. You help keep the team energised and organised, and set a tone of thoughtfulness and curiosity. Commercial acumen You manage your time well, respect scope and budgets, and contribute to proposals and timelines. You start to spot opportunities for deeper work or smarter process, adding value both upstream and downstream. EXPERIENCE 3+ years of creative strategy experience within a packaging/brand design agency environment; must include working with brands in the tobacco category. LOCATION AND FLEXIBILITY Full-time (40 hours per week) ideally, with 3 days per week in the London office. SOUNDS LIKE A FIT? LETS TALK. Please note: No recruiters please. Regretfully, we can't always respond to every applicant, but we do try. JDO UK JDO UK is home to two creative hubs: our headquarters in the historic heart of Royal Tunbridge Wells and our central London studio. Each of us is based at one location, but we work as one team; sharing ideas, collaborating across disciplines and supporting each other to deliver our strongest work.
Moving between the two studios gives us fresh perspectives and new energy, while helping ideas cross-pollinate. We’re part of JDO’s international network of designers, brand strategists and client partnership experts, partnering with some of the world’s most loved and influential brands. Our work spans brand and creative strategy, packaging and product design, innovation and sustainability, and experiential and campaign activation. Whatever the brief, we create brand worlds that connect, inspire and stay relevant in an ever-changing landscape.