Group Strategy Director

Responsibilities

• Lead the Strategy department — managing strategists and community managers, setting a clear vision, building a high-performance culture, and developing talent at every level.
• Own the social strategy direction across 20+ beverage brands across US and Canada — developing channel strategies, audience frameworks, and content philosophies across paid, organic, creator/influencer, and community that are insight-led, brand-right, and platform-native.
• Establish and uphold strategic quality standards — reviewing and elevating team output from brief through execution and reporting, using performance data and cultural insights to set meaningful KPIs and drive continuous improvement.
• Evolve specialist practices at portfolio scale — maturing the community management function, shaping creator and influencer strategy, and refining how we measure and report our effectiveness.
• Serve as the primary strategic voice with senior client stakeholders — building trusted, long-term partnerships and presenting confidently to brand, marketing, and leadership teams.
• Partner with the Leadership Team on operational planning, resourcing, new business development, and the studio's growth agenda — contributing as a business leader, not just a discipline lead.
• Champion the responsible integration of AI tools and emerging platforms — building team capability, setting quality standards for AI-assisted work, and ensuring AI enhances rather than detracts from strategic quality.

Requirements

• Experience: 10+ years in social and cultural strategy, in agency and/or in house brand settings. Proven success leading and developing strategy teams across multiple brands.
• Strong strategic foundations: Strong brand and communications strategy fundamentals, with social as a core area of expertise.
• Culture-forward mindset: A passion for staying at the forefront of social trends and platform shifts, regularly sharing insight with clients and teams. You confidently lead conversations on culture, platform evolution, and creative innovation.
• Platform expertise: Deep expertise across paid social, organic social, creator/influencer, and 360 campaigns — with a proven track record of setting strategic direction across complex, multi-brand portfolios, as well as guiding always-on and reactive social work.
• Empathetic leadership: Demonstrated ability to build, manage, and inspire a multi-disciplinary team — with an inclusive, outcome-focused approach and a genuine commitment to developing talent.
• Collaborative nature: Inclusive and effective leadership across strategy, creative, production, account, and data functions, as part of a senior studio leadership team.
• Senior client management experience: Confident presenting and influencing at brand director and CMO level, managing multi-brand relationships, and building partnerships based on trust, strategic rigor, and commercial understanding.
• Data & Research Fluency: Developed ability to draw strategic insight from performance data, set meaningful KPIs, and use measurement to continuously improve the work while confidently articulating learnings across internal and brand teams.
• Thought Leadership: Proven integration of Gen AI tools across strategy workflows. Strong judgment about when AI adds value versus when it risks detracting from strategic quality, brand authenticity, and community trust.