Director – Marketing Strategy and Media Planning

Responsibilities

• Capability build. Define and stand up IQVIA UK's marketing strategy & media planning offer: service design, methodologies, pricing, IP/templates, quality standards and go-to-market narrative. Codify ways of working so the offer scales beyond the founder.
• End-to-end promotional strategy. Lead client engagements covering brand and portfolio strategy, positioning, messaging architecture, customer journey, channel mix, campaign planning, and KPI/measurement frameworks — linking strategy to IQVIA's existing targeting, DME execution and PromoSuite measurement assets.
• Media planning & buying advisory. Advise clients on channel strategy across HCP and (where relevant) patient/consumer audiences. Run channel selection, budget allocation, flighting and media-mix recommendations. Manage relationships with media agencies/owners and oversee buying where executed via partners.
• Sales & business development. Own a personal sales target. Generate and convert pipeline through existing IQVIA accounts and your own network. Lead proposals, pitches and commercial negotiations; cross-sell into Consulting, DME, OneKey, Real-World and Technology offerings. The role would be supported by sales specialists who will also drive client discussions.
• Client leadership. Act as the senior strategic advisor for clients (Marketing Directors, Brand Leads, Heads of Omnichannel, Commercial Excellence). Build trusted, repeat-buyer relationships.
• Delivery oversight. Use Consulting analysts/consultants/managers as the delivery engine. Scope, staff, QA and commercially manage projects; coach the team on marketing/media craft they don't yet have.
• Partnerships. Identify and manage a curated bench of creative, media and production partners (either through internal IQVIA teams or boutique agencies)
• Compliance & governance. Ensure all work is delivered in line with ABPI, PMCPA, MHRA, BHBIA and applicable advertising codes (CAP/BCAP, ASA) and IQVIA's own compliance and data-use standards.
• Thought leadership. Represent IQVIA externally — POVs, conference speaking, client roundtables — to position the new capability in the UK market.

Requirements

• 15+ years' experience in a marketing strategy and/or media planning role within a healthcare and/or FMCG agency, consultancy or in-house brand team (agency-side experience strongly preferred).
• Demonstrable ownership of end-to-end promotional strategy — from insight and positioning through to channel plan, execution brief and measurement.
• Hands-on experience of media planning, with working knowledge of media buying processes, agency economics and the main UK media owners/platforms (HCP and consumer).
• Proven sales track record: personal book of business, owning revenue targets, closing six- and seven-figure engagements.
• Established senior client network in UK pharma/healthcare (Marketing, Omnichannel, Commercial Excellence) and/or FMCG.
• Strong commercial acumen: scoping, pricing, margin management, contracting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to flex between C-suite, brand teams and delivery analysts.
• Comfortable building from a blank sheet — entrepreneurial, pragmatic, hands-on.

Preferred

• Omnichannel / orchestration expertise — designing HCP customer journeys across rep, email, digital, congress, paid media and content syndication; familiarity with platforms such as Veeva, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Adobe Experience Cloud.
• Performance marketing & analytics literacy — media mix modelling, attribution, A/B testing, working knowledge of GA4, programmatic, DSPs and retargeting frameworks.
• Data-driven mindset — comfortable using IQVIA assets (sales data, PromoSuite, OneKey, ALHP/Synmetrics) to shape strategy and prove ROI.
• Creative judgement — able to brief and challenge creative agencies on concept, messaging and production quality (without being a creative themselves).
• Regulatory fluency — ABPI Code, PMCPA, MHRA promotional rules; awareness of EFPIA and equivalent EU codes is a plus.
• International exposure — experience working across EU markets or with global brand teams; awareness of how UK promo strategy fits into pan-European plans.
• Therapy-area depth — at least one of: oncology, immunology, rare disease, vaccines, cardiometabolic, CNS.
• Consulting hygiene — structured problem solving, project economics, ability to QA junior deliverables, comfort with MSAs/SOWs.
• People leadership — track record of building and mentoring small teams; ability to attract talent into the new capability over time.
• Awareness of adjacent IQVIA offerings (Real-World Evidence, Technology, Patient Solutions) to spot cross-sell opportunities.