Strategy Director - Brand Identity

We are partnering with a highly respected independent brand consultancy seeking an exceptional Strategy Director with deep expertise in core brand strategy, brand building, and growth to help shape the future of its strategic offering.

This is a senior strategic leadership opportunity for someone who understands that great brands are built from strong foundations through clear positioning, distinctive purpose, compelling propositions, robust brand architecture, and a strategic philosophy that drives long-term growth.

You'll bring a proven track record of developing and leading significant brand programmes for major organisations and ambitious challenger brands, ideally with experience across FMCG and food & drink categories, where understanding consumers, culture, behaviour, and brand growth is critical.

Working at the intersection of business, brand, culture, and creativity, you'll create strategies that build commercially successful, culturally relevant, and enduring brands. You'll be equally comfortable defining the strategic foundations of a brand and ensuring those foundations translate into powerful creative expression and experiences.

This role requires a true brand strategist by craft , someone with a deep understanding of the fundamentals of brand building, rather than solely marketing strategy, communications planning, or innovation. You'll have developed your expertise within a leading branding, brand design, or creative agency environment and understand the rigour, discipline, and impact of world-class brand consultancy.

Experience from respected brand agencies would be highly relevant.

You'll lead major brand transformation and growth programmes from discovery through to implementation, partnering closely with Design and Client Services teams to ensure strategic thinking creates distinctive, effective, and memorable brand experiences.

You'll become a trusted strategic advisor to senior clients, facilitating conversations at board and C-suite level while helping shape the agency's growth through new business, thought leadership, and the continued evolution of its strategic reputation.

Beyond client work, you'll play a pivotal role in strengthening the strategy function mentoring talent, raising the quality of strategic thinking, and helping define the agency's strategic approach and future direction.

You will:

• Lead significant brand strategy engagements from insight and discovery through to delivery and activation.
• Develop robust brand strategies across positioning, purpose, architecture, portfolio strategy, propositions, messaging, and growth frameworks.
• Establish strategic foundations that enable brands to grow, evolve, and remain culturally relevant.
• Design and direct research programmes, translating insight into clear, compelling strategic recommendations.
• Bring a strong point of view on brand building, brand growth, and the role brands play in driving business value.
• Collaborate closely with creative teams to ensure strategy inspires exceptional brand experiences.
• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, acting as a credible strategic partner and advisor.
• Support business development through pitches, thought leadership, and industry relationships.
• Mentor and develop strategists, fostering a culture of excellence, curiosity, and collaboration.

You are an experienced brand strategist with a strong agency background and a passion for building brands that create lasting value.

You'll bring:

• Significant experience within a leading branding, brand design, or creative agency environment.
• A proven track record of leading complex brand-building programmes for major clients, ideally across FMCG, food, drink, consumer goods, or lifestyle categories.
• Deep expertise in the fundamentals of brand strategy, including purpose, positioning, architecture, proposition development, portfolio strategy, and brand evolution.
• Experience shaping brands with a clear understanding of consumers, culture, category dynamics, and commercial growth opportunities.
• A robust strategic philosophy and the ability to articulate why brands matter commercially, culturally, and creatively.
• A growth mindset, with the ability to connect brand strategy to tangible business outcomes.
• Exceptional storytelling, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• The confidence and credibility to influence senior stakeholders and lead strategic conversations at executive level.
• Strong cultural awareness and curiosity about consumer behaviour, digital innovation, technology, and AI's impact on brands.
• A collaborative leadership style with a passion for developing people and elevating strategic thinking.

This opportunity is suited to someone who has built their career around brand strategy as a discipline - someone who understands how brands are built, grown, and sustained over time, and who is excited by the opportunity to shape brands, teams, and an agency's strategic future.

The role offers the opportunity to lead strategy for globally recognised brands and ambitious challenger businesses, while playing a meaningful role in the growth and evolution of a respected independent consultancy.

You'll join a strategically ambitious, creatively driven studio environment with genuine influence over clients, projects, and the future direction of the agency.

London-based, studio-first working model.

Handle actively welcomes applicants from under-represented backgrounds - we pride ourselves on attracting the best talent for every opportunity through a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.