Who is mFuse? mFuse is a UK top 40, full-service agency that is part of the T&Pm and WPP groups. Set up 5 years ago with the founding clients of TalkTalk and Virgin Money, mFuse was born full service, delivering fully integrated marketing services encompassing strategy, creative, media, experience and production capabilities. It attributes its success to its Fusion Model, which works differently from other agencies. By fusing a performance mindset with breakthrough creativity, it rejects performance or creative compromise, but focuses on the point at which they meet and complement each other. It achieves this firstly by through integrated mindsets (most of mFuse people have worked in integrated environments for most of their careers), but also being set up with disciplines, not departments and a newsroom mentality. All of which is underpinned by progressive processes and technologies that enable agility and joined-up marketing to thrive. mFuse positions itself as a 'grown-up start-up' enjoying the autonomy of an independent but with deep capabilities, thanks in part to WPP backing; bringing media and production expertise via GroupM and Hogarth. Based in Manchester and London, mFuse is driving impressive results for clients including Virgin Money, TalkTalk and Transport for Greater Manchester. The Role mFuse are looking for a Strategy Director overseeing brand and creative strategy across its client brands - with a key focus on Virgin Money and TalkTalk. The role will be responsible for high-level brand and campaign strategy, directing detailed planning on messaging and addressable comms, working in lock step with the media director to ensure joined-up, effective communications, and the creative director to drive the impact and fame of the brand and its work. The role will be responsible for working closely with both the Virgin Money and TalkTalk CMOs and, at times, client leadership teams. The CMOs are highly experienced practitioners in their respective fields, so if not direct industry experience, then service sector-related knowledge is ideal. Strategy Directors represent the voice of the consumer in the agency. They take a lead role within the team responsible for developing the key strategic insights that underpin marketing & comms ideas, working closely with the client to research the market and understand the consumer. In answer to their client's business brief they help formulate a brand communications strategy, followed by the creative brief that will be used by the agency's creative teams to produce the creative ideas. They are then pivotal to the creative development process, able to evaluate ideas against consumer insights, research and the underlying client business need. The Strategy Director is a key part of the agency Leadership Team, alongside the MD, COO, media and creative heads. The team is responsible for driving the direction of the agency, building profile through its work, thinking and positioning, advancing its networking and prospecting and supporting the wellbeing and career development of the agency's people, providing an inclusive and inspiring place of work. Finally, as mFuse sits across London and Manchester locations, there will be an expectation for fairly frequent travel (sometimes weekly, sometimes fortnightly). This is a 6 month FTC to cover maternity, starting mid-June. Responsibilities The day-to-day strategic responsibilities include: Identifying and understanding key target audiences, surfacing interesting insights to inform strategy and creative ideas Understanding the brands inside out, from foundational elements such as the brand archetype and purpose to tangible qualities such as the product portfolio and benefits Partnering with the media team to refine brand strategy and translate into creative briefs, managing any necessary research, contributing to briefings and check-ins and helping to package output for client presentations Developing strong senior client relationships (CMOs) such that the clients come to you for strategic guidance on projects Staying on top of the results of our work to inform learning and further testing / optimisation Managing the work, performance and professional development of a team of 4 strategists Maintaining a detailed awareness of relevant market trends affecting accounts, and developments in the wider advertising and communications industry Skills and Experience Always asking questions and looking for new insights Adept in lateral, analytical and strategic thinking, able to apply creative thinking to business problems Experience in differentiating core creative ideas from their executional treatments, and astute in assessing when these meet the brief and how they will influence behaviour Proven to be capable of guiding and nurturing creative work that meets clients' briefs Highly numerate and able to understand, interpret and use complex and varied sources of data and statistics Strong and persuasive communication, able to simplify research and strategic thinking Fascinated by human behaviour, social trends, and how ideas influence people Able to give and receive feedback that supports the development of the agency's creative work and improves the effectiveness of advertising ideas Interest in using and learning AI tools to support insight writing and idea generation a bonus Knowledgeable about the client's business and market, and where and how advertising contributes to its success Focused on the personal and professional development of the team As part of the Leadership Team, visibly and vocally representing the strategy team and its work internally and externally by championing the discipline The role will report into the mFuse MD with a dotted line to the T&Pm Chief Strategy Officer and the T&Pm Strategy Council for discipline support and knowledge sharing. mFuse embraces and celebrates diversity, inclusivity, and equal opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We are a worldwide creative agency that represents global clients. The more inclusive we are, the more brilliant work we can create together.