HEAD OF STRATEGY - AB

Established in 1964, AB is the world’s first internal comms agency. Today, it is a leading player in its field when measured by brand reputation, client profile and its leading-edge solutions.

Its mission over five decades has remained the same – building great organisations from the inside out. AB works with some of the most ambitious and complex organisations on the planet, including KPMG, the LEGO Group, Amazon and Kimberly-Clark.

It helps clients define and analyse their internal audiences; develop effective internal comms strategies aligned to corporate objectives; create campaigns and content for multi-channel environments; and measure the effectiveness of internal communication.

It is also a key player in advancing the internal comms profession. With ambitious plans for growth, underpinned by strategic business targets, there is now an exciting opportunity to join AB's team as Head of Strategy to play a central role in its future success.

THE ROLE

This is a senior, pivotal role within AB. You are taking the lead in formulating our clients’ communication strategies and working closely with AB’s leadership team to shape AB’s future direction.

You are adept at understanding the most complex client briefs. You know what questions to ask, what data and research to gather, and when to challenge. You are a problem-solver – using insight to create communication solutions that delight our clients and energise our colleagues.

You have designed and implemented campaigns and change programmes for diverse audience groups – both internal and external. You know how to acquire a deep understanding of an audiences needs and preferences quickly.

You have proven methodologies and frameworks for solving thorny communication challenges, from creating segmentation models and audience personas to message frameworks and value propositions.

You inspire trust and confidence – yet you are humble enough to seek a diverse range of views and stay open to new ideas.

You forge trusted relationships with both clients and colleagues. You know how to brief writers and designers to help them produce their very best work. You play an important role helping to establish a caring, collaborative, high performance culture.

You speak the language of business and have solid commercial acumen. You regularly spot opportunities for clients to improve the performance of their organisations through more effective communication.

You play a lead role pitching, scoping and onboarding new business. Indeed, you advise on what sectors and clients AB should target.

When it comes to AB’s direction and growth, you play an important advisory role. You understand the trends shaping communications and business. You bring fresh thinking and insight that helps AB stay one step ahead of its competitors.

You will forge new ground at AB – building a strategy team from the ground up. The development of this team must align with AB’s growth. It will be built in stages – as with other functions – as revenues and profit allow. Therefore, initially, this is both a ‘thinking’ and ‘doing’ role, which requires a high degree of self-sufficiency.

Responsibilities: 

  • Review AB’s existing strategic methodologies and help to develop new frameworks and processes to meet our clients’ needs. 
  • Develop cross-channel communication strategies for a diverse range of clients and audiences, both global and local. 
  • Design and oversee qualitative and quantitative research to understand audiences and derive insight. 
  • Collaborate on resourcing, budgeting, forecasting and recruitment plans based on client needs and opportunities. 
  • Use your curiosity about the evolution of internal and external communications, emerging trends, technologies and media to keep our solutions fresh and innovative. 
  • Gain an in depth understanding of our client’s businesses, sectors and audiences, spotting new opportunities for AB to build ever-stronger client relationships. 
  • Help to design and facilitate workshops, training sessions and brainstorms with clients and colleagues. 
  • Oversee the development of creative briefs, communicate these effectively to the creative team and review creative work against strategy objectives, stay focused on ensuring execution and delivery is on point. 

Skills and experience: 

  • A minimum of five years’ experience in a senior strategy role, ideally at an agency. 
  • A demonstrable understanding of how agency businesses operate and experience of commercial reporting at departmental level. 
  • Experience of working across marcom functions, with a solid understanding of internal communication, sales enablement, B2B marketing and ABM. 
  • An innate curiosity about organisational cultures and understanding of corporate structures – particularly matrix organisations. 
  • Experience of working across multiple industry sectors and building plans to communicate with disparate and complex audience groups. 
  • Strong leadership and influence skills. 
  • Success in creating strategic responses for pitches.

AB welcomes applications from all sections of the community, regardless of age, race, colour, sex, marital status, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, disability or sexual orientation.

For further information or to apply, please email:  kate.mason@hartmannmason.com