Senior Strategist

Jones Knowles Ritchie is a branding business, founded in 1990 and proudly independent ever since.

We started out in the world of packaging, but now we’re worldwide—from three founders, to more than 350 of us across the UK, USA and China. Together, we build and deliver brands across the entire consumer experience.

But even more important than what we do, is why we do it. We’re here to inspire brands and people to be their true selves. To be brave. Be tenacious. And above all, be yourself. Because we believe that’s the only way to truly be distinctive, everywhere.

We are looking for a Senior Strategist to join us, reporting into our Strategy Director.

Our strategy team's purpose is to use cultural, category and business insight to unlock distinctiveness for the brands we work with and inspire confidence in the ideas that bring it to life.

Requirements

Role

Own the strategy on every project you lead, using rigorous insight and a clear point of view to unlock what makes a brand distinctive.

Build trusted relationships with clients, from brand teams to senior leadership, through a deep understanding of their brand and business challenges. Brings provocation and a distinct point of view to drive brand growth and broaden the creative opportunity.

Own the strategy workstream from start to finish, collaborating with Account Management and multidisciplinary creative teams to turn business and brand challenges into sharp, inspiring briefs and steer projects to successful outcomes.

Work across corporate branding, CPG, and design-led projects, bringing the same rigour to both while adapting the process, pace and outputs to each project's needs.

Responsbilities

Strategic Ownership

Leads assigned strategy workstreams independently, from initial immersion through delivery, owning the approach, timings and quality of all strategic output.

Works with the Strategy Director and Group Strategy Director on key accounts, contributing to account-level thinking and leading defined workstreams within larger programmes.

Acts as the go-to strategic partner for Account and Creative teams, identifying and resolving risks to project success early.

Carries the strategic thread through creative development, making confident day-to-day judgements and knowing when to involve the Strategy Director or Group Strategy Director.

Brand Strategy and Creative Planning

Identifies what makes a brand distinctive and where the greatest opportunity lies to build, sharpen or protect its distinctive assets.

Defines the brand challenge or opportunity in a concise, insight-led way that sparks distinctive creative work.

Understands how a brand appears across every touchpoint and how JKR can shape each one.

Selects, adapts and builds strategic tools and frameworks to suit the client, project and creative need.

Guides Account and Creative teams to evaluate work against the brief and its potential to build distinctiveness.

Designs, facilitates and moderates workshops and creative programmes.

Working Across Corporate and CPG

For corporate projects, leads stakeholder interviews and research, develops succinct strategic arguments and supports Strategy Directors on positioning, purpose and architecture.

For CPG and design-led projects, leads packaging strategy, distinctive asset assessment, shopper and retail experience, and activation briefs.

Applies the same standard of rigour to both while adapting the process, pace, stakeholder approach and output, from board-level narratives and architecture recommendations to design briefs and asset guidance.

Brand Business and Consumer Insight

Works proactively with the Account lead to understand the brand context and business issues.

Brings insight-based provocation that reveals growth opportunities, drawing conclusions from design, consumer and cultural trends, commercial data and academic thinking.

Uses visual semiotics and cultural codes to map the category, distinguish codes to own from codes to break, and define the brand's current and future needs.

Articulates the brand's positioning, personality, tone of voice and design behaviour against the competitive set, looking beyond category and culture for new opportunities.

Gives clients a clear point of view on the right research approach, including agency recommendations, discussion guides and stimulus.

Uses core AI tools and adopts new ones as appropriate, while taking responsibility for the accuracy of AI-generated insight, verifying sources and following JKR's responsible AI guidelines.

Brand and Commercial Acumen

Understands clients' commercial objectives and identifies where branding can work harder across the media mix and competitive set.

Distinguishes a campaign idea from a brand idea and explains how each affects the brand's touchpoints.

Uses relevant case studies to challenge and shape thinking, and confidently pushes back when creative work does not deliver against the brief.

Deepens client relationships to identify and create new business opportunities.

Communication

Communicates with confidence and clarity, adapting style to the audience and situation while keeping the message consistent.

Writes fluently and persuasively across formats, from strategic narratives to creative briefs.

Brings fresh observations and stimulus to senior clients, Creative and Account teams.

Creates space for others to contribute and brings an objective point of view to debate.

Leadership

Builds strong relationships and strategic capability outside the Strategy team, and mentors junior strategists.

Displays integrity, reliability and openness, earning the trust of clients, colleagues and the wider industry.

Manages conflict by addressing issues as they arise.

Recognises and celebrates great work from colleagues, clients and suppliers.

Benefits

• 💰 Competitive salary
• 📍 Lively Shoreditch studio location
• 🏡 Hybrid working policy, minimum 2 days pw in the studio
• 🩺 Bupa Healthcare, including dental option
• 🛡️ Income protection & life insurance
• 🧘 Classpass credits
• 📈 Group personal pension
• 🌴 25 days holiday + time given at Christmas and New Year
• ☀️ Summer Fridays x 2
• 🎂 Birthday day off

After probation:

• 🚆 Season ticket loan
• 🚲 Cycle to work scheme
• 👶 Enhanced parental leave policies
• 🤝 Referral scheme for new hires
• 🌍 2 weeks work from anywhere, by agreement with line manager

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression.