EVP, Head of Strategy - Canada

Head of Strategy is the primary resource and accountable leader for driving strategic recommendations for clients, developing thought leadership, product development, and talent and career development for strategy staff.

Works with Global Chief Strategy Officer and market leaders to manage and develop specialty headcount and ask for investment where appropriate.

The world is in the middle of major tectonic shifts, our industry needs reinvention, and our clients are looking for innovation and growth using new platforms and new approaches.

Edelman is a leader helping clients reimagine how they can earn trust. You have the desire to change the industry one client at a time, the emotional intelligence to help to map the future of what brands can do and a grasp of the fundamentals to appreciate that a lot of this has been done before.

Your job is to find the balance between audience insight, new data tools and resources, creative ideation and client consulting to find a new path for companies and brands in a volatile, uncertain and ambiguous world.

But it’s not all on you. We also need you to also be a good leader to strategists throughout the region, a guide for internal partners across sectors and practices and a true partner for our clients, the top brands around the world.

Job Requirements

• Deep knowledge, experience and consulting expertise in Strategy
• BS / BA in a related discipline or equivalent combination of education and experience; MBA or equivalent ideal
• Proven track record working inside of businesses that are creatively / interest in facilitating work that land in culture and ability to make amazing interesting things happen for brands and / or businesses
• A professional history of working in innovative and interesting corners of advertising, media, PR and / or digital’ helping brands create brand building ideas that land in culture and garner attention and media coverage across various platforms and channels, buzz and brand engagement.
• The ideal candidate will have built teams and created partnerships across silos that have created relevant, distinctive and effective work.

Ideally be able to show a range of work from the traditional to the innovative to the surprising. Emotional intelligence and organizational intelligence for people and companies is key, with a set of experiences applying that thinking on key businesses and across different sectors.

Preferred Knowledge and Skills

• 15+ years of relevant experience in field related to advertising agency, branding agency, consultancies, or client-side marketing experience preferred.
• Exceptional record of leadership, strategy development and expertise in client management as well as expertise in a singular communications discipline
• Experienced in effectively influencing, managing and developing large diverse teams
• Proven ability to acquire as well as grow business, and advance internal initiatives
• Ability to effectively prioritize and solve complex business problems while making decisions with entrepreneurial mindset
• Demonstrated experience leading the strategy side of large ($1M+) accounts
• Exceptional leadership and management skills and superb oral and written communication, with seasoned presentation and influencing skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to motivate and persuade staff, peers and clients
• Collaborative leader who is results oriented, proactive and has a strong work ethic
• Proven track record of being recognized for leading effective work (Effie’s, Cannes Lions effectiveness awards, IPA)

Key Responsibilities

• Doing the work : Insights and strategy
• Guides clients and teams to achieve business objectives with strategically lead creative ideas that yield measurable business results
• Provides strategy, vision and continuous improvement to advance relationships with key clients
• Engages with key clients in priority markets
• Supports business development for large and complex client work
• Own the analysis of the 5 C’s :
• Lead analysis of culture, consumer, competitive, corporate, and communication areas for given projects.
• Oversee secondary research (provide direction to gather, distill and summarize insights; lead when necessary).
• Oversee data analysis (from quant-based databases, like MRI)
• Write the story, pulling together the strands of research and insight into a story that is compelling and inspirational (or be able to guide your team there, as appropriate)
• Primary research involvement :
• Partner with DXI to develop all primary research initiatives, ensuring methodology matches research objectives. Push to include more primary research, when necessary.
• Oversee relationship between agency and research department or vendor, when appropriate, often in partnership with DXI
• Push for new and creative methodologies.
• Leading the team : Education and mentorship & management
• Oversee operational responsibilities and drive revenue growth existing capabilities or innovative client solutions
• Continually maps talent and manages succession planning to ensure continuity of bench strength
• Champions diversity; meets external candidates in priority markets
• Leads growth in collaboration, range and strength of specialty pool
• Maps client portfolio to identify whitespace
• Oversee hiring, performance management, terminations, promotions and casting of Strategists for the region
• Responsible for driving workforce management decisions such as hiring, exiting, promotion decisions in a collaborative process with client leaders and P&L owners.
• Client and internal partner partnership
• Client whispering
• Guides clients and teams to achieve business objectives with strategically led creative ideas that yield measurable business results
• Provides strategy, vision, and continuous improvement to advance relationships with key clients.
• Engages with key clients in priority markets.
• Know how cultural trends affect a category / brand and consult clients on them.

Measures of Success

• Specific / numeric goals will be shared directly by manager
• Work with financial leadership to oversee served revenue for work delivered by specialty pool staff
• Strategic growth of the specialty pool
• Driven revenue for business development efforts
• Quality, innovation and consistency of specialty offers
• Strategic / target pitches won
• Embedded in our culture and values, always working in an inclusive and collaborative way
• Focus on employee experience : how we achieve is as important as what we achieve
• Talent Development and Retention
• Positively impact society across the four pillars of citizenship

Edelman is a global communications firm that partners with businesses and organizations to evolve, promote and protect their brands and reputations.

Our 6,000 people in more than 60 offices deliver communications strategies that give our clients the confidence to lead and act with certainty, earning the trust of their stakeholders.

Our honors include the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for PR; Advertising Age’s 2019 A-List; the Holmes Report’s 2018 Global Digital Agency of the Year;

and, five times, Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work. Since our founding in 1952, we have remained an independent, family-run business.

Edelman owns specialty companies Edelman Data & Intelligence (DxI) and United Entertainment Group (entertainment, sports, lifestyle).

For more information please visit : Click to view a short video about life at Edelman.