Group Strategy Director - Freelance

At AKQA (part of WPP) we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create beautiful ideas, products and services. With an entrepreneurial and collaborative approach, we design adaptive digital services and applications that capture the imagination, delivering impressive returns for our clients. Strategists at AKQA apply curiosity, rigor, and imagination to uncover truths across customer, culture, product, and brand, framing problems in unexpected ways and shaping insight into clear creative direction. Group Strategy Directors are senior strategic leaders who set the agenda across accounts and the agency, relied upon for clarity, leadership, and perspective by internal teams and clients alike. They understand how business, brands, and customers interact, with a deep appreciation for the role technology plays in that relationship. We are seeking an experienced Freelance Group Strategy Director with deep CX and digital strategy expertise to lead strategic thinking for one of the most established names in financial services, a brand trusted by millions to help them plan for their futures. In this role you will frame problems in unexpected ways, translate data and insight into compelling stories, and provide strategic direction on product and experience initiatives from early opportunity through to actionable, real-world solutions. You will partner closely with account, creative, product, and technology leadership to grow the business, elevate the work, and ensure that strategy ladders all the way through to beautifully delivered digital products, services, and experiences. ROLE REQUIREMENTS • Serve as the senior strategic lead on the account, relied upon for clarity, leadership, and perspective by internal teams and clients • Provide strategic direction on CX, digital product, and experience initiatives, identifying the key value proposition, consumer needs, and value to the business • Frame problems in unexpected ways, using both qualitative and quantitative research to answer questions, prove or disprove hypotheses, and mine insight • Analyze data and insights to create compelling, persuasive stories that shape and sell the work • Partner with account leadership to grow the business and the strategic acumen of the account • Oversee and elevate the creative process in partnership with creative leadership, honing ideas and ensuring they are on-brief, distinctive, and effective • Translate strategic recommendations into actionable experiences, products, and services • Partner with discipline leads across creative, technology, UX, delivery, and data science to ensure the highest quality of work • Contribute to thought leadership, sharing AKQA's point of view on design and technology trends QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS • Significant experience in a strategic discipline, with a CX, digital, communications, or consulting background • Deep CX and digital strategy expertise, with product strategy and design thinking experience devoted to digital products and services • Strong understanding of how business, brands, and customers interact, with deep knowledge of the role technology plays in that relationship • Brand and communications planning experience, as well as business strategy experience • Ability to understand and lead a cross-disciplinary team through the dynamics of a client's business and the sector in which it operates • Familiarity with the design, application, and analysis of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, including the ability to design and implement measurement plans • Proven ability to judge creative ideas for their distinctiveness, relevance, and effectiveness • Experience in insight and idea generation, with the ability to translate strategy into tan