Head of Strategy

IMA is a creative agency with a simple purpose: to create connections people buy into, emotionally and literally. Through everything from advertising and media to packaging and retail activations, we deliver work that earns attention, builds relationships, and gives people a reason to choose your brand in the moments that matter.

We are looking for a commercially minded, inspirational

Head of Strategy to lead our strategy function and help shape effective, distinctive work for leading brands. You will be an experienced agency strategist who can turn insight into clear direction, bring rigour and ambition to creative development, and build trusted relationships with clients and colleagues in a fast-paced, integrated environment.

The Role

As Head of Strategy , you will lead strategy across advertising, retail, shopper marketing, packaging, digital and social projects. Working with clients and agency partners, you will define opportunities, develop strategic platforms and ensure work meets client and business objectives. You will also strengthen the agency’s strategic capability through people, processes and propositions.

What You’ll Get From Us

• The opportunity to lead strategy for integrated campaigns and projects for leading brands across creative, retail, shopper marketing, digital and social channels.
• A collaborative, people-first environment where your ideas, initiative and contribution are valued.
• The opportunity to influence the agency’s strategic direction, capabilities and ways of working.
• Support and development to help you grow your career in strategy, client leadership and integrated marketing.
• The chance to work with talented people across strategy, creative, production, media and client services.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Strategic Leadership: Develop insight-led strategies, briefs and campaign platforms that meet client and audience needs.
• Client Advisory: Advise senior clients with clear, commercially relevant counsel.
• Integrated Planning: Connect advertising, retail, shopper marketing, packaging, digital and social channels into cohesive brand experiences.
• Creative Partnership: Guide creative teams from briefing through delivery to produce distinctive, effective work.
• Research, Insight and Effectiveness: Use customer, cultural, category, brand and market insight to identify opportunities, measure success and guide recommendations.
• Growth and Team Development: Support pitches, mentor colleagues and improve agency effectiveness and commercial performance.

What We’re Looking For

• Strategic Agency Experience: Experience in strategy, planning or strategic accounts at a creative, advertising, media or integrated marketing agency.
• Strategic and Commercial Thinking: Connect audience insight, brand purpose, creative opportunity and business goals to develop effective, results-focused strategies.
• Integrated Marketing Knowledge: Understand how campaigns work across advertising, retail, shopper marketing, packaging, digital and social channels.
• Client and Stakeholder Leadership: Advise senior stakeholders, present clear recommendations, manage expectations and build long-term relationships.
• Insight, Communication and Collaboration: Interpret research, data, trends and culture; write inspiring briefs, simplify complexity, influence decisions and collaborate to strengthen the work.

Our Values at IMA

• Own it - take responsibility when it matters.
• Build Trust - nurture honest, open, lasting relationships with colleagues and clients.
• Stay Hungry - share a mindset of curiosity, proactivity and continuous improvement.

These principles shape how we work - with each other, with clients, and with the world.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. If the Head of Strategy role sounds like a fit, we’d love to hear from you.

We are an equal opportunity employer. Preference will be given to suitably qualified candidates from designated groups in line with the company’s Employment Equity Plan.

Informed by human behaviour. Fuelled by creativity. Connected by data, media and digital. We are IMA.