Head of Creative Strategy, Soar With Us

• This role demands someone who can lead from the front, raise the bar on creative thinking and leadership, and take ownership of outcomes, not just output
• Proven experience leading large teams (20+ people minimum) - this is the most important requirement. You've built, scaled, or led a department or function of this size, ideally within an agency or marketing services environment
• Experience developing senior executors into leaders - you've coached managers, set progression frameworks, and built the kind of leadership bench that lets a department run without you in every room
• Strong commercial acumen - you’ve owned department P&Ls and are experienced in spreadsheets
• Agency or marketing services background - you understand the pace, client dynamics, and operational complexity of agency life. Your experience doesn’t make you slow or too big for ‘scrappiness’ when required
• Excellent communicator - you can present in an empowering and inspiring way, lead team meetings, deliver tough feedback with care, and write clearly
• Cultural leader - you naturally set the tone for the teams around you. People want to work for you because you make them better

Desirable

• We're looking for an experienced operator and leader to join the senior management team of the UK's largest performance creative department
• Hambi Media (ECD) is the creative engine of the Soar Group — the UK's #1 independent Meta agency
• Our Creative Strategy department is the group's single biggest revenue driver, producing performance creative across High Production video, UGC, and Static for 7–9 figure DTC and e-commerce brands
• We manage over £100M in ad spend and operate 13 creative pods
• This is not a role for someone who wants to write scripts or build decks
• This is a senior leadership hire focused on how the department runs, scales, and performs
• You will partner with the Head of Creative Strategy (who owns the creative methodology and domain expertise) while you take ownership of operational excellence, leadership structure, and department performance
• Your role is to turn a high-performing department into a world-class one through systems, standards, and people
• Reports to: Chief Creative Officer
• Department Leadership & Team Development:
• Lead and line-manage a team of Creative Leads, Senior Creative Strategists, and Creative Strategists - setting the bar for performance, accountability, and professional standards across the department
• Develop senior strategists and creative leads into confident, autonomous leaders - coaching them through difficult conversations, client escalations, strategic thinking, and team management
• Partner with the Head of Creative Strategy on department direction: you bring the leadership and operational excellence; she brings the creative strategy domain expertise
• Own the people strategy for the department: performance management, progression frameworks, capacity planning, and succession
• Build and maintain a department culture of ownership, curiosity, and relentless improvement - one where the team is motivated, stretched, and proud to work
• Operational Excellence & Standards:
• Set and enforce quality standards across all creative output - High Production, UGC, and Static - ensuring consistency across every pod
• Champion process improvement and identify bottlenecks before they become blockers - from briefing workflows to reporting cadences to production handoffs
• Act as the feedback loop between the Creative Strategy team and senior leadership - surfacing patterns, risks, and opportunities that the CCO needs to see
• Drive accountability through clear KPIs, and a rhythm of performance conversations that keep the department sharp
• Strategic & Commercial Impact:
• Ensure the department's creative output is commercially impactful - work that drives measurable results for clients across Meta, whilst remaining profitable
• Support the commercial growth of the department - working with the CCO and wider C-suite to evolve the service offering, identify revenue opportunities, and contribute to business strategy
• Think beyond delivery: you're here to help shape what the department becomes, not just keep it running
• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
• Work closely with Account Management, Production, Post-Production, and Media Buying teams to ensure seamless delivery and aligned priorities
• Contribute to department-wide rituals (Monthly Momentum, Friday shoutouts, quarterly reviews) and drive cross-pod knowledge sharing
• Be a visible, trusted leader across the wider group - not just within the Creative Strategy team
• What Success Looks Like:
• In your first 3 months:
• You've built trust with every Creative Lead and Senior Strategist - they see you as someone who makes them better
• You've established a clear operating rhythm: regular 1:1s, performance check-ins, and a visible presence across the department
• You've identified the top 3 operational or cultural improvements the department needs and started executing on them
• Katy and the senior team are operating with more confidence and autonomy because you've created the leadership structure that supports them
• By month 6:
• The department is running at a higher standard - measurably. Creative quality, team satisfaction, and delivery consistency have all improved
• You've developed at least 2 senior team members into demonstrably stronger leaders
• You're a trusted voice at the senior management table - contributing to business strategy, not just department updates
• The CCO's time has shifted: less firefighting, more innovation - because you own the department's operational performance