Senior Strategist Toronto, Canada - Oliver UK Group

Description

Established in 2004, OLIVER is the world's first and only specialist in designing, building, and running bespoke in‑house agencies and marketing ecosystems for brands. We partner with over 300 clients in 40+ countries and counting. Our unique model drives creativity and efficiency, allowing us to deliver tailored solutions that resonate deeply with audiences.

As a part of The Brandtech Group, we're at the forefront of leveraging cutting‑edge AI technology to revolutionise how we create and deliver work. Our AI solutions enhance efficiency, spark creativity, and drive insightful decision‑making, empowering our teams to produce innovative and impactful results.

Role: Senior Strategist

Location: Toronto, ON

Duration: 12‑Month Contract

About the role: You are a natural storyteller who can understand and clearly interpret client briefs, identify unspoken needs, connect the dots between the client need and the creative opportunity, and distill information in a clear and actionable manner. You are a champion of smart creative outcomes and are attached at the hip with the creative teams that rely on your ability to translate Client Speak to Creative Guidance. You can translate the highest‑level brand priorities to all levels of deliverables including lower funnel tactics. Ultimately, you will ensure we are delivering the most engaging and relevant messaging possible to customers, at all points in their journey.

What you will be doing:

• Lead strategic development across integrated campaigns, ensuring insights, audience understanding, and business objectives translate into clear, actionable creative direction.
• Guide the briefing process, partnering with Accounts and Creative to shape tight, inspiring briefs that set teams up for success from the start.
• Work with agency partners to align on strategic campaign goals, insights and narratives.
• Uncover human, cultural, category, and behavioral insights and translate them into meaningful strategic territories and opportunities.
• Champion AI‑powered strategic tools (e.g., Pencil, generative insight mining) to improve efficiency, inspire new creative pathways, and evolve how the team works.
• Steer long‑term brand thinking, helping clients build cohesive narratives across channels, audiences, and moments in the funnel.
• Partner with creative teams throughout the process—ideating, shaping concepts, pressure‑testing territories, and ensuring ideas ladder back to the strategy.
• Support fast‑turn reactive and real‑time opportunities with clear, concise strategic framing that accelerates decision‑making.
• Lead and facilitate client conversations, presenting strategies, insights, and rationales with clarity, confidence, and a solutions‑oriented mindset.
• Oversee performance insights, analyzing campaign results to optimize future work, tighten briefs, and elevate effectiveness over time.
• Stay ahead of cultural, competitive, and platform trends, bringing proactive inspiration, thought leadership, and opportunities to clients and internal teams.
• Build strong cross‑functional relationships with Accounts, Creative, Media, Data, and other IAT partners to drive seamless collaboration and alignment.
• Ensure strategic excellence and QA, validating that all work delivered aligns with brand standards, business goals, and audience needs.

What you need to be great in this role:

• Full awareness of the creative content processes and techniques - primary focus on digital social and media platforms.
• Excellent client engagement skills with the ability to proactively organize and influence clients and build strong and effective working relationships.
• Possess a working knowledge of AI tools and technologies that can assist/support the Strategy process.
• Have a holistic approach to work, and the ability to bring to life creative ideas across multiple disciplines, channels and consumer touchpoints.
• Bring an entrepreneurial mindset and can‑do attitude – adaptability and flexibility is a must.
• Understanding of how to integrate with an in‑house client‑side team whilst maintaining a top‑tier agency service.
• Leadership skills within creative judgment, strategic thinking, talent management and business growth capacity.
• Highly creative with the ability to generate ideas and practically contribute to studio output.
• Ability to manage a variety of strategic initiatives across multiple projects.
• Working knowledge of current industry research tools.
• Financial services and or retail experience a big plus.
• At the time of this posting, the base salary for this position may range from CAD $123,250.00 to CAD $137, Individual compensation varies based on job related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications. The range listed is just one component of OLIVER's total compensation package.

Our values shape everything we do:

Be Imaginative to push the boundaries of what's possible.

Be always learning and listening to understand.

Be actively pro‑inclusive and anti‑racist across our community, clients and creations.

OLIVER, a part of the Brandtech Group, is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive working environment where all employees are encouraged to reach their full potential, and individual differences are valued and respected. All applicants shall be considered for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, neurodivergence, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by local laws.

OLIVER has set ambitious environmental goals around sustainability, with science‑based emissions reduction targets. Collectively, we work towards our mission, embedding sustainability into every department and through every stage of the project lifecycle.

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