Media Strategy Director

Media Strategy Director | Carat | London / Amsterdam | Perm | Hybrid Shape future-facing, "through-the-line" media strategies for global clients, turning audience insight and business intelligence into consistent, locally relevant plans. About CARAT As a global media buying agency, we put people at the centre of everything we do, identifying and optimising audiences to deliver client outcomes. We are experience designers, not simply media planners. We build winning experiences by going deeper into consumer empathy and further into the possibilities of what's next in media and beyond. We don't sit back. We pioneer in media, positively advocating for people, business and society in everything that we do. Purpose of the Role The Strategy Director will work within the Carat Global strategy team, supporting Strategy Partners and the Senior Strategy Partner on the global HEINEKEN account. You will act as a strategic partner to central brand and media teams, developing future-facing "through-the-line" communications strategy and plans, contribute to thought leadership, and shape best practices for a diverse range of local markets. Combining strategic craft, creative problem-solving, and commercial understanding, you will help elevate the role of through-the-line communications strategy and planning within HEINEKEN's wider business agendas. You will bring together agency, client and market stakeholders to create cross-disciplinary solutions that improve consumer experiences and drive business value. What you'll do

• Build strong relationships with day-to-day global clients, helping them identify and understand the key issues facing their brands
• Develop high-quality through-the-line responses and guidance for strategic and initiative briefs, ensuring strong thinking, global coherence, and allow for appropriate local nuance.
• Advise central brand and Media teams, embedding best-in-class strategic and media-planning into global guidance
• Collaborate closely with strategy and planning leaders in local markets to strengthen strategy, media planning and implementation.
• Apply audience insights and dentsu's through-the-line planning tools to develop business-outcome-focused strategies across the media ecosystem.
• Develop creative ideas, (media) partnerships, and innovations based on communications strategy, working across dentsu specialisms and teams
• Use econometrics, business analytics, and campaign and competitive learnings to shape and refine implementation guidelines
• Contribute to client thought leadership that connects emerging media and marketing ideas with real-world commercial impact
• Support wider Carat Global strategy initiatives across new business, product development and training
How you'll succeed
• Deliver clear, compelling, through-the-line strategies and plans that turn consumer and business insight into actionable communications plans
• Strengthen Carat's role as a trusted strategic partner to global clients and their local markets
• Bring an informed perspective to client conversations and demonstrate the value of media within the integrated communications mix.
• Create guidance that balances global consistency with the needs and nuances of individual markets.
• Build productive collaboration across client, agency, specialist and partner teams.
• Identify opportunities to use dentsu's capabilities and product pipeline to support client outcomes and incremental business growth.
• Share knowledge and proactively support strategic talent across accounts and markets.
  
  Deep knowledge of media and communications planning processes, including insight and planning tools
• A proven ability to turn cultural, consumer, and business insights into effective communications strategies
• Strong understanding of how media delivers business value and improves the consumer experience
• Deep working knowledge of CCS or equivalent audience insight platforms and planning tools
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present strategic and innovative ideas clearly
• Experience developing marketing and communications strategies for multi-market clients
• The ability to align agency, client, and partner stakeholders behind a strategy while accommodating local market nuances
• Experience advising senior clients on the strategic direction and business value of their communications
  
  At dentsu, we've built a benefits package that supports every chapter of your life. From company-funded Private Medical Insurance, a 24/7 Virtual GP and a generous sick-pay policy, to wellbeing days, volunteering time, flexible bank-holiday swaps and great everyday perks like retail discounts, gym access and tech schemes - we make it easier to live well, not just work well.
Our employee-led resource groups have helped shape policies that genuinely matter: enhanced maternity, paternity and carers leave, extended sick leave, menopause and baby-loss support, plus 10 fertility treatment days. Combined with life assurance, income protection, financial education tools and flexible savings options, you'll find a workplace that invests in you - your health, your family, your future. About Dentsu Dentsu is an integrated growth and transformation partner to the world's leading organisations. Founded in 1901 in Tokyo, Japan, and now operating in approximately 120 countries and regions, we bring together the power of a global network of leadership brands to deliver impactful, end-to-end growth solutions. Through our client promise, Innovating to Impact, we drive growth through integrated services across Media, Customer Experience Management (CXM), and Creative. Our business transformation (BX) mindset, combined with a focus on experience transformation (EX), drives sustainable growth for brands, people, and society. Our commitment to innovation, collaboration, and diversity enables us to continuously evolve, pushing boundaries while delivering measurable impact in a fast-changing world. Inclusion and Diversity At Dentsu, we embrace diversity and inclusion, valuing the unique perspectives and contributions of every individual. We believe that diversity fuels creativity and innovation, benefiting our employees, partners, and communities.