Strategist

JOIN OUR JOURNEY

Medialab is the UK’s leading independent media agency, and one of the fastest growing in the industry. We’re a media agency that’s made differently: purpose-led, data-driven, founder-run and proudly independent.

Our entrepreneurial spirit means success is recognised and rewarded. There are no limits to what you can achieve here, which our employees agree with, evidenced by being a Campaign Best Place to Work for six consecutive years and one of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2025. As well as this, we’re Campaign’s Independent Agency of the Year for both 2024 and 2025 and Media Week’s Independent Agency of the Year 2025.

We are IPA Effectiveness accredited, an IPA People-First agency, and All In Champions, with industry-leading work recognised by double-gold at the 2024 IPA Effectiveness Awards for our work with Laithwaites and a 2025 Effie for our work with Alzheimer’s Society.

Our independence means we can focus 100% on doing the right thing to secure success for our clients and our brilliant people. We work with a wide variety of clients including Hovis, IG, Sharps Bedrooms, SunLife, Standard Life, Ancestry, Laithwaites Wine, Save the Children, Guide Dogs, Alzheimer’s Society, RNLI and Clearscore.

OUR VALUES

• Commit to Doing the Right Thing (Act with integrity and accountability)
• Help People Flourish (Invest in people)
• Dig Deeper to Understand Better (Data driven curiosity)

OUR COMMITTMENT TO YOU

Working at Medialab comes with lots of perks including all the usual things you would expect, such as a competitive salary package, pension, season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, weekly social events and big summer / end of year parties.

On top of that, we offer extra benefits, which make life at Medialab even more rewarding:

• Time to Unwind – 22 days holiday (+Christmas holiday closure), a day off for your birthday, holiday buying scheme, flexi-hours and work abroad scheme.
• Hybrid Working – Balance between home and office (3 days in the office). We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements from the commencement of employment.
• Career Growth – A meritocratic approach to progression with quarterly reviews, CPD Platinum accredited training, mentoring and leadership support.
• Health & Wellbeing – Private medical insurance, health cash plan, gym discounts, wellbeing apps Mental Health First Aiders and free professional counselling.
• Supporting Families – Enhanced parental leave pay, flexible working and life assurance.
• Giving Back – Paid charity days and sustainability initiatives.
• Perks & Rewards – Retail discounts, long-service trips and an unforgettable team culture.

YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE

We’re looking for a Strategist to bring focus, direction and energy across a range of our client accounts. You won’t be tied to a single client, instead, you’ll have the opportunity to work across a number of accounts, providing variety and an opportunity to work with a diverse group of media planners. You will be part of the central Media Planning & Strategy team and have a close working relationship with the agency's senior leadership team and Board members.

We are looking for an individual who has real enthusiasm and experience in media and communications planning. Someone who is curious and will support our team in championing brilliant work that drives outcomes for our clients.

You’ll be a sounding board, a thought-leader and an inspiring voice for Medialab. Your role is to bring a different perspective, to elevate the quality of our work and create the space for others to do their best work.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

• Leadership of your allocated clients’ strategic output – working with Planning Leads to ensure innovative, cross-channel and insight-led responses on client and briefs.
• Act as a partner to the Client Managing Director and Business Directors, working with them to deepen understanding of our clients’ audiences, and the categories and contexts they operate in.
• Help to grow our clients’ business and ensure Medialab is seen as a trusted partner.
• Actively contribute towards department and team meetings, sharing knowledge, case studies, and motivating other team members to raise the standard of their work.
• Be the strategic lead for new business pitches, in partnership with the pitch lead, developing a strategy that can be translated through to brilliant planning and effective execution.
• Create strategies that inspire the media planning teams to generate effective, distinctive work that delivers client outcomes and success.
• Contribute towards evolving and developing our voice as an agency and our reputation in the industry.
• Coach and inspire Planning Leads and planning team members to become more strategic in their thinking, sharing best practise and innovation.

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TEAM

• Proven experience in media and communications planning, ideally across a variety of categories or brands and experience working on both brand and performance.
• A sharp, curious and strategic brain with the ability to make the complex simple, getting to the heart of a brief to articulate clear, actionable recommendations.
• The ability to inspire teams to push their thinking and stay curious.
• A collaborative and inclusive leadership style. You know how to support and work with others, providing constructive feedback and spot the moments where strategic guidance matters.
• Confidence in audience and industry planning tools and effectiveness frameworks (e.g. YouGov, Touchpoints, measurement approaches, media best practice principles) and how to apply them in everyday work.

MUST HAVE SKILLS

• Media and communications planning experience.
• Natural curiosity and a drive to think beyond the obvious.
• Strong knowledge of industry and audience tools, the ability to analyse and identify the 'so what' from data sets.
• Proven ability of developing strong working relationships with key stakeholders, from client planning teams to senior clients.
• Strong storytelling and presentation skills.