Head of Creative Strategy (9 Months Maternity Cover)

The Role

The team

The successful candidate will be responsible for championing the role of creative strategy and the creative strategy team in pushing for bold, impactful and effective creative, with strategic insight and guidance that ensures relevance to culture and our audience.

The Head of Creative Strategy role works across:

• Creative Leadership Team (CLT): working alongside the MD, ECD, Head of Production and Head of Post Production on the work and culture of ITV Creative.
• Creative Strategy Team: managing two direct reports and supporting them on their day to day projects. This team also works very closely with the Media Strategy Team, including the Head of Media Strategy and two midweight media strategists.
• Heads Together: a cross-departmental team, regularly working with management roles across ITVC, Marketing and Media to set expectations, resource and oversee campaign projects.

The role

Championing the role of strategy

• Continuing to help raise the bar on creative work across projects, providing senior strategic counsel to creatives and colleagues across the business, ensuring strategy is correctly embedded in ways of working.

Attending leadership meetings

• Once a week for ITV Creative Leadership Team (to discuss events, training, culture and creds for the agency), twice weekly for Campaign projects (to discuss resourcing and live/upcoming projects), once every 3 months for Quarterly Planning (reviewing previous quarters performance and optimising for upcoming quarter).

Team management

• Managing and developing two mid-weight strategists; managing their resource, identifying stretch opportunities and supporting their performance and development. Set the bar for strategic excellence across the team's work, and foster a high performing and collaborative team culture, within the creative strategy team and our peers in media strategy.

Establishing the ITV Masterbrand

• Following the development of an ITV brand platform, and a launch campaign planned for January 2026, work with the ECD and Marketing to ensure the brand platform is clearly understood across the business, and brought to life in innovative and impactful ways for viewers.

Overseeing strategic involvement in Campaign and Conversion activity:

• Working with Heads Of on projects throughout the funnel, to identify opportunities, allocate resource, and drive continuous improvement of tools and ways of working to promote strong team integration, with clear roles and responsibilities for creative strategy.

Developing robust approach to Effectiveness:

• Working with Head of Media Strategy, Head of Viewer Insight and Marketing Planning Director on an Effectiveness framework to assess the impact of Marketing activities, and of Creativity within this. Contribute to continuous improvement of our campaign measurement and tracking.

Skills you'll need (minimum criteria)

• Extensive experience in advertising strategy
• Working experience throughout the funnel (from brand-building, to campaigns, to performance or conversion activity) and across channels
• Deep understanding of creative and advertising effectiveness
• Experience working with junior strategists - this can be in a line manager capacity, or an experienced Strategy Director
• External creative agency experience preferred
• Confidence presenting to senior stakeholders and navigating complex organisational dynamics

Other things we're looking for (key criteria)

• Coaching and leadership skills, to manage and advocate for the creative strategists
• Robust understanding and proven experience of creative effectiveness
• Strong collaborative mindset and relationship building skills to work closely and productively with colleagues across departments
• Forward-thinking to push bold work, and able to back this with strategic rigour and compelling rationale for colleagues and stakeholders
• Comfortable balancing long-term priorities with fast- turnaround creative needs