Senior Strategist

We’re a creative consultancy. That means we put creativity at the center of all our thinking—be it strategic consulting, design and advertising or product and service design. If you believe in the power of creativity to transform how people think and behave, you’re in the right place.

Leo Burnett Toronto is looking for a Senior Strategist to join our team. Working closely with other senior members of the team including a Business and Creative lead, this role will be ideal for a design oriented strategic thinker from a ‘non-traditional’ agency environment. You seek out collaboration (share early and often), think outside the box strategically and believe creativity in all forms has the power to transform human behaviour. The role will work on a financial services client.

Creative

• Has the ability to marry creative thinking with considered strategic thinking
• Brings broader thinking and a fresh perspective to the task at hand
• Has the ability to bond with the creative department as well as client service
• Is passionate about ideas – both an idea-generator and idea-facilitator
• Has an insatiable thirst for the holy grail creative brief & briefing
• Aids in fostering an environment for creative excellence and effective work regardless of the medium

Strategic

• Has strong human intuition & curiosity, and encourages objectivity
• Thinks ahead with strong long-term brand vision
• Is the steward of ‘brand idea’ thinking - helps lead the team to this idea by thoroughly examining all aspects of the brand, its consumers, and the cultural environment in which it exists
• Is highly regarded for his/her strategic contribution to the client business
• Has the respect of clients and they seek out the planner’s opinion
• Can communicate the logic of strategy with creative intuition
• Is able to reduce strategic complexities and drive the strategic process
• Seeks opportunities to put brands on the consumer radar in the ever shifting cultural & media world order
  
  

Research

• Constant student of the cultural zeitgeist in which brands live and connect with consumers – knowledge shaping and sharing
• Has a strong sense of a variety of research techniques and their relative appropriateness for the task at hand
• Is able to drive the research process
• Has strong research interpretative and analytic skills
• Utilizes data (qualitative or quantitative) to fuel imagination, using research as a place to start from, not as an end in itself

• Education in a relevant field
• 3+ years of relevant agency experience ideally working on a financial services account
• Experience working directly with clients, other strategy members of the team
• Collaborative and team-oriented approach to work
• Strong desire to do important and interesting work, with a design thinking approach
• Has solid communication skills;
• Delivers high level thinking to each project;
• Is a convincing & inspirational presenter
• Communicates articulately, across all levels
• Is collaborative with client service, creatives & with clients
• Protrudes a courageous optimism and hungry, striving state of mind

Salary

Transparency matters to us. The salary range for this position is CAD $90,000 - CAD $120,000 per year. Actual compensation within this range will be based on a variety of factors, including relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and applicable certifications. This range reflects what we reasonably expect to offer based on current market data.

AI Use

We use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of our hiring process, such as reviewing applications or analyzing resumes. These tools assist our recruitment team but never replace human decision-making. We believe in a human-first approach, where your experience and potential are recognized by people.

Leo Burnett Toronto is an equal opportunity employer with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Drawing on valuable perspectives and insights from our unique workforce allows us to continue sharing our best work with the world. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals and will provide appropriate accommodation for candidates with disabilities or accessibility needs throughout the recruitment process, upon request. Please contact our recruiter for any questions, accommodations or specific requests.