We're hiring a Strategy Director to lead strategic thinking across a genuinely mixed portfolio: health, road safety, FMCG, sustainability, health and wellness, sport, entertainment and travel. Corporate, government and consumer clients, all in the same week.

alt/shift/ is a national independent creative communications agency with offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. This role sits in Melbourne and works across all three.

What the role looks like:

- Setting the direction and quality of strategic output across the agency
- Building strategy from scratch, then staying involved while the work is made
- Working shoulder to shoulder with account, PR, social and creative teams
- Presenting and pitching to clients, and contributing to current business
- Building process and strategic capability, with scope to grow a team around you

What we're looking for

- 5 or more years in agency or in house strategy
- Strong research and insight skills, including survey design and qualitative interviewing
- Someone who can build a strategy unaided and then sell it well
- Brand planning or behavioural science background, either is welcome

About alt/shift/

alt/shift/ is a national independent creative communications agency made up of thinkers, doers and makers. Our work is intentional, meaningful and industry leading. With offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, our specialties span:

- Creative and strategy
- Public relations
- Behaviour change
- Social media
- Content and production
- Experiential and events
- Partnerships and sponsorships
- Ambassador and influencer
- Corporate affairs

The role

We're looking for a Strategy Director to lead strategic thinking across a mixed portfolio of corporate, government and consumer clients. Sectors include health, road safety, FMCG, sustainability, wellness, sport, entertainment and travel.



The role is based in our Melbourne office and works with clients and teams across all three cities, with occasional interstate travel.

You'll run several projects at once, shape the quality of strategic output across the agency, and play a visible role in client relationships and new business.

What you'll do

Strategic leadership

- Set the direction and lift the quality of strategic output across the agency
- Work alongside account leads from brief through to execution, with shared accountability for the outcome
- Build strategic processes and get them adopted across teams
- Help grow the agency's strategic capability, with scope to build and lead a strategy team over time
- Balance new business activity with existing client work

Strategy and planning

- Apply best practice in advertising and communications to solve client problems
- Set achievable communications objectives and build the frameworks that support them
- Carry briefs from inception to delivery in close collaboration with account teams
- Run market analysis with internal and external partners to understand audience behaviour, category trends and competitor activity

Research and insight

- Draw on adjacent disciplines when relevant, including psychology, behavioural science, business strategy and the social sciences
- Interpret data to inform strategic recommendations, creative briefs and channel plans
- Design and run mixed-methods research, from small scale surveys and interviews to focus groups and workshops




- Work with audience insights analytics and brand tracking tools

Collaboration

- Guide and mentor other strategists, creative teams and junior team members, including intern placements
- Provide strategy support to PR, social and account teams so campaigns land as one integrated idea
- Work with creative, production and external partners to keep solutions strategically sound
- Review and refine creative concepts, messaging and content for strategic alignment

Clients and new business

- Build and hold strong client relationships
- Present and pitch strategic directions and campaign ideas with confidence
- Brief and get the best out of creative, production, research, media and subject matter experts
- Contribute to new business pitches

What you'll bring

- Degree or further study in comms, marketing, applied psychology or strategic planning
- 5 or more years in an agency or in house strategy role
- Proven ability to build comms strategies from scratch through to implementation
- Strong command of the fundamental tools and practices of a communications strategist
- Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills
- Research skills including survey design and qualitative interviewing
- A track record of working well with creative, production, research and media teams

Nice to have

- Background in brand planning or behavioural science
- Appetite for building process and systems, not just campaigns
- Entrepreneurial streak and interest in growing a strategy offer
- Confidence in front of clients and genuine enjoyment of client facing work
- Curiosity, and a habit of staying across industry trends and emerging tech
- Comfort managing multiple projects across different sectors at once
- Openness to interstate travel and collaboration

📌 Strategy Director (Collingwood)
🏢 alt/shift/
📍 Collingwood